Computer useage is correlated to doing poorly in school!

[HandsOff]

Personally, I'm not surprised, but you may want to look at the article for yourself. Interesting how PISA conducts a scholarly study, and then promptly dismiss the results as misleading. Doesn't say much for the design of their studies does it?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/21/nteach21.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/03/21/ixportal.html


- HandsOff!

[sweater]

Maybe its true...some kids and teenagers are addicted playing games in their online pc's (and also some adults...) . 8)

http://webpages.charter.net/kylegdb/smilies/redxdance.gif

[mercurie]

Wrong about this...government says computers are important to personalised learning and needs to be embedded in teaching of all subjects.

Hogwash! :wacko: :P

Youngsters at least K through 8 should have real live human beings teaching them with a white board or chalk board. A computer is just an easy way out for a teacher or the school to be lazy at the cost of the youngsters educational experience. :'(

[Detox]

Besides; use a little common sense and do what I do - make the kid finish their homework before they're allowed to use the computer. That's not real tough to implement ::)

[Firecat]

IME Kids who are frequently using their PC fall behind in Mathematics for some reason.

Finishing homework before playing on the PC works, but is not a 100% cure.

[HandsOff]

I think there are a lot of reasons for why computers are not beneficial...at least across the board...for kids. The most obvious is the time factor. Its all to easy for the hours to fly by while one is being entertained on the computer.

The irony with my situation is that kids want me to get off the computer and play with them. And I need all the help I can get!

The other thing I wonder is if the computer has created a new paradox. Interactive passivity. While you can be said to be interacting, how much of it is by rote? How many times are you prompted by the same questions, and click OK, or whatever. Could this actually train one to make decisions without thinking?

Anyways, Detox is probably right about how to address the problem. The thing is, a lot of parents still probably think their kids are on the computer soaking up knowledge like sponges!

- HandsOff

[eyes-open]

I'm not convinced that computers are the issue at all. To my befuddled mind it is the desire to learn and respect for the opportunities that are key. :-

-{ Quote: "For Rahima al Sayyad the day starts at five in the morning looking after the family cattle, and does not end until 10 in the evening, when she finishes cleaning the house. In between she walks an hour and a half under a scorching sun to go to school.g at all
Rahima, 11, lives in an impoverished region of Somaliland, one of the poorest countries in the world. The school is a small tent crammed with 60 boys and girls of different ages, some of them squatting on the floor because of a shortage of desks and chairs.

But there is a thirst for knowledge and the hope of rewards it may bring that one does not often come across in more fortunate, affluent societies." }-