Dear Diary:
The debate on the use of technology in the classroom brings me back to my days at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn in the 1950s.
I was taking a physics class when we were told that we were to be part of an experiment that would be taught by television. Of the five lessons, there would be one lab (for a double period), one test period and three television lessons. The first 10 minutes would be for attendance and checking any homework. The last 30 minutes would be via TV. In those days there was no color TV and the largest screen that we had was 19 inches. We were all set to get the benefits of modern technology.
The reality was a bit different. We would rush into the classroom and turn on the TV to catch the last 10 minutes of “The Price Is Right.â€
Then to a chorus of boos, the teacher would switch the channel and we would start the physics lesson. We could not get close enough to see the experiments, we could not ask any ques tions, sometimes the TV would go on the blink, and we suffered through a myriad of other issues that would arise.
From that point onward I have always been a bit wary of anyone who claimed that technology can solve all of our problems.
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