Re: [K12OSN] We're promoting k12LTSP (continued......)

[Bert Rolston <bert rolston clear net nz>]

Hi all,

I'll use the KISS principle here.

When a person learns to drive, are they taught to drive a particular
make and model of car, OR operate a motor vehicle?

When we put fuel into a car do we have to buy special fuels for Honda,
Toyota, Chrysler, Ford, or GM?

What is the difference when we are dealing with computers and software?

That's my 2c worth.

Cheers,
Bert



On Mon, 2003-04-14 at 07:41, Terrell Prude', Jr. wrote:
> The standard reply to this question that we get is, "We have to prepare 
> the kids to be able to function in the workplace, and the workplace 
> standard is Microsoft." 
> 
> Personally, I think that this is about as crazy as when the University 
> of Washington CompSci Dept. changed their C and C++ classes to "program 
> for Windows on Visual C++ 4.2".  My understanding is that they went back 
> to ANSI C on Free OS's because they discovered that their students ended 
> up not being able to code for anything but Windows.  This is bad news 
> when your upper-division (300- and 400-level) courses are taught by 
> grizzled old UNIX profs and you find yourself not being able to call 
> WinMain() anymore and having to use vi or emacs.  From what my contacts 
> there tell me, the University teaches the basics in ANSI C on *BSD and 
> GNU/Linux, and then, once the language according to the spec is learned, 
> then they expose you to Mac OS and Windows programming as 
> "platform-specific examples."  Thus, the graduates of the program are 
> much more versatile.
> 
> Likewise, with an exposure to Free Software (GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, etc.), 
> as well as to Mac OS and Windows, students really are more versatile "in 
> the workplace" because they learn to think and use reason with the tool 
> (the computer) better.
> 
> Kai Staats of Terra Soft Solutions put it nicely, and I quote:
> 
> "But at what point do teachers (or school systems) realize that the 
> world is not comprised of just Mac OS and Windblows? In the real world, 
> computer users must be flexible with ability to move between computers 
> independent of the OS.
> 
> "A word processor is a word processor is a word processor. If someone 
> was 'trained' on the MS Office suite, they can run the K-Office suite 
> with their eyes closed ... and the reverse is nearly true as well, 
> depending upon the app (Gnumeric is identical to Excel, but K-Word lacks 
> the full compliment of Word features, which in my opinion are not used 
> by the majority of Word processors anyway)."
> 
> Granted, he's a tad biased.  :-)  However, he is correct.  What we're 
> doing when we keep kids on just one platform is turn them into 
> "corporate worker bees", and that's not what education is supposed to be 
> about.  It's about opening up minds, not closing them.
> 
> --TP
> 
> Rob Becker wrote:
> 
> >I suppose my initial reaction to your question of what using MS only
> >products in education does to students can best be answered by looking
> >at exceptional educational institutions the world over and seeing how
> >they approach learning through curriculum.  The college I attended was a
> >liberal arts school.  This meant that to graduate with any degree, in
> >any major, I would have to take courses that fulfilled the core
> >requirements of the school's liberal arts curriculum as well as the
> >requirements of my major.  In other words, I had to take classes that
> >had no direct relationship to my major.  I believe the rationale behind
> >these requirements was that exposure to a variety of subject would round
> >out my educational background and make me a better educated student on
> >the whole.  Isn't knowledge of computers the same as any other knowledge
> >in this context?  Wouldn't a student be better off having experienced a
> >variety of operating systems, graphical user interfaces, command line
> >interfaces, office type applications, web browsers, mail clients etc? 
> >If we expose them to a variety of these elements, do we not give them
> >better background to adapt to technology as it progresses?  I wonder how
> >well a student who is exposed to only the MS world of computing will be
> >able to adjust to a GNU/Linux or Mac centric workplace in the future.
> >Those are some of my thoughts on the issue, I would love to hear further
> >dialog on the matter.
> >Thanks.
> >Rob
> >    
> >
> >
> >
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> 
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