neil degrasse tyson

Years ago. Stopped by to visit some friends. Watching some network. Sagan died, I heard that, and someone else is hosting cosmos, so we are watching the first episode. I'm like man that guy is a natural teacher. Watch how he opens an air-book when he makes a point. (He is referencing facts that are available to us.)

My buds are like okay, let's hit the bubbler every time he opens an air book. None of us made it to the end of the show.

I did become a fan. But he is right that america has surrendered our place at the front of the world.

You just blamed the bubbler, didn't you. Oil and poppy couldn't be the problem.

Originally posted by @apathist
Years ago. Stopped by to visit some friends. Watching some network. Sagan died, I heard that, and someone else is hosting cosmos, so we are watching the first episode. I'm like man that guy is a natural teacher. Watch how he opens an air-book when he makes a point. (He is referencing facts that are available to us.)

My buds are like okay, let's hit the ...[text shortened]... become a fan. But he is right that america has surrendered our place at the front of the world.

Neil seems smart and passionate about science. Education in general is veeery screen heavy these days, owing in large part to parental influence on kiddos. My kindergartener will be issued an iPad in school this year, concomitant with a demand that we equip her with 20 boxes of tissues (along with 100 other things). Why do they need iPads in kindergarten if they can't afford to buy pencils or tissues or pay teachers a decent wage?

You are conflating separate issues. Kids should get to be up to date, and schools are not properly funded.

But tyson is seriously motivated. His enthusiasm for learning is infectious.

Originally posted by @wildgrass
Neil seems smart and passionate about science. Education in general is veeery screen heavy these days, owing in large part to parental influence on kiddos. My kindergartener will be issued an iPad in school this year, concomitant with a demand that we equip her with 20 boxes of tissues (along with 100 other things). Why do they need iPads in kindergarten if they can't afford to buy pencils or tissues or pay teachers a decent wage?

Education as a device to create a market for technology companies. Certainly with maths, science, and even computation I think it's more important to start with pencil and paper work, rather than rely on glorified calculators. They should save money on iPads and spend it on other equipment and wages. The price of 24 iPads for a class is enough to cover a lot of other stuff.

Originally posted by @apathist
You are conflating separate issues. Kids should get to be up to date, and schools are not properly funded.

But tyson is seriously motivated. His enthusiasm for learning is infectious.

What on Earth do you mean by "get to be up to date"?

It does not seem like a funding issue. Schools need to make budgetary decisions, and they are choosing the super expensive option (iPads) over pencils. How is that conflation?

Originally posted by @deepthought
...I think it's more important to start with pencil and paper work, rather than rely on glorified calculators. ...

We built the calculator for good reason. Pen and paper are for old school.

Originally posted by @deepthought
Education as a device to create a market for technology companies. ...

Or, we want to teach kids.

Originally posted by @apathist
We built the calculator for good reason. Pen and paper are for old school.

Kindergarten is way too early for iPads. There is an obvious difference between education and computation.

There's research that hand-written notes are committed to memory better than laptop notes. I've yet to see any evidence that iPads offer toddlers a superior learning experience to chalk boards. But that does not stop school boards from spending millions on them.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/pen-and-paper-beats-computers-retaining-knowledge

Originally posted by @wildgrass
Kindergarten is way too early for iPads. There is an obvious difference between education and computation.

There's research that hand-written notes are committed to memory better than laptop notes. I've yet to see any evidence that iPads offer toddlers a superior learning experience to chalk boards. But that does not stop school boards from spending milli ...[text shortened]... them.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/pen-and-paper-beats-computers-retaining-knowledge

Kindergarten is way too early for you to deal with kids moving too fast for you. Me too. I am a dinosaur.

Originally posted by @wildgrass
...
There's research that hand-written notes are committed to memory better than laptop notes. I've yet to see any evidence that iPads offer toddlers a superior learning experience to chalk boards. But that does not stop school boards from spending millions on them....

Did they go on to find out that hand carving runes is the better idea as well?

Originally posted by @apathist
Did they go on to find out that hand carving runes is the better idea as well?

It takes half a day to carve your initials. Clearly needing half a day to carve your initials is healthy for kids.