There’s a ‘moon shot, Manhattan Project’
to save the school year from coronavirus,
but not in Seattle
Seattle Times,
by
Danny Westneat
Original Article
Posted By: Ron_lfp,
3/25/2020 10:30:03 AM
In rallying for the nation’s second-largest school district to transition to online instruction in the face of a pandemic, the head of Los Angeles’ public schools said this on Monday:
“We face the largest adaptive challenge for large urban public education systems in a generation. Pick your metaphor: This is the moon shot, the Manhattan Project, the Normandy landing, and the Marshall Plan, and the clock is ticking.”
So Los Angeles announced an “unprecedented commitment” of $100 million in emergency funding to get all students who need them both devices and internet access (snip) Compare to what school leaders have been saying here.
Seattle Public Schools “won’t transition to online learning
Reply 1 - Posted by:
seamusm 3/25/2020 10:44:17 AM (No. 357423)
I think the online learning 'solution' is not ready for widespread utilization - not every child has their own PC/laptop, not every teacher is prepared, the internet bandwidth is not adequate, and not every subject is suitable. This is just an experiment on our children in social promotion and kicking the can down the road to the next teacher. Demanding parents will ensure that their own kids are successful. Less able parents and their children will struggle - and may never catch up. But in this era, be assured everyone will graduate and eventually find good paying jobs. Yeahhh - Righhhht!
1 person likes this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
planetgeo 3/25/2020 10:49:54 AM (No. 357430)
Don't you just love the leftist version of "equity." As stated in this article, it gets put into practice as: "Not everybody is digital, so digital is off the table for everybody."
Well, OK then. Here are a few comparable "equity" practices you should follow up with:
1) Not everybody is getting paid while on quarantine. So getting paid is off the table for everybody.
2) Not everybody can get a ventilator or the prescribed medication if seriously ill. So getting a ventilator or the prescribed medication is off the table for everybody.
Let's see how committed they are to such other "equity" measures.
9 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
DVC 3/25/2020 11:36:59 AM (No. 357496)
Pardon my while I'm very skeptical that a bunch of education majors who have screwed up the entire education system until it is essentially impossible for the average student to get an even half-decent education could possibly do ANYTHING even remotely on the scale of those huge operations that this author uses as over-the-top metaphors.
I hope that they succeed for the kids' sake, but their track record is horribly bad.
1 person likes this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
FleetUSA 3/25/2020 11:41:21 AM (No. 357503)
Seattle -- home to computing and internet pioneer Microsoft -- can't solve this little problem quickly. Whereas Los Angeles is trying.
'
5 people like this.
Seattle is hopeless. It's a lost cause. The Democrat virus has killed it off.
1 person likes this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
DrOstrow 3/25/2020 1:39:15 PM (No. 357695)
Been there, done that.
There are so many holes in this idea, you could use it as a gazebo !
1st - obviously the taxpayer ( gov't - yeah, right ) is going to pay for all of the equipment needed by students who do not have a computer and the number who don't is going to increase DRAMATICALLY !
2nd - a breathtaking number of those computers are going to be "lost, stolen, broken, eaten by the dog...", let's just say GONE !! and have to be replaced, some of them repeatedly !!
3rd - Depending on the grade, there is a limited number of subjects that can be taught this way. History, english ( lit, etc. ), a few more but anything that requires a hands-on approach ( chemistry any sciences etc. come to mind - even math will not be easy ) is going to be near impossible.
4th - For those who already have their equipment, will they be 'reimbursed' for using it ? How much will be reimburse for those who already have high speed internet ? How much will the increased band width slow down overall performance ??
5th - IMO this will take far longer to implement than this 'crisis' is going to last.
I agree with with #3, the idea that the muli-generational group that has created the disaster that is our public school system seems woefully unprepared and incapable of solving this
'teaching problem; !
As I stated above, have seen it before.
Long ago and far away, a very large, rich, capable multi-national corporation that employed me tried this very idea. Specialized classrooms ( 2 - 14 students ) were constructed. Specialized studios were constructed for instructors. Multiple cameras, video screens, microphones, on and on were installed and connected. Both the instructor and the students could see each other, were able or electronically 'raise their hand', could see flip chart &/or 'black boards' etc. The best setup that could be devised, and far more reliable and functional than ANYTHING that can be thrown together in the next few weeks !
It was a failure. One of the major reasons is the inability of most people to teach, demonstrate and talk while literally running a broadcast booth changing screens ( displays ), selecting students with questions making sure everything was operating, again, on and on.
Yes there is a growing number of Universities where online courses can be taken but these are NOT 'an instructor in front of 30 - 40 students. Most are of the self 'study, read-a-lot, and be tested' tested variety attended by students who are paying for the course.
Such is not the case in public schools.
If this asinine idea it implemented, after this 'crisis' is over and the whole thing is dropped, go back and see, if you can, just who made small fortunes off of this boondoggle and I'll bet they are for the most part the same people pushing this 'solution'.
Let's look back in 6 months or a year and try to determine just how successful this experiment, and that's what it is, has been.
0 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
kono 3/25/2020 1:55:19 PM (No. 357717)
One of the K-8 schools I work with has been integrating classroom lessons with digital lessons for 3 years, so they are already back on track with their spring semester classes online. The other school hadn't made that investment (nor did they get the generous grant of tablets for this sort of use); so they are falling further behind. Students from the former are poised to finish their year with a bit of resentment but also accomplishment. Students from the latter are poised to reach their "I'm bored there's nothing to do!" stage of summer before May...
0 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Smart11344 3/25/2020 2:13:41 PM (No. 357750)
Danny West(not so) neat is one of many far leftists at the Seattle Times. I immediately cancelled their paper when the blamed Rush Lumbaugh for influencing Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma Bombing. It was on the front page. Below the fold.
1 person likes this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
stablemoney 3/25/2020 5:16:21 PM (No. 357936)
The teacher's unions might find themselves with a lot less teachers after all this.
0 people like this.
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