[Edu-sig] An OLPC comment ("Why Educational Technology Has Failed Schools")

[Bert Freudenberg]

Thanks Paul,

I know of Steiner, we have a son who went to a Waldorf school. We  
choose a Montessori school for our other kids, which I like much better.

Anyway, I was specifically looking for someone both knowledgable in  
education *and* technology, and writing about the intersection of the  
two.

- Bert -

Am Jan 18, 2007 um 15:23  schrieb Paul D. Fernhout:

> Bert-
>
> Thanks for the kind words.
>
> Well, I would not agree with everything he has to say, but I would  
> expect
> the Austrian Rudolf Steiner
>    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Steiner
>    http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Steiner  [auf Deutsch]
> as the originator of the "Waldorf education" method
>    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_schools
>    http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf-P%C3%A4dagogik  [auf Deutch]
> might have written much in German? See here:
>     http://www.sab.org.br/steiner/biogr-eng.htm
>  From the English Waldorf link:
>    "Waldorf education (also called Steiner education) is based upon  
> the
> educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, and stems from his
> spiritual/religious philosophy anthroposophy. [1] [2] This sees child
> development as a process of the child's soul and spirit incarnating  
> into a
> developing living, physical organism.[3] Waldorf education  
> emphasizes an
> imaginative and holistic approach to education.[4] Spiritual values  
> are
> central both to the curriculum [5] and to the training of teachers. 
> [6] [7]
> [8] [9] Waldorf education is practiced in more than 900 [citation
> needed]established independent private Waldorf schools located in  
> about
> sixty different countries, in "Waldorf-method" government-funded  
> schools,
> in homeschooling environments; and in special education."
>
> Personally I'm not into Waldorf education as a big picture, but I  
> like a
> lot of the parts, especially their stand against media for young  
> kids. I'd
> say the same about the Montessori method too (the other big well known
> alternative).
>
> And then of course there is bablefish automatic translator,
>     http://babelfish.altavista.com/
> though it is obviously an awkward mechanical translation:
> http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent? 
> lp=en_de&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.johntaylorgatto.com
> [That link translates a page on Gatto's site from English to German  
> and
> continues to translate as you click on links; it breaks sometimes]
> See also:
> http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent? 
> lp=en_de&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.johntaylorgatto.com%2funderground% 
> 2findex.htm
> http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent? 
> lp=en_de&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.johntaylorgatto.com%2funderground% 
> 2ftoc1.htm
>
> It's really interesting to at least try bablefish; it seems a  
> miracle it
> works at all; I've used it a couple of times for translating  
> Spanish sites
> about programming -- it's a funny experience to suddenly have such  
> a site
> in a different language make (some) sense..
>
> All the best.
>
> --Paul Fenrhout
>
> Bert Freudenberg wrote:
>> Am Jan 18, 2007 um 6:45  schrieb Paul D. Fernhout:
>>
>>>  so no matter how cheap you made distributing a
>>> diversity of text books or related educational materials,  
>>> schools  would
>>> not want any but the standardized ones to be used at the  
>>> standardized
>>> times. The point of conventional schooling was then ansd still is to
>>> produce a standard graded product, not amplify differences. As I
>>> point out
>>> in my previously linked essay
>>>       "Why Educational Technology Has Failed Schools"
>>> http://patapata.sourceforge.net/
>>> WhyEducationalTechnologyHasFailedSchools.html
>>> computers linked to the internet have revolutionized just about   
>>> every
>>> area
>>> of life today related to information access and education -- except,
>>> ironically, schooling. I think there is a reason. Schools are   
>>> *actively*
>>> in the way of everything the better side of the world wide web
>>> promises --
>>> diversity, expression, disintermediation, innovation, etc.
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi Paul,
>>
>> I *very* much enjoy reading your thoughts on technology and   
>> education.
>> I wish they were in German, to be able to show them to  people  
>> here ...
>> Do you know any German writer with similar views?
>>
>> - Bert -