Chalkboards With Brains

theodp writes "Third graders at Columbia University's elementary school may never know the sound of fingernails scratching on a chalkboard. All across the country, dust-covered chalkboards are being ditched in favor of interactive whiteboards that allow students and teachers to share assignments, surf the web and edit video using their fingers as pens." From the article: "Bang uses the board to display a wide range of learning materials on her computer, from web pages to video clips. It is also used as a lunch-time reward for students: The children watched Black Beauty on the same screen that was used earlier for geography."

Comments

Re:Purpose?

[Paul Fernhout]

See: Underground History of American Education

Gatto argues schools are functioning perfectly to accomplish what they were designed for about 150 years ago by industrialists -- dumbing down the masses so they become compliant factory workers and consumers, with any initiative to press for change alone or through unions long since beaten (psychically) out of them.

So is it any surprise real wages per worker (adjusted for inflation) have dropped since the 1950s, but news articles frequently misleadingly trumpet that family incomes have risen -- yet ignore the fact that is only because now both parents work and the kids are left unsupervised to be brainwashed by school and television and dumbed-down peers?

Gatto argues schools need to be completely dismantled, a big project as at the same time other aspects of our society need to be rethought as well. Because, as W and continued oil dependency and unsafe SUVs show, the current system has failed the US and the world. Neither more money, better teachers, or better blackboards will make much of a difference without changing the rest -- the compulsory aspect being the worst part.