Re: [NEWS] Apple II gets press in UK!

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

Will Smith <root@ctron.com> wrote:

>On 6 Nov 1998, Clairemont High School wrote:
>
>> The Guardian newpaper in England features CHS and the Apple
>> in their latest paper and cyber edition
>
>i read the article!  that's great that you're getting the publicity!
>
>i hope that your school system is "embarrased" into getting some new
>machines, so that your students can learn about them....  (as much as i
>hate to say it, kids these days aren't going to see Apple II machines in
>offices these days...)

I think this is looking at it in a completely wrong way.

For years, many schools across the US and Canada simply
"had" computers.  They did not know what for.  Computers
in school are less about "showing the kids the PC they will
use in the office" but rather are teaching aids.  Like
a textbook, computers in schools are used to teach the
students OTHER SUBJECTS.  Language, for example,
which is what Louis teaches.  Luckily for students, teachers
are finally understanding this.  And in this task, an Apple IIGS
is just like any other computer.  When a student builds a
HyperCard or HyperStudio stack in a language project,
that student is immersing himself/herself in the language.
Just as if he/she were reading a textbook or role-playing
in a school play using that language.

Second, and perhaps the most important, computers in
schools are not to teach students how to use PARTICULAR
PROGRAMS but rather, HOW TO USE COMPUTERS.

I remember when I was in high school, some idiot
commentator in the Wall Street Journal printed a totally
stupid editorial lamenting how students in school
were "stunted" by exposure to Apple II units when
these kids would be using IBM PCs at work in the
future.

Well, let me just say that my first exposure to computers
in school were the Apple II (mainly IIe, later IIGS) units
and my first exposure to application software was
AppleWorks.  Once I learned how to use a word processor,
spreadsheet, database, and GUI on an Apple II, later
when I was exposed to Macs and DOS/Windows it
took me about five minutes to start cracking at an
application on those other computers.

That should be how computers are taught.  Learn the
general ideas (wp, spreadsheed, db, GUI) they are
applicable to ALL computers and ALL applications.
Knowing how to use an Apple IIGS made me already
PREPARED to learn MacOS and Windows LIKE THAT.

These kids and the Clairemont High School are
amazingly fortunate to have a teacher that understands
the use of the Apple IIGS.  Believe me, these kids
have a HUGE head start on others in using ANY
computer.

One last note, recently there have been a disturbing
trend in computer education.  Classes have popped
up that teach one particular application as though
that application were law.  I've seen people taught
MS Word for Windows and then unable to use any
other word processor.  They just sort of freeze when
they see WordPerfect, for example.  This is really,
really bad.  The days when classrooms were Apple IIs
and teachers taught GENERAL applications skills
and showed students how they applied to ALL
computers were much, much better.