Skip to main content

Turned On, Plugged In, Online, & Dumb: Student Failure Despit...

Popularity Report

Total Popularity Score: 0
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

Rank

Bookmark History

Saved by 17 people (-1 private), first by anonymouse user on 2008-10-21


Public Sticky notes

if unsurprising, picture of the state of student prose in the United States. Noting that relatively little attention had been paid to writing in high schoo

Highlighted by jtravers

Students cannot “create prose that is precise, engaging, and coherent,” it said, which means that “they cannot write well enough to meet the demands they face in higher education and the emerging work environment.” Indeed, other reports by the Commission estimated that poor workplace writing costs corporate America $3.1 billion per year and state governments $250 million per year.

Highlighted by mjdaniel

engaging, and coherent,” it said, which means that “they cannot write well enough to meet the demands they face in higher education and the emerging work

Highlighted by jamiepantsaras

Students cannot “create prose that is precise, engaging, and coherent,” it said, which means that “they cannot write well enough to

Highlighted by maritaizquierdo

writing in high school and college

Highlighted by lananh289

on 2009-05-27 by lananh289

example

Highlighted by abeagle

$3.1 billion per year

Highlighted by tsweeney

engaging

Highlighted by lananh289

for every student and teacher in the nation.”

Highlighted by tsweeney

on 2009-05-27 by tsweeney

This is an example of a diigo sticky note.

month, it seems, a flashy new initiative to digitalize schools

Highlighted by jamiepantsaras

Students with at least weekly computer instruction by well-prepared teachers do not perform any better on the NAEP reading test than do students who have less or no computer instruction.”

Highlighted by mjdaniel

n 2004, economists at the University of Munich analyzed international test scores (including the U.S.) and determined, “computer availability at home shows a strong statistically negative relationship to math and reading performance, and computer availability at school is unrelated to performance.” (Emphasis added.)

Highlighted by mjdaniel

In May 2007, the New York Times reported on a trend in schools and districts to eliminate digital learning, for instance, a Richmond, VA, high school that dropped a 5-year-old laptop program “after concluding that students had failed to show any academic gains compared with those in schools without laptops.”

Highlighted by jamiepantsaras

The percentage of those in the state reaching proficiency on the state test went from 29.1% to 41.4%, an astonishing gain. In the intervening years, too, every Maine middle-schooler was given a laptop, and teachers were trained to integrate technology into their instruction. Hence, the Globe headline: “Middle school laptop program leads to writing improvements.”

Highlighted by mjdaniel

Finally, and in apparent contrast, an October 2007 story in the Boston Globe reported on a study by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute that found writing scores for 8th Graders leapt upwards from 2000 to 2005. The percentage of those in the state reaching proficiency on the state test went from 29.1% to 41.4%, an astonishing gain. In the intervening years, too, every Maine middle-schooler was given a laptop, and teachers

Highlighted by jamiepantsaras

Writing scores aren’t the only disappointment.

Highlighted by jtravers

were trained to integrate technology into their instruction

Highlighted by taeu0006

math scores didn’t improve at all, while reading scores actually dropped three points

Highlighted by abeagle

when asked to choose a U.S. ally in World War II, 52 percent of high school seniors chose Germany, Japan, or Italy instead of the Soviet Union.

Highlighted by fmassara

It doesn’t make sense.

Highlighted by jtravers

Still, in spite of these underwhelming numbers, pro-tech advocacy continues. The disappointing results come years after the initial launch, and so people forget the promises put forward about how technology would transform learning. But with school budgets tight and student writing in critical condition, we need more accountability in the initiatives and more hard skepticism about learning benefits. And we need a lot less fervor for tools and screens that have only existed for a few years and whose human consequences are yet to be determined.

Highlighted by jtravers

No generation has experienced so many techno-enhancements and produced so little intellectual progress.

Highlighted by paustin

Social, economic and cultural factors will continue to play a powerful role in determining outcomes, as the Coleman Report made clear. But we cannot wait until inequities are corrected before taking action with the tools at hand.

Highlighted by sallijane