Chapter 7 & 8

"New electronic technologies directly and indirectly comprise key products of new capitalist economies. ... Educational reform agendas serve crucially here as means to creating and maintaining enlarged markets for products of the information economy- extending beyond curricular exhortations to advocate also the extensive use of new technologies within administrative tasks of restructured schools." p. 135

"Technology and progress have become indissolubly linked in the minds of many parents, students, educators and policy makers. Schools are investing heavily in hardware, software, internet connections, local area networks and so on. Increasingly we of parents choosing schools for their children on the basis of internet access. Such practices and mindsets evince a "widely held discourse which associates computers in classrooms with technological progress, future employment opportunities of students as well as enhanced learning in the classroom." p.141

"A National Science Board publication, Educating Americans for the 21st Century, claimed that 'alarming numbers of young Americans are ill-equipped to work in, contribute to, profit from, and enjoy our increasingly technological society'". p. 135-136

There were a lot of quotes from the book I wanted to share because I had a strong reaction to them. The reason I had a strong reaction was because due to the failure of our school levy (I'm sorry, I am sure I have griped about this before). The last time I was at my local Board of Education office, I heard the lawyer for the board state that there would be no more investments in technology. Four Technology Integration Specialists have been terminated (RIF) and technology education program at the middle school is being eliminated or reduced.

The Randolph County Board of Education and Board Office staff are not responsible for this. The voters and tax payers of my county do not want to invest in education. This disappoints me most as a parent of three public school children. How can I read these chapters and not be concerned for them and all the children of our community trying to compete nationally and globally?

I think part of the problem lies within the public not understanding 'the relationship between 'proficiency' and 'playing around'."(p.140) They think, "These kids are computer geniuses when they are two!" Yes, they can play with technology but they are not proficient.

I believe "education is integral to improvement" (p. 142) and when we do not prioritize it, we do not have improvement needed in our community in a variety of ways, i.e. good doctors will not want to live in an area with poor public schools, teachers will lose morale and not stay in the profession, etc.