Marxist ßastard Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/09/07/s...=cnn_topstories Some choice quotes: [The school features] a learning process modeled on Microsoft's management techniques.Not to worry if you struggle with math, then --- your homework is now graded exclusively on how many million lines of equations you jot down in showing your work. They carry laptops, not books... There's no library, but an "interactive learning center" where information is all digital and a "multimedia specialist" will help out students.Nothing bad can possibly come of this. Lessons will have more incorporation of current events to teach subjects. For instance, a question of whether Philadelphia is safe from the avian flu will teach students about geography, science and history....And when we get a new flu virus, everything they learn will become obsolete. Brilliant! In addition, students at the school must apply to college to get a diploma....Because, as we all know:If you can't afford college tuition, you're obviously not all that intelligent.Everyone who graduates high school is automatically qualified to go to college. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramul Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 Bet it's a Windows-only area. It doesn't say students have to attend or even be accepted to college, just that they have to apply. This article is ripe for parody... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batesmotel34 Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 Bet it's a Windows-only area. It doesn't say students have to attend or even be accepted to college, just that they have to apply. This article is ripe for parody...The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has been very active in supporting educational initiative in the US among other causes. We looked at a charter school locally that gets some of theiir funding from the Gates foundation and I was impressed with what I saw there. While the article doesn't mention the involvement of the Gates Foundation I suspect that it probably is. It does seem like the article focuses overly much on the high tech aspects as well as the "Microsofty" ones and hence lots of opportunity for parody. Hopefully the real school will be better than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercbird Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 All I see is more ten year olds with too many gadgets, can't wait for them too on the net. :dry: But then again, maby they will have developed typing skills... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marxist ßastard Posted September 8, 2006 Author Share Posted September 8, 2006 While the article doesn't mention the involvement of the Gates Foundation I suspect that it probably is.Financially --- and don't for a second think that there's any other sort of involvement here that matters, since this whole project boils down to throwing money at a problem --- not a chance in hell. The entire school was built using the taxes of a city that was critical of the project from its beginning. Microsoft Corporation itself gave a mere hundred thousand dollars in order to officially name a wing of the school. However, that absolutely pales in comparison to the profits they'll reap from all the school's software licenses and hundreds of high school graduates coming out of it each year that don't know how to wipe their ass without using Microsoft Windows Live! Ass-Master XP CE 2006 Enterprise Business Datacenter Ultimate Edition Service Pack 1. Regarding similar expensive technically-advanced charter schools founded by "visionaries," any potential advantage they give is far, far outweighed by the blatantly naïve concepts put to work in them. This is shown conclusively by the fact that charter school students are academic underperformers when compared to public school students. Any technology that you throw at the students is either misused --- as in those poor, mistreated notebooks that were given to high school students and subsequently loaded with viruses and used exclusively for instant messaging their peers during class and plagiarizing Wikipedia articles --- or outright ignored --- to wit, students think the most impressive feature of this "school of the future" is its toilets: "They have those sinks that you just put your hands like that and the water comes out," said Sandra Nelson, 14. "Mirrors for girls," said Brittney Glass, 14. "Toilets flush by themselves. It's all just so nice," agreed Bianca Gibson, 14. "I want to give a shout out to Bill Gates and tell him, 'Thank you, so much.' " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramul Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 From the 'academic underperformers' link:Results from the second analysis showed that in reading and mathematics, average performance differences between traditional public schools and charter schools affiliated with a public school district were not statistically significant, while charter schools not affiliated with a public school district scored significantly lower on average than traditional public schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marxist ßastard Posted September 8, 2006 Author Share Posted September 8, 2006 Exception noted, but most people who dump money on these "children are our future" charter school projects do so with the expectation that academic performance will magically improve by leaps and bounds for each dollar in funding they pour in --- and certainly you won't argue with me that this money would be much better spent getting badly-needed basic supplies for schools throughout the entire district. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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