No-Tech Schools In Tech Land

manyoso writes: "This article in the Oregonian tells how some hi-tech parents at Intel are opting for a school without computers for their children. From the article: 'Conventional wisdom holds that children can only benefit from exposure to technology', but children, 'shouldn't spend first-grade skipping coloring and learning to keyboard... Emphasizing computers doesn't seem to enhance students' creativity and could even stifle it... We want them to eventually see what a computer can do for them, but only after they know what they can do for themselves.'" Clifford Stoll has argued and written along similar lines.

Re:*stifles* creativity??

[PopeAlien]

I dunno - I feel a lot less creative now that I use a computer all the time.. of course that could have something to do with the booze.

Re:not only does it stifle creativity, but..

[MathJMendl]

I've seen kids use a calculator to add 50 to 50.

Nah, I'd have to say that the stuff about calculators ruining people's math abilities is a bunch of hype. I mean, I don't have my TI-89 with its Computer Algebra System on me, but it doesn't take a calculator to tell me the answer to that is 200.

Re:I dont know about you all

[Anonymous Coward]

I started on them when I was probably 5 or 6, and got my own when I was 8. Frankly, I wish I had been more exposed to them when I was younger.

Younger than 5 or 6? What do you want, pre-natal exposure? Computers directly in the womb?

Doctor: "From the ultrasound, you can see that you're going to have a boy, with a pentium 4 running linux. From the slashdot page here, we can deduce that he's surfing the net on a wireless connection."

Sheesh!

Computers in 1st grade...

[Wing]

Computers in first grade do solve one problem...

Coloring in the lines...

Instead of trying hard with that dull crayon to color within the lines, one click with the fill tool in photoshop and you're never outside the lines again ;)

Early computer experience breeds

[ruvreve]

HACKERS......a lot of 'evil' hackers that I have talked to all have said they started using and loving computers at an early age. They were writing BASIC programs since they were 6 and other things of this nature. Could it be that getting involved with computers so early deprived them of the time to learn about the rest of the world and mature as upstanding citizens? I was first introduced to computers and BBSes as a freshman in high school and ever since I have had little concern for trying to maintain an active social life with all the 'cool' people. I was more concerned with playing Carmen Sandiego, Simcity and Tradewars. I apologize if my use of 'hacker' was not in accordance with correct geek definition.

Hey techers!

[nice]

Leave those kids alone!

All in all you're just another brick in the wall...

Read, Read, Read....

[bubbha]

When they are little we should be reading to them....in an animated style. When they are a little older we should be taking them to the library. When they are teenagers, we should be bribing them with cash. Whatever it takes.

Re:*stifles* creativity??

[a random streaker]

> drawing outside the lines,

I got spanked in first grade because I colored outside the lines.

Re:So you grew up before the internet generation

[gfxguy]

Adults in corperations use power point all the time and they dont get distracted by pretty colors, what are you thinking?

"Sales Managers who agonize over PowerPoint slides waste time that could be spent making sales calls." [ctetrain.com]

I read an article a couple of years ago how some companies are forbidding the use of powerpoint specifically because people waste so much time making content look pretty when they could be gathering/analyzing content better. People were competing based on form.

My opinion is that you can make slides, you can even use a computer (even PowerPoint) to do it, but as soon as someone wastes even one second trying to decide what background image to use, you are wasting time. If the content can't carry the interest of the people watching the presentation, maybe there's something wrong with the content.