November 2000 Online Newsletter for Greater Essex County Computer Using Professionals

In the past two weeks, I had an opportunity to realize on a number of occasions that I was cheated of all kinds of educational experiences when I went to elementary and secondary school. The conversation surrounded the use of computers and, specifically the Internet, in classrooms.  You've probably heard the conversation yourself.  Kids today know more about computers than their teachers and therefore should be allowed to go ahead and use their skills to experiment here and there and learn all that they can about computers and the Internet. Interesting notion. That's when I realized that I was cheated in my own schooling.  Personally, I was not able to experiment and discover the drawbacks of not making sure the car was centred over the hoist in  automotive class before raising the hoist, or that there can be problems when I take the rubber hose attached to the gas wells in science class, turn the gas on and light the other end, or that I must wear goggles before using cutting wood, or that I can't apply the Pythagorean Theorem to find the volume of liquid in a sphere.  How much more complete would my life be if I'd experienced all of these things rather than just take a teacher's word for it? Ludicrous, right? But no more ludicrous than allowing students unfettered access to the Internet to experiment.  It raises the old adage that, if your only tool is a hammer, everything starts to look like nails. Knowing about computers and the Internet is more than knowing what button to click to perform a function.  That stuff is rudimentary and, with the proper training, can be learned given enough time.  Knowing about computers and the Internet involves far more than just clicking. It means talking with your teacher librarian to ensure that you're using the right source for your research.  While the Internet can be easily accessible, it might be that you've got the perfect resource sitting on your school's server in CD-ROM format. It means talking with your English teacher about copyright, copyright laws and the ethics of using someone else's intellectual property as support for your position on a major research paper. It means talking with your Choices into Action teacher to discuss the possibilities of a job that you just found fitting into your annual educational plan. It means talking with your Music teacher about the impact on musicians and other artists as you copy an artist's original work to your computer for your own personal use without paying for it. It means talking with your Social Studies teacher to gather insights on Internet content that makes you feel uncomfortable as someone else's posted position or actions go against what you think you believe in. It means a whole lot of things totally unrelated to clicking on the appropriate button or Internet web link.  The button clicking is just a mechanical operation.  Everything else about using computers and the Internet makes it worth while.  That's where the teacher steps in and adds the value that makes computers and the Internet a valuable addition to the classroom.  Perhaps the biggest cheat of all is using the technology WITHOUT the teacher by your side!