Disqus - Latest Comments for gpryor

Re: Are textbooks going the way of the horse and buggy?

gpryor — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:06:41 -0000

Digital textbooks make all the sense in the world. Recently published textbooks almost all have a digital supplement, which the kids tend to use exclusively anyway. The money and energy spent on the print editions is already being wasted as the books sit unread while learning happens online and in the classroom. The digital divide is less of a concern than it once was. The divide is no longer between being online or offline, but the sites used when online (i.e. Facebook v. MySpace) and the reasons the Internet is accessed. The key reason to switch to digital textbooks, however, is also mentioned in the NYT article: the way kids access information now is different than the ways in which we did. They seem to be wired differently, and draw in information visually, aurally, and interactively, and cannot stand staring at a static page of text.

Re: Recession meme: college is optional?

gpryor — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:03:51 -0000

A raft of effective changes in higher education could take place without swapping the defense budget for the education budget if we--parents, community, public--simply opened our minds to the alternatives. Perhaps that is what is happening now with the meme you've observed in the cultural landscape. If one college offered a "pre-academic service year" providing experience and growth that would then be integrated into students' academic years, applications would surge. (Many schools are integrating foreign study into the overall academic program in ways not done 20 to 30 years ago.) If there were a way that integrated service with academics reduced college fees while increasing student engagement, we would have a whole new education system -- without wrangling over increases in federal spending on education.

Re: Recession meme: college is optional?

gpryor — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:40:26 -0000

It is high time to question the (middle/upper class) assumption that what 17- and 18-year-old kids need is four more years of abstract thinking shoved down their throats, particularly when those throats are thirsty for beer and other real-life experiences. Yet the choice between vocational and liberal arts education seems forced as well. Could we re-think the whole arrangement based on what a capable teenager needs developmentally, and the ways in which that teenager's community needs him or her to become, eventually, a contributing member? Economic downturns are ideal times for re-invention. I'd like to see a six (or five) year college. Kids apply and are accepted to this imaginary college. Then they go off, under the auspices of the college, to serve the world for two years. Their service would be concrete work based on their abilities and interests; they would "major" in clearing forest trails, caring for the elderly, or other focused community service. Their pay would be converted to a fund that supplements tuition for the following four years (or three) of studies on campus. They would arrive on campus more mature, understanding that they have the ability to contribute and are needed by others, and eager to apply abstract studies to the real world situations they've already encountered--all in all far less likely to waste $160,000 avoiding academic work and drinking beer. How could we update the education Belmont provides to become both useful and developmentally appropriate? The gap between what Belmont High provides and what Minuteman does seems to wide. Couldn't there be a sensible middle ground?