Computers hurt students' test scores
AN AMERICAN social 'scientist' has warned that kids' educations could suffer if they get their paws on computers.
Jacob Vigdor, professor of Public Policy and Economics at Duke University, told Radio Australia that he had been able to track students who didn't have a computer until recently and had done a before-and-after test on their education ability.
What he found was that at the point the kids acquire computers, their test scores on math and reading decline significantly.
Vigdor said that a computer is a tool that can be used to be productive and it can also be used for entertainment.
A lot of kids apparently are using computers to goof around. Kids of today are using them for email or for instant communications or to play games, but they are not using them for productive purposes.
Vigdor said you can't just put a computer in front of a 10 to 12-year old child and expect them to start word processing or using spreadsheets.
They are going to have fun, contact their mates and look for porn. Either way they are not going to do their homework.
He said that to use computers properly they need to be coupled with supervision, with instruction. Most kids do not get this, he moaned.
Vigdor said that in most cases computers distract kids more than they help them. µ
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i stopped reading at 'social' scientist.
I used to share a flat with a few at Essex uni. Who used to whine about getting a few points knocked off their essays and dissertations because it was over two months late. Unbelievable...
Back when I was a CS student at university, during breaks we'd go to one of the student lounges because they had a group of PCs that could play Quake there. Most PCs on the network were not very powerful and so people didn't even consider trying to install and play "decent" games on them, though the more die-hard time-wasters still enjoyed solitaire. I guess my point is that these days it's a lot easier to procrastinate on a PC because even one with a mediocre spec' can play some good games.
I'll just skim over the "olden days" when you had to code the damn game yourself before you could play it :P.
Its not about the computers, but discipline. If kids weren't wasting time with computers, they would find somethign else to waste time doing. If they dont want to do school work, kids will find a hundred different ways to avoid it.
@Bob Dole:
Yes, kids will find ways to waste time, but when they are on the computer it's easier to look like they are being productive when they really aren't. If they are on the Xbox or something, it's pretty obvious they are not being productive.
I'd say almost every worker I've seen becomes less productive too!
... you mean to tell me you can use a computer to do other things besides screw around and look for porn?
What concequence is there for not working in our society?
The admissions office will get you in because you can get government-backed financial aid. Professors will pass you to keep up enrollment. Getting a degree and then an office job is cake, just wait it out for 4 years.
Smile nice and talk polite at the interview, then bounce from job to job when the boss figures out you're worthless. Or suck up and become one of those lazy, long-term employees that is somehow immune to layoffs.
The worse that can possibly happen is welfare. Some people came from welfare households and are totally prepared to live their whole lives that way.
So, why bother studying?
My computer has stepped on my toe, bloodied my nose and smacked off my tits for a bit of bully. Futhermore, it spammed in my eye, tattled bandy about me on the world wide web, and nicked the whole bloody lot of my lunch money, for a full month of Sundays. All in all and on the Ning Nang Nong, it mad off barney, a dull boy who stole the handle, an no way to slow it down. Captive charges as they fall, and the all time weiner had it goad by the bawls. Here it distanced thunder, on number A-1 sunset boulevard. In the land of plunder, on some Argentine Latino broad. The accusations one by one, to the High Sheriff of Nutbush, maybe nuttingham, published intolerably from the air, the piston scraping - screamed breaking on scarred brow; the 140 character limit. All the while lamenting my lot an illegitimate knell; who has no sense of irony, and fettered headlong straight for hell.
Quote (spence91): "i stopped reading at 'social' scientist."
So, who else would investigate these problems? Medical doctors who generally have no research backgrounds or skills? No, it's the social scientists. Come up with someone more qualified to discuss these matters.
He stopped reading at "social" scientist because those "scientists" waste time investigating the obvious and telling everyone exactly what anyone with half a brain should already know. However, what is more sad is that there is a significant portion of the population that is stupid enough to *only* realize these obvious behaviors and results when a "qualified" researcher publishes some study and it appears on news sites during a slow news day.
Really, what is the significance of Vigdor's research? Kids get distracted in front of computers? They need surpervision? OH HOW GROUNDBREAKING.
I guess common sense isn't what it used to be.
Kids with computers have been unproductive with them from the start. There is (was?) a perception that having a computer translated directly into an academic advantage, but how dumb do you have to be to believe that?
i dont think computers have made me any less academic wise than b4 i even used a pc,
im kinda good at maths, coz of all the games i play... i.e if ur doin a quest and u know how many enemies there are in one game i can easily deduct that from how many iv killed and hw many is left,
as 4 reading, theres IM services that enable me 2 read and write and practice touch typin whilst im at it. ok i use slang here n there but at the end of the day who writes a txt msg using all full words?
my manager 4 1 plays games 24/7 which is clearly viewable, yet he managed 2 be a manager... mayb he's doin sumfin right after all.
anyways, dont blame computers 4 distraction, blame the ppl usin them to take responsibility of their own actions.
"i dont think computers have made me any less academic wise than b4 i even used a pc,"
That sentence alone makes me think otherwise.
"i dont think computers have made me any less academic wise than b4 i even used a pc,"
please, please let that be irony.
I've had several professors indicate that with the introduction to computers, or more specifically laptops, into the classroom that overall grades drop.
I've personally noticed that other students frequent websites that take away from their ability to learn material in class.
There is a medium in which laptops or computers in a classroom are beneficial. Say for instance hands on learning in IT class.
During a lecture however it is difficult to keep that focus while the laptop is open.
Between the the students own self discipline and the professors own discretion can how laptops are used, can we as students excel and earn top scores.
It is only within my own belief that with the advertisement that students are affluent in computer skills and don't educate on proper use that we actually take away from the corporate world and degrade ourselves.
ok my bad... i think that would be bad grammer?.. i have learn't from my mistake and to proof read :D, so i apologogize for my imcompetence.
anyone forgive me?