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Pickens County
Editorial
Quote of the Week
“The Lord opened the understanding
of my unbelieving heart, so that I
should recall my Sins. ” - Saint Patrick
Page
• Opinions • Community Views • Good Old Common Sense
March 16,2017
From the staff:
Keep technology limited
in classrooms
School administrators, teachers and
parents anxious to see more technology
in classrooms may want to re-think their
desires.
Over the past couple of years, a bar
rage of studies found that increasing
technology in classrooms at both K-12
and college levels had either little impact
or, in some cases, negative impacts on
student performance.
Among the more clear-cut and com
pelling studies, the Organisation for Eco
nomic Co-operation and Development
compared the amount of use and effects
of school technology in 70 countries.
They found "no noticeable improve
ment" in countries which were the most
active in adding technology to their cur
riculum.
And, possibly more telling, a couple
of countries famous for academic rigor,
have done little to add new technologies.
Surprisingly, countries that used the least
technology on campuses include aca
demic powerhouses Japan, Hong Kong,
and South Korea.
Several experts said the idea that
young people will learn about digital de
vices and online offerings from older
teachers is as laughable as the idea that
parents need to show their teenagers how
to access an iPhone.
In the U.S., research generally con
cluded that new technology is only effec
tive in aiding classroom environments if
a teacher was very conscious of its po
tential and integrated it as a limited com
plementary approach, not a replacement
for direct face-to-face instruction be
tween students and teachers.
In a paper on the Stanford Graduate
School of Education website, Bob Wise,
president of the Alliance for Excellent
Education and former governor of West
Virginia, stated, “It also underscores that
replacing teachers with technology is not
a successful formula. Instead, strong
gains in achievement occur by pairing
technology with classroom teachers who
provide real-time support and encourage
ment to underserved students.”
While new technology can engage
students and give them access to re
sources they otherwise may miss, the
digital/online learning is not without
drawbacks, according to the Stanford
findings.
Among the hazards are, not surpris
ingly, that students can easily cut and
paste answers without taking time to
even cursorily examine what they are
copying. The technology may help stu
dents find needed facts, but does not nec
essarily equip them to interpret or apply
what they find.
Concerns were also expressed that
tech savvy students will easily outsmart
teachers and find all sorts of diversions
with the technology that distract them
from the assigned lessons.
Other critics worried that teachers can
be so “dazzled” by the computers and
software they may miss that students are
not actually learning the material - just
enjoying the show. On a nationwide
scale, educators expressed particular
fears that schools with scant resources
will try to shift classroom lessons from
real teachers to online curriculum.
A story on NPR reported that a study
in July of 2016 “looked at high-achieving
eighth-graders across North Carolina
who had the opportunity to take Algebra
I online. The study found that they did
much worse than students who took the
course face-to-face — about a third of a
letter grade worse, in fact.” The NPR re
port noted that any time high achieving
students’ performance declines, you
know there is a fundamental problem in
the class itself.
A 2011 New York Times story was a
surprising account of how many tech-
leaders in Silicon Valley send their kids
to non-tech schools created to serve these
super-rich internet millionaires. The
story said that these titans of the tech in
dustry wanted their kids in classrooms
with blackboards and not computers.
The thinking at these Waldorf schools
are that teachers help students discover
critical thinking skills in a setting that
promotes deeper-understanding, not a
cursory reading or the brief snippets in
online skimming.
An expert quoted in that article, Paul
Thomas, author of numerous papers on
public education, said, “Teaching is a
human experience. Technology is a dis
traction when we need literacy, numer
acy and critical thinking.”
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
or mail to Pickens Progress, PO Box 67, Jasper, Ga. 30143. All letters must have a valid
e-mail address, full name and telephone number for verification. 400 word limit.
The Essential Bad Attitude
By Alan Gibson
Want to Change the World?
Here’s How!
Basically you become a
philanthropist-without-
checkbook, giving small
gifts of civility that nudge
civilization forward.
So, how do you change
the world? You give gifts,
none of which cost you a
cent. A few ideas:
gift - the dignity of a
completed thought.
for - someone you’d
rather intemipt.
gift - the floor
for - the person bursting
with something to say.
even a bad one.
for - the friend who’s
under pressure.
gift - an explanation
for - someone to whom
you could say “It’s not our
policy.”
gift - the ropes
for - the office rookie
making same mistakes you
did.
gift - an invitation for
coffee.
for - someone you don’t
like.
for - someone who’s
working in the sun.
gift - receptivity
for - someone trying, per
haps awkwardly, to open a
conversation with you.
gift - clear, eloquent di
rections
for - anyone who’s lost.
gift - some conversation
for - the elderly person at
the reception who’s all
dressed up but bypassed by
the social currents.
gift- a name remembered
for - the carryout kid at
the market who tries hard to
impress you.
gift - a little slack
for - the colleague whose
work has fallen off during the
divorce.
gift - having time to hear
a story
for - someone who wants
to tell you a story.
As we offer one another
bits of civility, the gritty phi
lanthropy of everyday does
its work. “Things” (read the
tone of our lives) do change.
Incrementally and inex
orably, they get better. Just
see if they don’t.
[Gibson is a regular
columnist for the Pickens
Progress.]
gift - comic relief; a joke, gift - a thumbs-up
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main St. P.O. Box 67 Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457 FAX (706) 253-9738
www.pickensprogress.com
JOHN A. POOL DAN POOL
Publisher Editor
WILLIAM E. POOL
Managing Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County Georgia. Entered
at the Post Office at Jasper Georgia 30143 as Mail Matter of Second
Class. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE PICKENS
COUNTY PROGRESS, P.O. Box 67, Jasper, GA 30143.
One Year’s Subscription: $29.96 in Pickens County and in Gilmer,
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Counties; $44.94 out of state.
safer when they had
forgotten about us.
state lawmakers thinking
about rural Georgia.
Other Voices
For Granted or Forever
By McKenzie Potts,
Tasting Room Manager at
Fainting Goat Vineyard
It started with a gentle
kiss, a tender touch of the
hand and with that, a young
love blossomed. With the
freshness of the romance, so
comes the excitement of all
things new.
The way he walks, the
way he douses everything in
hot sauce, even the quirky
voicemails he leaves. He is
delightfully fresh and your
relationship is filled with
gratitude and excitement.
But soon those memories
are replaced with observa
tions of disgust. The way he
leaves his shaving cream on
the counter or the wears his
muddy shoes in the house.
Those tiny actions mount
into a pile of anger. As time
passes, eyes are opened and
hearts begin to close off. The
love becomes infused with
exasperations and vulnerable
to adverse feelings.
Your relationship be
comes unsteady and your tol
erance for the situation
becomes unclear. But focus
ing on the negatives only per
petuates negative emotions.
In the end, these really are
trivial lifestyle habits that
distract from the overall
focus of your destiny.
Taking someone for
granted is failing to appreci
ate and acknowledge their
true value. Recover the mem
ories that originally drew you
to him. Concentrate on the
what he contributes; cuddling
the sick babies, the support
ive professional conversa
tions, the healing foot rub.
Redirecting your emo
tions will diminish the irri
tants while fostering the
gratitude. Focus on the re
markable qualities that make
him who he is, that makes
him extraordinary. Cherish
your life and everyone in it.
When you took his hand,
you took him forever. For
ever is a long time if you are
marinating in misery. Let the
love shine through, fill your
heart with appreciation and
your mind with thankfulness.
Redirect the energy once
used on criticism to create a
positive impact. Take no one
for granted, but take them
forever.
[McKenzie Potts is the
tasting room manager at
Fainting Goat Vineyard on
Burnt Mountain Road. She
may be reached at mcken-
zie@faintinggoatvineyards.c
om.]
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
March 7
-
March
13
HI
LOW
RAIN
Tues.
58
43
.91
Wed.
64
37
.00
Thurs.
69
38
.51
Fri.
62
34
.00
Sat.
49
32
.47
Sun.
47
32
.00
Mon.
42
34
.39
If you spot
a mistake,
let us know
dpool@pickensprogress.com
706-253-2457
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