Quote of the day 30th June 2015

"This may be inevitable.
   I have yet to be convinced that it is progress."

(Chris Woodhead, former Chief Inspector of Schools, final words of one of his last articles published just before he died, referring to the drift in schools away from pen, paper and books in favour of IT.)

Comments

Jim said…
It may be progress, honest it may be. Progressive things like progressive taxation for example, do not mean we are making progress, it just means it gets bigger and bigger.

My grandmother (RIP) had progressive Multiple sclerosis, often people mix the words progressive, progress, and progression.

On schools and things, its a hard one that.

I know where Chris is coming from, for example I went into asda in workington the other day, I paid in cash, the young man serving asked for my receipt back as his screen went blank, basically so he could see how much change I needed as i paid with £30 in cash for a shop worth £22.30

at times like that then i shudder, as i could have told the young man in question, but then again, i think younger people are doing so much with computers and the technology these days that is far more extensive than simply being able to count.

anyway, being able to count is over rated, Just ask Copeland Labour party.
Chris Whiteside said…
The last comment raised a chuckle.

Certainly useful if learning to use IT helps people to build a wider range of ability and skills.

But it would work best if students learn to use IT without losing the ability to appreciate books.
Chris Whiteside said…
Also take your point on the false assumption that "progress" is always a good thing.

Chris Woodhead in his final quote was challenging the idea that change always means an improvement, without challenging the language.

If you are making the point that sometimes we might have more impact in challenging the idea by challenging the language too - e.g. that "progress" is always a good thing - then you are almost certainly right.
Jim said…
I love books myself, but there is a time for print and a time for reference.

For example, reading a Novel i prefer a hard copy book myself, and others (like a Hubble images large book is fantastic in print, its better than an onscreen image.

though text books and things I prefer electronically. Using the search function its much easier to go to the section you want to reference, and the ability to link together this bit and that bit, and the earlier bit as well is often very advantageous.

Thats how i read Lisbon before it was ratified. I did not have to do it myself as a kind person had already done it for me and was allowing people people to download TEU both pre and post lisbon. handy huh?

Thats another great advantage of IT, the internet allows us to avoid repetition of work, once its done then everyone can use it and that frees up everyone else to do other things.

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