Reading, writing, and arithmetic have been the foundation of the American public education system for hundreds of years. One would think that, after all of this time, there would be few significant changes to how the fundamentals are taught. After all, math is math: You memorize the basics and do repetitious drills until it sinks in.
At least, that was my opinion until my youngest son mentioned that he was the “Player of the Week” for his elementary school’s interactive online math game, Suntex’s FirstInMath.
The way he is learning math is a lot different than the way I did. It’s interactive, entertaining, and it’s a competition. The course is online, available whenever and wherever, and it allows him to compete with his classmates, his schoolmates, and other schools nationwide.
My kids’ school also uses the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project's Everyday Math to teach math. The student textbook is available online to the students and parents, which is helpful when I need to learn the new methods of how math is taught.
If the Internet can change the way math is taught, how else is it influencing education?
It’s certainly changing the way we read. My family still uses the public library, for example, one of America’s greatest assets, but not in the same way I did as a kid. I remember walking to our local branch once a week and asking the librarian what new books had come in and where I could find them. If she were unavailable, I’d have to find the book using the card catalogue system. Not a lot of fun!
My kids will look online before they leave the house and reserve the books they’re interested in checking out. The books are waiting for them at the front desk. If they decide they want a book while at the library, they can look it up and check out whether it’s in stock. If not, they can check other branches and place a request for it using the county library’s online catalogue.
The boys are also able to determine books based on their reading levels. Their teachers know the boys’ reading levels based on assessment tests administered online at school. Then, using an online guide at the Lexile Framework for Reading at Lexile.com, their teachers can recommend books for the boys based on that. Additionally, this same online guide allows my wife and me to determine whether certain titles are appropriate for the boys’ reading levels.
I sat down to write this just as I did back in elementary school, using a pen and paper. My kids bring home lots of schoolwork on paper, so how much can writing have changed? As soon as I wrote the last sentence, I immediately remembered that I wasn’t concerned with spelling or grammar. When I type it up, the software will flag errors and I can go to the Internet for my thesaurus and dictionary. My kids own dictionaries, but I can’t remember the last time I saw them open one.
Researching a paper has also changed. No longer does a research paper require a trip to the library and hours of finding the right books, finding the information you need, and making notes. My kids will use a search engine and have all of the data they need for their paper in minutes.
The Internet has already made a positive impact on the American public education system. It is providing more access, more options, and more opportunities. The next time you drive past an elementary school, it may look the same on the outside, but thanks to the Internet, things are different on the inside.
— Harold Pollard has worked for over 20 years in information technology after graduating from The Citadel. He is director of systems support for Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina.
Good question, Amy. Yes, tests are changing to the degree that students complete the learning exercises with access to the answers. Some are expanding to "portolios", that at least make an attempt to display what they have learned.
I agree with you and knoxzoo, though, it is leaving students less prepared to think and discover answers. Heaven help us if there is a major power failure - there go the brains!
Going back a few comments, SecTech, I also rated Paul's favorite post a 5. I also get exasperated with cashiers who are stymied by making change and simple multiplication like how much money is due for bottle returns at 5 cents each.
The calculators don't improve math skill, IMHO. First they needed a scientific calculator and then a $100 graphing calculator. Because the equipment gets so costly, the schools are not required to provide them for the students (we missed that change in law and already purchased the calculators a couple of years ago), so the tax payers foot the bill for that.
I graduated somewhat later than you and Amy did, but I not only had bluebooks, I distributed them to students I taught in college up to about 6 years ago. In fact, the SAT essays (which I score) are written with a pen on paper, though not in bluebooks. The papers then have to be scanned into a system that can be accessed from scorers anywhere. So we have a combination of web technology and old-fashioned writing at work.
But back to the original post, my children now go to the library I used to get books from after finding them in a card catalog. They may look online to find something by a particular author they like or a subject they have to research. But most of they time they just browse the shelves to see if something catches their eye -- something I do, as well. In our library, one doesn't get the level of service of having the librarian locate the book on the shelf, so you could just get it at the desk. (That makes me think of the shopping services some of the supermarkets offer.) You, generally, only reserve a book that is out. The system conflates that with the interlibrary loan request (25 cents per request), so even if the book is owned by the library and due back in a few days, you may find the requested book coming in from another library instead of the copy you had anticipated getting.
But what I find best about computer use and the library is the ability to check on what you have out, when the items are due, and put in a request to renew right from the home computer. Also we sign up for email alerts that tell us when items are coming due in the next 3 days. That saves us a lot of library fines, especially because the library did away with the date due stamped cards and slips. We only get a print out like a receipt for all the items checked out.
Wow. I'm feeling my age - NOT. I graduated from High School in 1980. We weren't allowed to use calculators - unless you called a slide rule a calculator. LOL
I remember the Blue Books from College. What a pain to try and figure out what classes required them and which did not. And trust me, I know how you feel saying "I remember when ..." And I NEVER thought I'd ever get old enough to say that.
Does anyone know the extent to which paper tests have been replaced by online ones, at the high school or college level?
Because in a paper "blue book" (did others call them that?), your ability to synthesize a lot of the information gleaned over a semester would be called upon, and no quick search was available to you. Well, not to me, who graduated from college in 1990. In addition, my school administered tests on the honor system, meaning you could get your blank blue books and the test questions, then go work on the test wherever you wanted. But of course there was still a card catalog then.
Perhaps we will see an era of "open book, closed computer" testing. The open-book policy, which at times to me felt like getting away with murder, may feel positively onerous for those kids who are used to getting all the answers on the drop of a dime.
KnoxZoo is right about the pleasures of the hunt being lost to the search algorithms. Dang kids don't know how easy they have it. Back in my day... well, I'll stop there. :-)
This is the very first time I'm using IE rating system to rate a comment and I give yours a BIG 5. It could have been 10 had the rating system call for that. That's a very thought provoing and ingenious way to trace the evolution of teaching maths in school. I will share yout comment with my Academic Advisor.
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