Reflecting on Education

Reflections on Beyond Technology Integration:
As I read through this article a couple of statements jumped out at me that I will comment on. First, the author states that the educational system needs to switch it focus from "advancement of the fittest" to "advancement of all". This I believe is the same theory as No Child Left Behind, which, in my opinion, will soon fail because ALL children will never be able to graduate from high school. Some do not have the will power to stick it out, some have no desire to stick it out, and some will never be able to do Algebra II in order to graduate, myself included in the Algebra II category.
However, if you look back in history to the beginning of public education in America it was the desire of the powers that be that children of all social classes be able to attend school. This would allow all citizens the ability to read and understand what was going on in the government, thereby allowing every one to form their own opinion about who should run the country and how it should be done. Once again, the idea of "advancement of all" not just the ruling class.

Second, the idea was presented that children all learn at different rates. This I agree with. Also, a child should be able to master a topic and then move on to the next topic at their own speed. Thsi idea is great in theory, but lets look at the practically of it. Two students progressing at their own pace, both students end up in the same class, one student is 16 years old making steady progress, the other is 12 also making steady progress. The problem becomes a social one. The 16 year old could be far more sophisicated is the social setting than the 12 year old. Would the 16 year old be willing to work in a group with a 12 year old? and vice versa. What if the 12 year old is the only one in the class with all 16 year olds, who will that child be able to relate to? Are the parents of the 12 year old going to voice any concerns about their child being in a group with all older students?
Today, high school ends for students when they are about 18 years old. How long should the public education system allow a student to remain enrolled in order to complete their high school education. In the article you could argue that a student should be able to remain as long as they desire as long as they are making progress. If they are not making any progress will the student remain in school forever??

Reflections on Luddites:
I would like to start at the end of this article which poses the question, "What exactly is the business of schools?" and reflect on that for a bit.
I believe the author is correct in the statement that technology will not fix all that is wrong with education and society today. Technology, mainly computers, in schools is just another tool for the teacher to use to educate students. It's no different than the evolution of the black board. Long ago students had their own writing tablets to do their work. Large chalk boards placed in the front of the room allowed the teacher to put information in front of students so everyone could see it at once. The chalk was dusty and created cool puffy white clouds when the erasers were clapped together. The white board solved the problem of the chalk dust, it also let the teacher use color markers, but the ink smelled awful. Then came the smart white board allowing the teachers even more creativity in presenting material if they have the time to figure out how to use them effectively. I could draw the same parallels with technology, the typewriter being just one example. The keyboard hasn't changed in recent history, you use the same fingers to hit the same keys, the words appear as the keys are hit. The difference is how much easier it is to fix a mistake, how much more creative you can be with a virtual piece of paper instead of an actual piece of paper.
So back to the question, What is the business of schools today? In my opinion it is: give students a solid base of learning so that they can live in our society. It includes the basics, reading, writing, arithmatic, and computers because everything runs on computers these days. And, OH, by the way, add some character and self-esteem building, drug, alcohol, health, sex, economics, money management, positive behavior, problem solving, and group work. Make sure the students are being fed, and well cared for at home. If something else goes wrong in society you can be sure it will be put on the schools to fix it. Cram all that stuff into 6 hours a day for 180 days. And just to make things interesting we'll give the students five years of living and growing before we start educating them.