

Computer as condom - zain
http://www.papert.org/articles/ComputerAsCondom.html

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patio11
Japan, South Korea, much of Europe, and a few other nations have had some
success with teaching math skills by the revolutionary technique of _teaching
math skills_ , rather than hoping that math skills spontaneously emerge out of
semi-structured attempts to explore poetry with a computer.

~~~
GHFigs
Papert is not talking about an _alternative to_ teaching math skills, he's
talking about a _method of_.

The traditional method of mathematics education is not the same thing as the
subject of mathematics. It can be taught with computers in a constructionist
manner, it can be taught straight from Euclid (the old "traditional method"),
it can be taught (poorly) with "New Math", or to use an example that should be
familiar: it can be taught with bingo cards.

These are not all equivalent, obviously, but none has a monopoly on learning.

[Edit: I'd also point out that Japan and South Korea also have an extremely
competitive and intensive educational environment (with correspondingly high
rates of school refusal and suicide among students) and a huge amount of
cultural buy-in that can't simply be transplanted. I believe these are much
bigger factors in the relative performance of those countries than the
differences in the content of their education.]

~~~
catz
> I'd also point out that Japan and South Korea also have an extremely
> competitive and intensive educational

Just a few interesting stuff (partially relevant to the discussion).

The Russian Federation has a higher average performance in mathematics than
the USA (TIMMS study 2007 on Grade 4 and 8 - it is available here:
<http://timss.bc.edu/TIMSS2007/mathreport.html>). This is interesting since
the USA would probably have more money to spend on education (since it is a
lot more affluent). Hungary also have a higher standard than the USA at grade
8.

It would be interesting to see what these poorer countries do to get their
educational standard above that of the USA.

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10ren
Didacticism doesn't open minds. By its nature it enforces perfect closure of a
subject. Which is why scientific revolutionaries are conventionally rejected
by the establishment.

Computer games are the condom balloons of computers.

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radu_floricica
That is an example of "actively changing students", rather then "passing
information". It is of course much more effective, but it is also more
expensive. It requires better teachers and intimate knowledge of the students
in regard to what you are about to teach.

Unfortunately education (public or private) is still a Second Wave enterprise,
made for scale and not performance. After all, you're not talking about
teaching a class of kids, but all the kids in a country. And that is still not
feasible with anything else then "passing information".

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qaexl
Interesting cross-links between this article and
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=559655>

