“The Digital Delusion” connects the collapse in standardized test scores to the rise of education technology in public schools. It’s driving a heated debate.
Kind of funny when you consider the years before TikTok screens in classrooms were increasing and standardized test scores were going up.
Also funny considering what has changed for education and the industry since then… Common core fully implemented, more unions have been weakened or completely removed, private schools and public funding for them have skyrocketed, wages have been stagnant, educational service providers have consolidated and largely become private equity milking cows, state and federal funding has plummeted, parents have had less time and resources to raise their children/prepare them for school, free food for children have largely been cut and mostly now focuses on inner city/ qualifying incomes only… Do I really need to go on?
Software has gotten worse for curious children though, i was on my apple II for several hours a day as a little kid, but if i was on an ipad instead I don’t think i would have learned a single thing about how computers worked before high school. I was forced to learn how to use a command line to get the computer to do entertaining things, nowadays they speak the name of the game they want to play to the microphone and just tap the install button. There’s no struggle with understanding the data structures and hardware layers of the device. If you want to mod the amount of in game curtency you have, there’s no hexadecimal file to edit, it’s actually a DLC you can pay for instead. There’s no learning happening, besides maybe how to sneakily grab your parents credit card.
That hits the nail on the head. I spent mamy hours of my infront of various computers ranging from Atari over C128 to 8086 and finally a glorious 386. Most of that time was spent fixing problems, trying to understand hard- and software issues and finding workarounds.
Kids these days with iPads and Chromebooks don’t experience any of that.
I mean yeah that’s awesome, i was talking about more like the elementary school level, im guessing your son wasn’t perpetually on an ipad playing candy crush at that age
Apple used to promote Hypercard both as teaching aid and intro to object oriented programming, but that was a different company from the last 20 years. Now they are pushing corporate agendas in classrooms teaching kids how to be consumers, not computer users. They are fighting hard to get kids into their ecosystem because they know people hate changing platforms.
Kind of funny when you consider the years before TikTok screens in classrooms were increasing and standardized test scores were going up.
Also funny considering what has changed for education and the industry since then… Common core fully implemented, more unions have been weakened or completely removed, private schools and public funding for them have skyrocketed, wages have been stagnant, educational service providers have consolidated and largely become private equity milking cows, state and federal funding has plummeted, parents have had less time and resources to raise their children/prepare them for school, free food for children have largely been cut and mostly now focuses on inner city/ qualifying incomes only… Do I really need to go on?
Software has gotten worse for curious children though, i was on my apple II for several hours a day as a little kid, but if i was on an ipad instead I don’t think i would have learned a single thing about how computers worked before high school. I was forced to learn how to use a command line to get the computer to do entertaining things, nowadays they speak the name of the game they want to play to the microphone and just tap the install button. There’s no struggle with understanding the data structures and hardware layers of the device. If you want to mod the amount of in game curtency you have, there’s no hexadecimal file to edit, it’s actually a DLC you can pay for instead. There’s no learning happening, besides maybe how to sneakily grab your parents credit card.
That hits the nail on the head. I spent mamy hours of my infront of various computers ranging from Atari over C128 to 8086 and finally a glorious 386. Most of that time was spent fixing problems, trying to understand hard- and software issues and finding workarounds.
Kids these days with iPads and Chromebooks don’t experience any of that.
ok but that was a world of entire programs on a floppy disc and no real internet.
My son is doing a coop term in consumer computer repair and business is brisk in keeping 15 year old computers working, second lives with Linux.
I mean yeah that’s awesome, i was talking about more like the elementary school level, im guessing your son wasn’t perpetually on an ipad playing candy crush at that age
Apple used to promote Hypercard both as teaching aid and intro to object oriented programming, but that was a different company from the last 20 years. Now they are pushing corporate agendas in classrooms teaching kids how to be consumers, not computer users. They are fighting hard to get kids into their ecosystem because they know people hate changing platforms.
It’s almost like more than one thing can be the cause.