Back to School

Interesting article from the New York Times Magazine, Achieving Techno-Literacy. Kevin Kelly argues that "technology helped us learn, but it was not the medium of learning. It was summoned when needed." There is a rash of discussion about the need for more technology, ie. computers, in the classroom. But because of the rapidly changing nature of technology, the minute we learn a new tech device, it becomes obsolete. So he says it is not technology that we need to learn, but technological literacy - "proficiency with the larger system of our invented world" - and all the assumptions and limitations that technology provides.

Why all this talk about techno-literacy in September? It's back-to-school season, and that time of year always engenders the question, Why are we in school? What is the purpose of the 7:30-3:30 school day, classroom periods, tedious homework and stressful tests on a periodic cycle? To get good grades, high test scores, and accepted to college? To become productive citizens of society? To be technologically literate? To be, or not to be?

School is important for all these reasons and more. Studying is important, and parents have an effect on this. Very recent studies show that our thoughts on how we study best were all wrong. We don't want a static and sparse study hall, but what's better is a dynamic environment, with moving parts, in our learning experience - the more we have to remember, the better we learn. If parents don't have the extra time to help their kids, it's best to outsource some of those tasks. I am biased of course, but I spoke to a parent today who said that it was just not in her best interest to tutor her daughter - the math was beyond her, and she felt their relationship would be better if they spent time together doing other activities.

Kelly continues in his article, "Education, at least in the K-12 range, is more about child rearing thank knowledge acquisition. And since child rearing is primarily about forming character, instilling values and cultivating habits, it may be the last area to be directly augmented by technology." I couldn't agree more.