How Can Tech Help Fight Education Costs?

http101 asks: "With the ever-rising costs of fuel, we seem to forget those that are truly having problems affording it. No, not the homeless, but our own kids. 'Kids,' you ask? Yes, because being driven to school on the 'Yellow Dog' or the 'Edu-Express' better known as a school bus, is costing your state more money than ever before. In my neighborhood, we have a plethora of home connected by fiber and at least high-speed internet. So my question is, how can technology be better-implemented to ensure a student's studies and also lower the costs of fuel for the districts?"

Comments

Easy

[AKAImBatman]

So my question is, how can technology be better-implemented to ensure a student's studies and also lower the costs of fuel for the districts?

Just home school. Through this mircale of modern technology, kids can be better taught than through any other method known to man! Not to mention that your child will receive his very own "teacher unit" who just happens to also be related to the child! A Win-Win situation for all!

Joking aside, Home Schooling is a very good option, especially in rural areas where familys can better afford to only have one parent working. The results of various studies show that the home schoolers easily outperform their publically educated peers, and that the social aspect isn't as big of an issue as was once feared.

From Wikipedia (which actually links to quite a few more sources):

"The academic effectiveness of homeschooling is largely a settled issue. Numerous studies have confirmed the academic integrity of home education programs, demonstrating that average homeschoolers outperform their public school peers by 30 to 37 percentile points across all subjects. Moreover, the performance gaps between minorities and gender that plague public schools are virtually non-existent amongst homeschooled students. Source"

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"According to the findings, children who were schooled at home 'gained the necessary skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to function in society...at a rate similar to that of conventionally schooled children.'

"The researcher found no difference in the self concept of children in the two groups. Stough maintains that 'insofar as self concept is a reflector of socialization, it would appear that few home-schooled children are socially deprived, and that there may be sufficient evidence to indicate that some home-schooled children have a higher self concept than conventionally schooled children.'" Source

Technology only bolsters the abilities of home schoolers. Where as a home schooler of my generation had to be satified with the curriculum, materials the parents could afford, and the local library (an excellent source itself), modern school children can find information on virtually ANY issue simply by checking the Internet. Also, whereas labs done by my generation had to be performed by video tape, the modern generation is capable of actually video conferencing with a lab instructor for more precise education.

Isn't modern technology wonderful? ;-)

Re:Easy

[AKAImBatman]

And that "teacher unit" will in the majority of cases not be competent to teach every subject at the high school level.

That's why it's very important to pick the proper curriculum. Public school books expect the teacher to provide most of the information verbally. In many of the curriculums designed for home schoolers, the books provide sufficient information to teach the child and allow the parent to understand and help the child if needed.

homeschooling parents also have a tendency to overestimate their child's desire to spend time with them.

I actually didn't see my mother very much. Most of our work was done in the morning, and she'd correct the work and perform one-on-one sessions in the afternoon. If all went well, we could actually be done with our schoolwork within five hours of work.

Finally, you should at least recognize that a large majority of homeschooling is done for religious reasons.

Irrelevant. If it produces better results as a whole, it doesn't matter what the reasons behind the practice are.

No, the studies may imply that ON AVERAGE home schoolers outperform publicly educated peers, but that's different than the absolute terms you're phrasing it in. ...
Your source is so biased as to completely invalidate any assertion they make.

Alright, let's try what you refer to as "[A] source [that] is definitely better.":

MAJOR FINDINGS - ACHIEVEMENT
Almost 25% of home school students were enrolled one or more grades above their age-level peers in public and private schools.

Home school student achievement test scores were exceptionally high. The median scores for every subtest at every grade (typically in the 70th to 80th percentile) were well above those of public and Catholic/Private school students.

On average, home school students in grades 1 to 4 performed one grade level above their age-level public/private school peers on achievement tests.

Students who had been home schooled their entire academic life had higher scholastic achievement test scores than students who had also attended other educational programs.

There were no meaningful differences in achievement by gender, whether the student was enrolled in a full-service curriculum, or whether a parent held a state issued teaching certificate.
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Even with a conservative analysis of the data, the achievement levels of the home school students in the study were exceptional. Within each grade level and each skill area, the median scores for home school students fell between the 70th and 80th percentile of students nationwide and between the 60th and 70th percentile of Catholic/Private school students. For younger students, this is a one year lead. By the time home school students are in 8th grade, they are four years ahead of their public/private school counterparts.

The results are consistent with previous studies of the achievement of home school students. Source

I dare you to find a study that contradicts these results.

This source is definitely better, but still a little suspect, considering education studies as an academic field is notorious for it's shoddy research methodology.

Arguable, perhaps, but I'd be very interested if you could produce studies showing the opposite. I think you'll find that *all* studies done (no matter by whom) show that Home Schooling has shown superior performance in all areas of children's lives.

They could

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

- Organize adult-supervised bicycle rides for kids who live within 3 miles of their schools

- Stop buying computers for primary schools that provide little educational value compared to cheap books and good teachers. The savings could pay for school bus

- Replace old school bus with efficient new ones. Perhaps even a hybrid concept or something similar. Very high cost upfront, but gas savings.

- Raise taxes. Gap! yes! raise *YOUR* taxes so that *YOUR* children may go to school and have a chance at a good education and a good future, a concept America as a whole has completely forgotten for some reason.

Re:So, in short, how can tech help homeschool?

[AKAImBatman]

No, I think the question he's trying to ask is, "How do we home school without home schooling?"

And the answer is, "Just home school the child. The result will be that your child will do *better* acedemically and socially."

The downside is that home schooling isn't for everyone. I was home schooled, but my wife doesn't feel up to the challenge. So we send our kids to a private school. Even then, it was VERY difficult finding a school that was both affordable and met the needs of our child.

Re:Correlation

[SuperBanana]

School is still babysitting.

I have a friend whose wife is a grade school teacher. Spend 15 minutes with a teacher, and you'll realize just how truly ignorant that statement is. Many teachers I've met are far more dedicated to their job than any techie I've ever met. You don't teach to pay the bills- because it doesn't, not well at all. You teach because you love the concept of helping people learn and contributing to society. The standards are high- when it comes to education and training, they don't have a choice. Peer review is ongoing. Certification is required and often also ongoing. The amount of prep work my friend's wife does for teaching gradeschool classes is astounding.

Maybe -your- school is full of teachers who are in 'cruise mode', but most are full of people who have dedicated their lives to teaching your children. Show a little gratitude.

Re:Correlation

[b17bmbr]

Since I teach HS, maybe I can clarify. Yes, school is babysitting, at least the way many parents see it. Neither I nor most my colleagues see it that way, but it's hard because we often have to deal with a large number of kids that don't want to be there, are f*** ups, or just don't care. We can't remove the 2 or 3 that screw it up for the remaining 34.

Our schools are on warehouse mode most of the time, and that comes from on high, not in the classroom. Part of the problem is the very idea of education has been severely deprecated. I am a geek, linux, java, yada yada, but I teach history and consider myself an historian first. But, history, nor 99% of anything else in school is going to be worth $1 more in the "real world". But that's not, nor has is ever been the point of an education.

So, we have marginalized an education for practical use, which means that kids don't give two shits about history, just a letter on a piece of paper. It's either "I need it for college, how do I get an A" or "When are we ever gonna need this"?

Don't cry for me Argentina, as I love what I do and have great kids. Really. But, we are in many ways a babysitter, or a caretaker, holding them long enough so they don't rampage the neighborhood while the mommies are out walking the babies. Until there is a penalty (other than personal opportunity squandered) for not graduating and learning, it'll only get worse.

Socialization?

[Will_Malverson]

I went to 13 years of public school, and all it taught me was how to interact with people born between October 15, 1974, and October 14, 1975. When I got out into the real world, I had no idea how to interact as an equal with people who were 20 years my senior.

I'll leave up to the other replies to discuss whether or not the socialization aspect of public school is otherwise a good thing.

Re:Correlation

[badmammajamma]

Fear not, Mr. History Teacher. When I was in high school I had no interest in history and thought it was a complete waste of time. Ironically, my favorite teacher would become a history teacher who used to go into all kinds of details about war strategies used in the civil war and other wars involving America. I would sit there and listen very intently to everything he had to say about these battles. However, I still only got a C in his class. This was in part due to his tough tests and partially because even though I found his lectures interesting, I still never did my history homework. :)

Fastforward about 10 years...
I developed a great appreciation for history and watch all this shit on the history channel, read books, have discussions with friends, etc. What really matters in the end is whether the person you are teaching is ready for the information. I wasn't in high school but many years later I was. I still remember that teacher though and wish I could sit there and listen to him talk about those battles once again. Cest la vie...

Then you are the problem

[Chemisor]

> What makes you think that most parents are
> qualified to be teachers? In all subjects?

The fact that most parents have finished high school and supposedly have a diploma signifying that they know all the stuff they are supposed to know. If you don't then how can you justify keeping your diploma? If you do, then you should be able to explain it to your kids. If you can't, then you know you don't know it, and should probably refresh your knowledge.

Re:Then you are the problem

[Malor]

Sure, but you're talking about a teacher that has to teach 50 kids at a time, and gets a new set of 50 kids every year. He or she will need a wide variety of teaching methods to reach all the different learning styles.

A homeschool teacher would very rarely have more than two or three students, and what with the living together constantly thing, it's likely that the kid would adapt to nearly any teaching style. Kids are like that. And, even if the kid can't adapt, a teacher with so few students can spent a lot more time adapting his or her style to suit.

Teaching is not some deep mystery that only the Privileged Few are able to do. At one time in this country, nearly everyone was homeschooled.... the idea of regimented public school was bitterly, bitterly fought in some places.

Parents have been teaching their children since the Stone Age. Now, I'm not saying modern parents should be doing it without outside help. I'd strongly suggest reviewing a professional curriculum to at least familiarize oneself with what's being taught in public schools. But, overall, I see no reason to doubt that most parents could do a fine job of educating their kids.

And, let me tell you, they sure couldn't do a lot worse than a lot of the public schools. You just would not believe how ignorant these supposedly 'educated' children often are. Stone Age all over again.

De-Socialize schools?

[TheSync]

How about allowing the free market to come up with effective solutions to schooling instead of lockng entire communities into government monopolies.