Dutch high schools mostly still use chalk, have very limited computer and internet access. Further, school books are getting every year more expensive. Students already have to pay over 100 dollar for their only modern equipment, their graphical calculator. In the United States some classes are going quite differently. Moreover, MIT’s is now for 100 dollar providing Afrika schools with a laptop. Here some impressions. via.
Dutch Education department? Innovation Platform? Hello?
There is a lively debate on the effectiveness of computers in school i think. While it may be a good thing in india where many people may not have a pc at home it also has it’s downsides. Dutch children mostly have access to computers anyway at home so it may not help them much to have one at school too. I can imagine that a class full of people behind computer screens is not always a good environment for disseminating knowledge.
True, communication skills for example aren’t always improved by it. However, I would want rather have a laptop than a graphical calculator. Let’s heat the debate
this is by the way one of the against arguments:
http://barnhard.nl/2005/03/21/pupils-do-worse-with-computers/