6 ms·

This is so nice to read after having seen my sister's children receive laptops at school. No one was actually giving them any system knowledge. No programming,

This is so nice to read after having seen my sister's children receive laptops at school. No one was actually giving them any system knowledge. No programming, no "how does a computer work, what is a file...", no support/teaching on how software can help when e.g. writing an essay. Nothing. They were carrying 10+ kg (no joke) in their bags every day because of course they were forced to bring the (heavy) laptop to every damn lesson. There was no ultimate plan, no knowledgable teachers, just "the kids should have computers, right?". They could have received iPads, Windows or linux setups... Wouldn't have mattered since there was no plan in place. I'm at a point where I strongly believe schools should just hand out Raspberry Pis to students to tinker with instead. Add a proper curriculum and let the students fail, mess up their RPIs to get to know the system. Let them write simple scripts. Anything. RPIs are easy to restore. Maybe other schools are doing better over here, but when my nephew (growing up with minecraft/pokemon go on mobile only) didn't dare to touch most of the stuff on his school laptop due to being afraid of messing up I tried very hard not to scream.

xyzzy123 10y ago
I bet no one told you how to code though. I imagine that you probably had some proto computer some time in your past and spent a long time figuring it out? That the school system wasn't equipped to teach you anything but you somehow did just fine? It doesn't have to be like that of course and I suppose that there is some neuro elitist aspect to kids just fiddling with the things that interest them...
- blipmusic 10y ago
  I couldn't call myself a programmer - most of what I've done are smaller things that help out at work - but I'm slowly improving. If you are implying that there is an abundance of resources out there, you are of course correct. It was quite different when I grew up. [Home] Internet was not a thing that existed and most data was analogue. When home computers became common I had to learn a bit about the system if I wanted to get some use out of it. I'm not saying user friendliness is somehow bad, it's what we should always aim for! We've come a long way and I like it here. I'm not that old, it's just that I had a childhood before home computers and internet were a thing. The school system back when did in fact teach me a bit about computers. In my case, in [the equivalent to] high-school when home internet started to take off, our curriculum came to include (very) basic computer science, (very) basic coding in ... prolog? (prolog might be incorrect) We created home pages in class from scratch in html. Not by choice, as most of this concerned every student at my school. Maybe I was lucky? In my nephews case, they were handed a computer, then absolutely nothing. And I mean nothing. They are still forced to bring the computer to every class but report hardly ever touching it at school. Maybe their bad experience is an exception. I hope so. Back then my teachers definitely weren't the best - or even good - at computer science but they were prepared to try and to learn together with the students.
  - xyzzy123 10y ago
    I apologise, and thanks. You're right we should be doing better. I'm a little ashamed of myself. You're right we should do the best we can for everyone.
Cthulhu_ 10y ago
I'd like to see RPis in schools - they're cheap, just $5 or $10 for the wireless models. Providing the accessories required to use it is more costly, but kids can't really hack screens and $3 keyboards. RPi's are ideal for learning basic computer usage and programming, IMO. Slow though, but the RPi 3 should be fast enough for that too.
- makomk 10y ago
  The $5 and $10 models are limited to one per customer and out of stock much of the time - not something you can equip a classroom with.
  - sfeng 10y ago
    There are Chinese knock-offs which are available.
  - adrianN 10y ago
    If a state decides to introduce RPis in all classrooms, I suspect that they could get a nice deal.
    - cmdrfred 10y ago
      Also the entire purpose of the Raspberry Pi project is education. I'm certain they would work with anyone using them for that purpose.
      - sperglord 10y ago
        Education and a 1:1 program are vastly different usage models. You're not going to be able to take a Rasperry Pi, a monitor keyboard and mouse home with you in your backpack to do your homework on.
        donutz 10y ago
        You could take home a pi, keyboard, and mouse though. Assuming you have a TV you can plug your pi into.
josteink 10y ago
> Maybe other schools are doing better over here, but when my nephew (growing up with minecraft/pokemon go on mobile only) didn't dare to touch most of the stuff on his school laptop due to being afraid of messing up I tried very hard not to scream. Considering how school should be the arena where you're allowed to mess up (and thus learn from your mistakes), this is so ass backwards (and sad) as it can possibly be. When a school is no longer a safe zone for learning, you can pretty much just consider that generation pre-doomed, irrespective of topic. What a waste.
ams6110 10y ago
Same with my kids' schools. iPads handed out to every kid, but incredibly, they were incompatible with the online Math textbook selected. Millions spent on technology for its own sake, without any real plan. Honestly I think paper, pencils, and books are still the most effective tools for most primary education.
- andybak 10y ago
  Sounds like the "online Math textbook" was the main problem. How on earth would that not be compatible with an iPad. What the hell was it?
  - anonymfus 10y ago
    Probably Flash. Or may be some JavaScript using mouse or keyboard events not provided by iPad.
  - ams6110 10y ago
    The textbook was the big red flag that this was all a theater production. "See how modern we are, all the kids have iPads" It likely was Flash-based. All I know is it didn't work in iPad Safari. My kids didn't use them for much else other than games at home.
- boznz 10y ago
  +1 for pen and paper at school. Didn't touch a computer until I was 15 and didn't do me any harm.

xyzzy123 10y ago

I bet no one told you how to code though. I imagine that you probably had some proto computer some time in your past and spent a long time figuring it out? That the school system wasn't equipped to teach you anything but you somehow did just fine? It doesn't have to be like that of course and I suppose that there is some neuro elitist aspect to kids just fiddling with the things that interest them...

blipmusic 10y ago
I couldn't call myself a programmer - most of what I've done are smaller things that help out at work - but I'm slowly improving. If you are implying that there is an abundance of resources out there, you are of course correct. It was quite different when I grew up. [Home] Internet was not a thing that existed and most data was analogue. When home computers became common I had to learn a bit about the system if I wanted to get some use out of it. I'm not saying user friendliness is somehow bad, it's what we should always aim for! We've come a long way and I like it here. I'm not that old, it's just that I had a childhood before home computers and internet were a thing. The school system back when did in fact teach me a bit about computers. In my case, in [the equivalent to] high-school when home internet started to take off, our curriculum came to include (very) basic computer science, (very) basic coding in ... prolog? (prolog might be incorrect) We created home pages in class from scratch in html. Not by choice, as most of this concerned every student at my school. Maybe I was lucky? In my nephews case, they were handed a computer, then absolutely nothing. And I mean nothing. They are still forced to bring the computer to every class but report hardly ever touching it at school. Maybe their bad experience is an exception. I hope so. Back then my teachers definitely weren't the best - or even good - at computer science but they were prepared to try and to learn together with the students.
- xyzzy123 10y ago
  I apologise, and thanks. You're right we should be doing better. I'm a little ashamed of myself. You're right we should do the best we can for everyone.

Cthulhu_ 10y ago

I'd like to see RPis in schools - they're cheap, just $5 or $10 for the wireless models. Providing the accessories required to use it is more costly, but kids can't really hack screens and $3 keyboards. RPi's are ideal for learning basic computer usage and programming, IMO. Slow though, but the RPi 3 should be fast enough for that too.

makomk 10y ago
The $5 and $10 models are limited to one per customer and out of stock much of the time - not something you can equip a classroom with.
- sfeng 10y ago
  There are Chinese knock-offs which are available.
- adrianN 10y ago
  If a state decides to introduce RPis in all classrooms, I suspect that they could get a nice deal.
  - cmdrfred 10y ago
    Also the entire purpose of the Raspberry Pi project is education. I'm certain they would work with anyone using them for that purpose.
    - sperglord 10y ago
      Education and a 1:1 program are vastly different usage models. You're not going to be able to take a Rasperry Pi, a monitor keyboard and mouse home with you in your backpack to do your homework on.
      - donutz 10y ago
        You could take home a pi, keyboard, and mouse though. Assuming you have a TV you can plug your pi into.

josteink 10y ago

> Maybe other schools are doing better over here, but when my nephew (growing up with minecraft/pokemon go on mobile only) didn't dare to touch most of the stuff on his school laptop due to being afraid of messing up I tried very hard not to scream. Considering how school should be the arena where you're allowed to mess up (and thus learn from your mistakes), this is so ass backwards (and sad) as it can possibly be. When a school is no longer a safe zone for learning, you can pretty much just consider that generation pre-doomed, irrespective of topic. What a waste.

ams6110 10y ago

Same with my kids' schools. iPads handed out to every kid, but incredibly, they were incompatible with the online Math textbook selected. Millions spent on technology for its own sake, without any real plan. Honestly I think paper, pencils, and books are still the most effective tools for most primary education.

andybak 10y ago
Sounds like the "online Math textbook" was the main problem. How on earth would that not be compatible with an iPad. What the hell was it?
- anonymfus 10y ago
  Probably Flash. Or may be some JavaScript using mouse or keyboard events not provided by iPad.
- ams6110 10y ago
  The textbook was the big red flag that this was all a theater production. "See how modern we are, all the kids have iPads" It likely was Flash-based. All I know is it didn't work in iPad Safari. My kids didn't use them for much else other than games at home.
boznz 10y ago
+1 for pen and paper at school. Didn't touch a computer until I was 15 and didn't do me any harm.