Todd Oppenheimer

Blog # 11
After reading the article I was a little bit confused to what is going on in the schools. I understand that technology is very important and that kids need to know about it. But to what extend do we need to take away other programs in order to fit the computers? After today’s class I was surprised to hear some of the comments, where they think computers are so important, which yes, they are, but at the same time, we can survive without computers. Oppenheimer said that in one school there was a computer for every three students and I thought that was a little bit too much. My thoughts: as long as there is one computer class in the school, kids are going to learn about computers. They are going to learn how to navigate and the main programs that they need to do in some of the subjects. If they start offering computer classes in kindergarten, maybe only once a week, by the time they get to high school they’ve had a lot of experience. Once they get to high school they can decide if computers are something they want to know more about it or not. If one student wants to be a plumber or a car mechanic, I don’t think he needs to know too much about computers, as the program that he would use he would have not learnt it in school, he would have to learn it in vocational school or at the job. As long as they know how to use a computer would be enough. In my other job I use computers, but I use a program where it is not sold to the public and only the people from the organization know how to use it, so as long as you know how to use a computer is all that there is to it. I don’t think that cutting in programs like music, art or physical education should be replace by computers in order to pay for them.