Back to Basics?

Accuracy in Academia ^ | July 23, 2010 | Deborah Lambert

[AccuracyAcademia]

Back to Basics?

Deborah Lambert, July 23, 2010

Are computers making kids smarter? According to some recent studies, the answer is no.

But how could this be? After all, years of heavily funded research indicated that children of low income families would benefit from improved computer access that would lessen the “digital divide between the haves and have nots.” But now the facts show just the opposite is true, says Marybeth Hicks of National Review Online.

A recent study by professors from the University of Chicago and Columbia University shows that access to home computers by low-income students has a negative, not a positive effect on their learning.

In fact, says Hicks, this is hardly an earth-shaking event, since most parents know that their children need to spend less time on the computer, not more.

It all comes back to theory vs. reality.

In theory, access to home internet use would appear to be beneficial in reducing the “digital divide,” and would “encourage children to be self-directed learners.”

But this year, when two Duke professors measured test scores of students in low-income neighborhoods against their level of home computer access, they concluded that students would achieve lower test scores “if/when they gain access to home computers.”...

[Mr. K]

I have often wondered how a civilization could lose it’s technology.

When we stop rewarding excellence and start spending all our money on ‘diversity programs’

Imagine no one ever learning advanced calculus any more, and having to re-discover and re-invent it! That could take a couple thousand years in itself- AFTER the collapse

I think it is entirely possible this has happened before. and we are not the first advanced civilization on this planet

[RatRipper]

So the Federal government program to put the internet in every home is really a waste of money . . . imagine that . . . .

[rbg81]

My guess is social networking (& associated banal applications), online music & video and free porn is taking its toll. Not quite what the inventors of the Inernet intended, I’ll wager.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

What a stupid “study”!
Computers can not make kids smarter and computers can not make kids dumber.
The computer does not do anything!
How stupid can these “scientists” be?
The dumb kids use computers for dumb things - like games and downloading junk.
The smart kids use computers for smart things - like looking up information.
The computer can be used for good things or for dumb things.
I’m amazed at how dumb some professors can be.

[org.whodat]

U nd 2 rd to fi ou why?

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

There is no “digital divide”. The term was cooked up by media types who think they are so clever (both words begin with a D)

[pieceofthepuzzle]

It is racist to propagate the concept that certain minorities need extra government assistance to be successful academically or otherwise. Success requires, at some level, belief in self. As a society if the message we give inner city minorities, for example, is that they are ‘different’ and need assistance programs, we are telling them at the same time that they aren’t equal. They are equal, and can do whatever they want, but need to be freed from the fear of success (e.g. derision from peers for being ‘too white’) and from the fear of physical violence in their neighborhoods. They also need a nurturing home environment. Fixing those problems has nothing to do with computers, school funding, or government programs geared at social engineering.