Maybe We Should Leave That Up to the Computer – NY Times July 18, 2006

1. Maybe We Should Leave That Up to the Computer – NY Times July 18, 2006 • Mark E. Nissen, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., who has been studying computer-vs.-human procurement, sees a fundamental shift under way, with humans becoming increasingly peripheral in making routine decisions, concentrating instead on designing ever-better models. • “The newest space, and the one that’s most exciting, is where machines are actually in charge, but they have enough awareness to seek out people to help them when they get stuck,” he said — for example, when making “particularly complex, novel, or risky” decisions. • The ideal future, then, may lie in letting computers and people each do what they do best. One way to facilitate this development is to train people to identify the typical cognitive foibles that lead to bad choices. “I’ve now worked with these models for so long,” Mr. Snijders said, “that my instincts have changed along the way.” • As Mr. Bishop of Northern Illinois University puts it, by making smart use of computer models’ advantages, “you’ll become like the crafty A student who doesn’t work that hard but gets mostly right answers, rather than the really hard-working student who gets lots of wrong answers and as a result gets C’s.” What's New 2006

2. Agenda • Cause you to reexamine your assumptions • Work interactively on what we think • Learn what you think What's New 2006

3. Position I: Student Laptops are Unnecessary • Too expensive and too complicated to maintain • Distractions in the classroom and lead to attention loss • Kids use computers too much at home—school should be a haven from computers • Schools educate kids best with face-to-face interactions, not face-to-screen • Laptops don’t address a problem or need in most schools • Several schools have started 1:1 programs, only to stop them • Academic research has not proven clear benefits from 1:1 laptops What's New 2006

4. Position II: Student Laptops Are Inevitable • Used to cost over $2000. Now can be had for less than $1000. • Cost difference between laptops and desktops is incremental, but laptops can be used more frequently than desktops • In the coming years, laptops will become even less expensive, or laptop alternatives (small phone/tablet hybrids) will become commonplace and relatively inexpensive ($500) • Reliability and support improving • Increasing numbers of private and public colleges and universities are requiring laptops • As more kids have laptops at home, how does a school argue that “no laptops are allowed or needed”? What's New 2006

5. Position III – Part 1: Student Laptops Are Essential • High percentages of independent school Middle School and Upper School students have problems with organization • Higher expectations for tracking their work, deadlines and commitments. • A fair percentage of these students can be helped by the “all-in-one-place” benefits of laptops, easy access to online course pages, combined calendars, and other resources • The communications benefits of individual laptops may equal or exceed the productivity benefits What's New 2006

6. Position III – Part 2: Student Laptops Are Essential • Teachers have always had to adjust classroom management techniques for different generations of kids. Why would technology necessitate a “locking of techniques” that pretends that current and future generations don’t use computers? • If the kids, teachers and school are going to evolve and move forward on multiple fronts (organization, communications, productivity, classroom management, student-centered learning), then student laptops are essential • Laptops can help overcome equity of access for students of different economic backgrounds (when schools provide low or no cost laptops to financial aid students that are the same as everyone else’s laptops) • 1:1 laptops can ensure equity of access for boys and girls, especially during the critical middle school years. What's New 2006

7. Why Do I Believe This Is Essential • Tools of their time • Don’t teach harness making when tractors are cheap • Meet the students where they are • How many teachers have a MySpace? • It’s the rebirth of the 14th Century • Sort of What's New 2006

8. What are the Liberal Arts? • Liberal from Latin liberalis – appropriate for free men • The Big 4 – the Quadrivium • The Smaller 3 – the Trivium What's New 2006

9. The Quadrivium • Arithmetic • Geometry • Music • Astronomy What's New 2006

10. The Trivium • Grammar • Rhetoric • Logic What's New 2006

11. 3 Domains of the New Trivium Grammar Information Literacy Logic Computer Science Rhetoric Information Technology What's New 2006

12. Information Literacy – 21st Century Grammar • Information Literacy • Incorporates Media Literacy • Listen to Dave Warlick What's New 2006

13. Computer Science – 21st Century Logic • Algorithmic Thinking • How tools are designed and deployed • Return of what was lost in the 1950’s & 1960’s What's New 2006

14. Information Technology – 21st Century Rhetoric • Laptop one example of a generic tool • Use technology as a tool What's New 2006

15. 3 Domains of Tech Fluency Problem Solving (Tactical) Philosophy Logic Innovation Information Literacy Computer Science Information Technology What's New 2006

16. My goal • Independently confident of their ability to: • Determine what they need to accomplish • Choose the right tool • Learn how to use the tool • Accomplish the goal What's New 2006