Posted on 05/30/2014 5:23:03 AM PDT by yldstrk
At the start of morning assembly in the state-of-the-art Viikki School here, students’ smartphones disappear. In math class, the teacher shuts off the Smartboard and begins drafting perfect circles on a chalkboard. The students — some of the highest-achieving in the world — cut up graphing paper while solving equations using their clunky plastic calculators.
Finnish students and teachers didn’t need laptops and iPads to get to the top of international education rankings, said Krista Kiuru, minister of education and science at the Finnish Parliament. And officials say they aren’t interested in using them to stay there.
That’s in stark contrast to what reformers in the U.S. say. From President Barack Obama on down, they have called education technology critical to improving schools. By shifting around $2 billion in existing funds and soliciting $2 billion in contributions from private companies, the Obama administration is pressing to expand schools’ access to broadband and the devices that thrive on it.
School districts nationwide have loaded up students with billions of dollars’ worth of tablets, laptops, iPods and more on the theory that, as Obama said last year, preparing American kids to compete with students around the globe will require interactive, individualized learning experiences driven by new technology.
But with little education technology in the classroom, Finnish students have repeatedly outperformed American students on international tests. In 2001, Finland’s students were the highest-achieving in the world, according to the Programme for International Student Assessment test administered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The Nordic country uses innovative teaching strategies in the classroom, just generally without incorporating technology. Private schools and charter schools aren’t part of the mix, and all education is essentially free.
Kiuru said an education system modeled after the top-performing Asian countries isn’t right for Finland.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
What if the next education expert ‘45’ becomes prez?
Ultimately the problem isn’t the technology or lack thereof, or even the funding or lack thereof; it’s the students and their willingness to learn. In America today, there is no patriotism, no sense of being part of something bigger. Therefore, there is no driving force or pride in the parents or the children themselves. They are like boats without a sail. The children are debauched, and are almost all raised up on television. They do not believe in Christ, but are raised up from an early age to be hedonists.
It isn’t that the methods do not work. I’ve taken courses on education and have studied older forms of teaching, and my conclusion is that every method can work just as well as any other. (Well, maybe not Common core.) The ancients were raised up learning Latin and Greek through grammar-translation, and yet became more fluent than students do today who rely on more advanced and scientific based approaches. Why? Because they wanted to learn. Our students do NOT want to learn. They are lost. Rudderless. They have no love of country, no dreams, no sense of duty, except for purely material pursuits. They are not taught hard work. They are not spanked. They are not inspired. They are lost. They are spiritually dead. They are without God, and therefore without hope in the world.
Compare this with Christian homeschooling students who, no doubt, would outperform a Finn any day of the week.
A lot of the bullsh!t and anxiety about education in the U.S. disappears once you realize that education in this country is an industry, not an end to itself. Every time you hear some @sshole like Barack Obama standing up there talking about how important it is to incorporate advanced technology in our classrooms to improve our competitive position in the world, you can be sure that millions of dollars are pouring into political campaigns from companies like Dell, Apple, Microsoft, etc. And for every jackass politician who calls for increased spending on education, you can be sure there is a teacher's union, book publishers, technology companies, etc. who all have a major financial stake in that spending and don't really give a sh!t about educating anyone.
DEMOGRAPHICS!
Finland isn’t importing millions of uneducated, Turd world dimwits, unable to speak the language, that breed like rats in a corn crib.
There is the big demographic difference but I do believe technology has a huge downside. You can load all the Education Apps you want but the kids will find ways to get on Facebook and YouTube instead. Also, kids lost the ability to find something in a book instead googling looking for an answer.
Our vile Prussian education system needs to be tossed in history’s dumpster!
I’d also wager that they don’t hold back the smartest kids so that everyone can catch up, and those that achieve the highest levels have access to the most advanced education opportunities in the long run, best suited to their actual merit.
education in this country is an industry
Our top universities are part of it. The latest from one I know (too) well ($45,000 per year tuition for a school you have heard of, but don’t think of as elite) is the offering of Vitamin Water from the beverage dispensers in the dorm.
That encapsulates what is wrong. Offering pointless luxury benefits having nothing to do with education, in order to be “competitive” with the other high-priced institution that are paid for with other people’s (borrowed) money.
Educationally, there are good reasons to have students copy problems from a textbook and solve them pen or pencil to paper. It's an active involvement by the child from start to finish, and more sensory. It allows the child to adapt the writing and spacing for what works best for their eyes and brains. The physical writing of the problem keeps the child (or adult) involved. Turn off the flourescent lights and bright technology screens and let natural sunlight into the room and students will be in a better mental state. Stop the noise and distractions so children can focus.
The modern US classroom is getting just about everything wrong. There still are situations that are doing the educating well, but usually not in environments where parents, teachers, administrators, and students expect all that they can have handed to them.
The moron/thieves in the US Big Academia Governmental Complex (inclusive of the commie unions) have only one solution for the abysmally failing government schools: HIGHER-TAXES/MORE-MONEY. Period.
Such a racist statement! But also such a true statement.
The Finns do not worship diversity. To them, diversity means a few Swedes, Norwegians or Russians.
BTW, did you know that it is racist to call a Finn a Finnlander?
Sounds reasonable. Technology has a place in education, but it's probably already used two or three times as much as is really beneficial in the US. Kids need to learn the basic skills themselves w/o technology, then learn to use techhology as a tool and not as a substitute for basic skills and understanding of the three R's.
(ebooks replacing printed books probably is a reasonable use of technology.)
I don’t think it’s racist to tell the truth. When you look at the ‘white only’ education stats, America does quite well. Ditto on crime etc.
In the State Church of Libtardism it is, indeed, racist to tell the truth if the truth challenges their articles of faith. But I do all I can to avoid attending said church and put nothing in the collection plate save what they extort from me through taxes.
Amen! Alberta’s Child
Agreed, technology is used as a substitute for thinking.
Amen, Grania!
“The students — some of the highest-achieving in the world — cut up graphing paper while solving equations using their clunky plastic calculators.”
Hmmm, still using calculators. That means that there is STILL room to beat them at their game.
But, it won’t happen, because American parents are TOO STUPID to understand that calculators have NO PLACE in math class.
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