"Like the 'Walking Google'"...

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The first time it was proposed I teach Credit Recovery, my first response to the AP was: "they're in credit (i.e. money) trouble already?"

No... this is a means by which students regain school credit for courses they've failed. I managed to see seventeen-year-olds -- by the calendar at least should have been classified as seniors -- with 0.5 credit hours after four years of school/tweeting/social networking/dating/PDAs*/Facebook updating.

So, the efficient solution for teenagers distracted by technology: put them on computers! They promptly fast-click through the written text to try the gnosis problem-solving method: a-b-c or d (eyes wide shut). This requires no study, just search engines you hide from your teacher...unless you know he is kind of one.

I was the teacher for the 1^st; 5^th - 7^th periods. In some spirited exchanges in the fifth period class, I routinely and regularly answered questions in: Algebra I and II, Newtonian Mechanics, Moles and Balancing Chemical Equations, Geography and Shakespeare. (I collapsed at home after that.)

"You're like the 'walking Google!'" a teenager exclaimed. Let's ponder this student's statement.

Anyone born after 1982 grew up in a world of calculators in the classroom, 24-hour 'news' and entertainment, the Internet as not new (but an expectation), along with some kind of search engine.

Anyone born after 1957 grew up in a world of slide rulers, Mercury, Gemini and Apollo; Civil and Voting Rights battles, the Vietnam war, walking on the moon and the Dewey Decimal System.

I venture that the human species hasn't changed much in thousands of years from the invention of writing on stones, to scrolls, to books.

“Teaching is a human experience,” [Paul Thomas] said. “Technology is a distraction when we need literacy, numeracy and critical thinking.” (NY Times)

This is a story about the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, apparently boasting a 94% graduation rate.

Moral: sometimes, the best school is "old school."

* PDA = personal digital assistant; public displays of affection. Either just as bad...

Education Nation: A Silicon Valley School Eskews Technology
Changing Expectations Corporation: African American Youth Resources Center
The Potter's House: Community Resource Center, Winston-Salem, NC