I was just checking my RSS feeds as I multi tasked watching the rugby - and this particular
link got my attention. Mike Elgan from Computer World writes in regard to the banning of iPods:
How much of your high school history, science or math do you still retain to this day? If you’re like me, the answer is practically zero.
In my case, the single most valuable thing I learned in high school was how to touch-type (thank you, Ms. Balish!). Skills, habits and experiences, more than temporarily memorized facts, are what turn us into adults who can learn.
By banning iPods, we’re preparing our kids for a world without the Internet, a world without iPods, a world without electronic gadgets that can store information. But is that the world they’re going to live in?
I suppose this struck a cord with me as I currently have a teenager attending College who is rather disengaged and unmotivated (who sees what some teachers trying to teach him as irrelevant to his world). I was also one of the first students allowed calculators into exams - could the iPod just be another step of integrating technology into the learning . I sometimes wonder how early childhood teachers would teach if we were in a Secondary School, where our focus is on empowerment, holistic development, relationships, family and community, and learning dispositions (and skills and knowledge to support these)
