Our school (a southern one no less) has a Macintosh computer lab in the education department and a few Macs in most places where there are large amounts of computers. As for education software, I think the fact that the College of EDUCATION has a lab just for Macs says enough. The architectural students (and a few other graphical design majors) are also required to purchase Mac laptops for some of their classes. Our school's servers are slowly being converted to Linux (away from Microscrew). It is for these reasons I don't complain at the technology fee on my fee bill when I register.
In the Southeast, $40K is something few ever see unless they are an administrator (highly overpaid) or have been teaching over 20 years with at least a MA/MS/MEd. As for a 6.5 hour workday, I know of very few teachers who go to school and teach for 6.5 hours a day and bring nothing home with them on which to work. I personally spend and average of 10 hours/day between teaching, preparing future lessons, grading papers, and counseling students.
Amen! I still am a teacher and the girls at my school (an all girl's private school) are issued a laptop before their first day of class. The laptops have their place (the girls seem to take their notes faster and can do amazing web searches) but they are not supposed to be the end-all or be-all of the course. The computers are tools, just like pens, pencils, paints, beakers, calculators, etc. I personally have found that much of the boasted educational virtual lab software is not nearly as effective as having the girls perform the lab themselves. However, they are a good resource if physically performing the lab is impossible (lack of equipment) or dangerous. But, politicians don't seem to want to hear these things.
Actually, I did receive part of my education in Germany. Didn't get any more from them than I did from American schools. And, contrary to what the official party line was, not all German children were "encouraged" to attend school. Only those who were academically gifted were. Of course things may have changed in 20 years. And education IS mandatory in the US. You are required to send your children to school until they reach the eighth grade or the age of 16 (whichever comes first). As for Asian countries, I have enough Asian friends who will back my claims which is why either they came to the US or their parents brought them.
American students on the average are not a bunch of clueless stupid losers. I should know since I'm a teacher (high school chemistry). Most are, quiet simply, average. There are a few Einsteins and a few morons, but most are average in intelligence, drive, etc. The real problem with America's K-12 educational system is not a lack of money (though more certainly wouldn't hurt), it's not a lack of good educators, it's not a lack of supplies/facilities, and, contrary to popular belief, it's not a lack of consistency in the curriculum across the country. The biggest problem with K-12 education is parents. Parents who are uneducated and, therefore, do not see the value in an education and parents who are too busy with careers, lives, etc. to pay attention to how their child is doing (until it's too late of course) and parents who are willing to blame the system instead of placing the blame where it should fall - squarely in their own laps. Also, everytime I hear one of those reports about how much better the German or Japanese or Korean or whoever is doing than our children of the same grade level, I want to scream. What those reports fail to include is that EVERY American child is entitled to, and usually receives, a public education. Therefore, children who are less intelligent are admitted to the public education system, and are grouped with everyone else. How many learning disabled children are in academic schools rather than trade schools in those countries with "fantastic" math and science scores? How often do those other teachers spend time after school with a struggling child who is intellectually incapable of doing the work, but continues to try because of the dedication of the teacher and the system at large? Sure, we could have fan-damn-tastic scores on all of our tests compared to other countries if we did as they do - weed out the less capable children from academic programs and put them into a trade program or apprenticeship instead. When every other country has an education system as we do (everyone gets a chance, not just the academically gifted ones) then I'll agree that the American education system is bad and our students are clueless stupid losers.
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Our school (a southern one no less) has a Macintosh computer lab in the education department and a few Macs in most places where there are large amounts of computers. As for education software, I think the fact that the College of EDUCATION has a lab just for Macs says enough. The architectural students (and a few other graphical design majors) are also required to purchase Mac laptops for some of their classes. Our school's servers are slowly being converted to Linux (away from Microscrew). It is for these reasons I don't complain at the technology fee on my fee bill when I register.
In the Southeast, $40K is something few ever see unless they are an administrator (highly overpaid) or have been teaching over 20 years with at least a MA/MS/MEd. As for a 6.5 hour workday, I know of very few teachers who go to school and teach for 6.5 hours a day and bring nothing home with them on which to work. I personally spend and average of 10 hours/day between teaching, preparing future lessons, grading papers, and counseling students.
Amen! I still am a teacher and the girls at my school (an all girl's private school) are issued a laptop before their first day of class. The laptops have their place (the girls seem to take their notes faster and can do amazing web searches) but they are not supposed to be the end-all or be-all of the course. The computers are tools, just like pens, pencils, paints, beakers, calculators, etc. I personally have found that much of the boasted educational virtual lab software is not nearly as effective as having the girls perform the lab themselves. However, they are a good resource if physically performing the lab is impossible (lack of equipment) or dangerous. But, politicians don't seem to want to hear these things.
Actually, I did receive part of my education in Germany. Didn't get any more from them than I did from American schools. And, contrary to what the official party line was, not all German children were "encouraged" to attend school. Only those who were academically gifted were. Of course things may have changed in 20 years. And education IS mandatory in the US. You are required to send your children to school until they reach the eighth grade or the age of 16 (whichever comes first). As for Asian countries, I have enough Asian friends who will back my claims which is why either they came to the US or their parents brought them.
American students on the average are not a bunch of clueless stupid losers. I should know since I'm a teacher (high school chemistry). Most are, quiet simply, average. There are a few Einsteins and a few morons, but most are average in intelligence, drive, etc. The real problem with America's K-12 educational system is not a lack of money (though more certainly wouldn't hurt), it's not a lack of good educators, it's not a lack of supplies/facilities, and, contrary to popular belief, it's not a lack of consistency in the curriculum across the country. The biggest problem with K-12 education is parents. Parents who are uneducated and, therefore, do not see the value in an education and parents who are too busy with careers, lives, etc. to pay attention to how their child is doing (until it's too late of course) and parents who are willing to blame the system instead of placing the blame where it should fall - squarely in their own laps. Also, everytime I hear one of those reports about how much better the German or Japanese or Korean or whoever is doing than our children of the same grade level, I want to scream. What those reports fail to include is that EVERY American child is entitled to, and usually receives, a public education. Therefore, children who are less intelligent are admitted to the public education system, and are grouped with everyone else. How many learning disabled children are in academic schools rather than trade schools in those countries with "fantastic" math and science scores? How often do those other teachers spend time after school with a struggling child who is intellectually incapable of doing the work, but continues to try because of the dedication of the teacher and the system at large? Sure, we could have fan-damn-tastic scores on all of our tests compared to other countries if we did as they do - weed out the less capable children from academic programs and put them into a trade program or apprenticeship instead. When every other country has an education system as we do (everyone gets a chance, not just the academically gifted ones) then I'll agree that the American education system is bad and our students are clueless stupid losers.