Category: luddite
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RFID insecurity
The May 2006 issue of Wired Magazine has an article about RFID chips worth reading titled, “While You Were Reading This, Someone Ripped You Off.” The online version’s heading reads: The RFID Hacking Underground: They can steal your smartcard, lift your passport, jack your car, even clone the chip in your arm. And you won’t…
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We all need more sleep
The article from the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Just too wired: Why teens don’t get enough sleep,” suggests that technological distractions are at the root of a lack of sleep for teenagers. The reasons for this actually go back a lot further in time before MySpace and instant messaging, to the widespread use of electric light bulbs.…
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Kids want engaged learning
According to the March 3, 2006 article “Dropout rates high, but fixes under way,” high school students are dropping out primarily because….. can you guess? They are bored. Most students don’t drop out because they can’t do the work. Nearly 90 percent had passing grades when they left school, according to the survey of dropouts…
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Teacher laptops won’t change education
I agree with a recent editorial in the Ocala Star-Banner (Florida) paper questioning the value of Governor Jeb Bush’s T3 proposal (Technology Tools for Teachers) that would spend $188 million to provide each teacher in the state of Florida with a laptop computer. Laptop computers for teachers won’t revolutionize education, or by themselves lead to…
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Deficits of Joy & Human Clockspeed
Dr. David Orr, in the question and answer period following his presentation “The End of Education” shared with an audience at the University of British Columbia on January 13, 2006 (hour/minute/second mark 1:00:05 of the podcast), quoted a corporate CEO who stated the problem with his company was that they “suffered from a deficit of…
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Standards and Accountability are not the answer
Doug Johnson, author of the Blue Skunk Blog, has some interesting posts yesterday and today about advocating for digital literacy MANDATES as part of No Child Left Behind. He quotes Don Knezek’s (ISTE CEO) eWeek article on 2006 edtech policy wishes. Doug contends (among other things): Information and technology skills will not be taught (even…
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Luddite criticisms of technology and modernism
I had a wonderful Skype conversation with Miguel Guhlin this evening for an hour and a half. We were discussing presentation ideas for an April 3rd “Improving Student Learning through Technology-Best Practices” administrator in-service in Fort Worth where we are both speaking. Much of our conversation tonight focused on frustration with systemic-level school reform efforts,…
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Digital Diploma Mills
In 1998, David Noble published an article entitled “Digital Diploma Mills: The Automation of Higher Education.” This morning I discovered Noble and some of his ideas thanks to a link to “Let There Be Markets: The Evangelical Roots of Economics” by David Noble provided by Aaron Swartz on his wry if theologically questionable post “Understanding…
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Religion of Technology
This morning I listened to David Noble’s 1998 lecture on “The Religion of Technology: The Divinity of Man and the Spirit of Invention” at Seattle University. (Here is the direct mp3 link.) This book was published in 1999. Noble discusses some very ecclectic but engaging stuff probably of interest to anyone who has read Dan…
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Recess and Computing at odds?
Longer post than usual here, but these ideas are critical for educators and parents to think about and act on. Complex issues, but also important assumptions that should be recognized and understood in context. Lowell Monke’s thoughtful article “Charlotte’s Webpage: Why Children Shouldn’t Have the World at Their Fingertips” is a marvelous read and a…