"Kids Can't Compute" and "A Conversation with a 'Bad' Teacher" Reflections

Mike Elgan makes the point that kids today have grown up in the era of computers, yet they know less about them then older generations. He says that it is the assumption that this generation can work a computer better than any other, but they were exposed to such ease in using technology that they did not take the time to figure out the anatomy of it. He gives his personal example of owning cryptic computers in which you had to learn and memorize how computers worked in order to use one. These days, a child can pick up an iPad and work it with ease; therefore, they have no reason to be curious about how it works. Elgan brings up a point in this article that I had not previously thought of. If none of the younger generation is learning how to build/work these technologies, who will continue to produce them? Another thought this article spurred was that of too much ease for these younger generations. The fact that they have grown up receiving everything from a click of the mouse will likely result in a more spoiled nature of children than those that got entertainment from playing outside. Not only will they not know how to work the technologies, they will become a victim of the technologies. John Owens, an employee of a magazine company at the time, one day decided to go back to school in order to become a teacher. Once in the school system, he quickly realized that this school in the South Bronx did not care to see students succeed. Their main priority was showing data and proving that the students were passing. Owens only lasted a year but posted about it online. The post went viral, he was set up with an interview with MSNBC, and he later wrote a book on his experiences. This article records a short interview taken with him on the experience. Though this school differs from many found in Mississippi or Alabama, I fear that schools here will soon be behaving like this with the implementation of the Common Core, which puts a heavy emphasis on test scores and retention rates. I fully agree with Owens in that teachers should also be teaching good behavior and good character, rather than solely forcing them to pass. I was most shocked by the little girl who approached the teacher with the rape story. Legally, and much less morally, I am not sure how she was able to ignore that. If society has gotten to the point that we are willing to ignore cries of help simply because we are trying to prove a point, that is not a world I am interested in teaching in.