My comments are in italics.
Gary is unimpressed with what he’s seen in educational computing so far.
A quote from Daniel Hillis (that’s too long to put in) from The Pattern on the Stone:The Simple Ideas that Make Computers Work.
What is the world like for the children who have not yet entered your school? Lots different than what they come in to.
Instruction vs. Construction
What do teachers believe…how does learning occur?
Is Gary really suggesting that every kid should learn to program? Well, he says, we’ve somehow decided that every kid should learn to haiku. Awesome quote!
The only reational response to computer literacy
- Anna and her Nanna…kids teaching grandma how to use the computer
- The “hole in the wall” India project
Bottom line: users can teach themselves!
Why is the computer the only medium worhty of suspicion? Where’s the evidence that interactive whiteboards affect achievement?
Why laptops?
It’s training wheels for the school. It’s not a matter of if, but of when. Teachers will have the opportunity to get ready.
Three types of laptop schools:
- Pioneers
- Marketeers…they want to have the picture in the paper.
- Their neighbors
We need to get rid of the desks in the classrooms and begin to really change in schools.
Internet hysteria…there’s a hysteria that’s developed because of online predators.
What’s the web good for?
- Looking stuff up
- Delivering contet
- Sharing lesson plans
- Surveillance
Not this stuff, but
- Democratization of publishing
- Collaboration
Gary is the kind of presenter that sometimes rubs you the wrong way, but I think that his rubbing is what will make the small changes in the way educators think. He comes across as being somewhat extreme, but again, being extreme is necessary in order to move an audience towards a new way of thinking. Great presentation!
