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First, Barack Obama is not Santa Clause. I'm really indifferent towards the man at this point (don't really like him, liked McCain even less) but the one thing

First, Barack Obama is not Santa Clause. I'm really indifferent towards the man at this point (don't really like him, liked McCain even less) but the one thing that really bothers me is this idea that we should just all sit down and let President Obama do everything for us. If the author here really cares about what he's saying he should write a lesson plan that teaches programming and send it to schools. Put up a website that asks for support of his lesson plan. Solicit donations for computers in classrooms. Overall just get off his own @$$ and try to make it happen. Finally, I don't see what DRM and banning Cell Phones has anything to do with teaching technology to kids but I can say his first point is largely wrong. I grew up in public funded housing (aka the projects) and even we had computers in our classrooms. If someone can find me the high school that is completely without computers in the U.S. I'd like to see it becasue I think it's just a myth.

bmj 18y ago
The cell phone point is particularly out of place. How many kids are taking class notes on their cell phones? I'll take your suggestion a bit further--I think, instead of looking to the government to implement these changes, why not provide an opportunity for bright kids to opt out of the current system? Enable cooperatives and networks to provide the kids with environments that will them flourish.
- TomOfTTB 18y ago
  On that note, I have been experimenting with these (http://www.amazon.com/E09XPH-9-Inch-2goPC-Celeron-Processor/dp/B0016OJXGQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1235361249&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/E09XPH-9-Inch-2goPC-Celeron-Processor/...) for the facility I work with and have been pleasantly surprised. If someone wanted to provide younger kids a chance to flourish without spending too much I'd take a serious look at picking up a few of these.
- jamii 18y ago
  > How many kids are taking class notes on their cell phones? I've started taking lecture notes on my android phone. Its surprising how having an open phone and a decent keyboard makes you rethink the amount of computing power you carry around in your pocket. I recently went to a seminar on pervasive computing where one of the speakers demonstrated that audience members could learn to type accurately on a chording keyboard without looking at the screen. I was going at 25-30wpm already by the end of the lecture. A cheap bluetooth version would make subtle notetaking really easy.

bmj 18y ago

The cell phone point is particularly out of place. How many kids are taking class notes on their cell phones? I'll take your suggestion a bit further--I think, instead of looking to the government to implement these changes, why not provide an opportunity for bright kids to opt out of the current system? Enable cooperatives and networks to provide the kids with environments that will them flourish.

TomOfTTB 18y ago
On that note, I have been experimenting with these (http://www.amazon.com/E09XPH-9-Inch-2goPC-Celeron-Processor/dp/B0016OJXGQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1235361249&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/E09XPH-9-Inch-2goPC-Celeron-Processor/...) for the facility I work with and have been pleasantly surprised. If someone wanted to provide younger kids a chance to flourish without spending too much I'd take a serious look at picking up a few of these.
jamii 18y ago
> How many kids are taking class notes on their cell phones? I've started taking lecture notes on my android phone. Its surprising how having an open phone and a decent keyboard makes you rethink the amount of computing power you carry around in your pocket. I recently went to a seminar on pervasive computing where one of the speakers demonstrated that audience members could learn to type accurately on a chording keyboard without looking at the screen. I was going at 25-30wpm already by the end of the lecture. A cheap bluetooth version would make subtle notetaking really easy.