[LM_NET] GEN: re: What and why do we teach?

[MJW <sky3ler2003@YAHOO.COM>]

My view is simple: technology is useful but it is not
very useful to illiterates.
In my last job, I was fortunate that my school had a
full-time technology person who collaborated with the
teachers in the computer lab. I used, and taught kids
to use, computers to do research and to locate books.
It is unfortunate that sometimes technology lands in
the librarian's lap sort of as a default, and takes
over. Literacy in the modern world does include
finding information through technology, but there is
still a place for books and reading. 
I am also concerned by the opposite attitude, that we
only teach literature. I used to teach a game called
"SET", a card game that I love and that teaches all
sorts of thinking skills. It would be categorized as a
math game, and elementary teachers have asked me "Why
are you teaching a math game in the LIBRARY?",
implying that if it doesn't have to do with literature
and reading, it's outside my purview. I've replied
that the library covers all subjects, but it bothers
me that that thought is out there...


Mary Walter
Charlottesville, VA
sky3ler2003@yahoo.com
formerly at Arlington County Schools, VA
http://kidslearningstuff.blogspot.com


 
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