Is old school Bad school?

I love technology.
I support and advocate for technology in the schools.  My children have their own computer and we encourage them to do more than just play games and shop.  We teach them how to use different systems and be creative.

Okay - so that's my disclaimer.

My concern is this... Are we going to far?

A few nights ago my 10yr old was complaining that her sister was taking too long on the computer and I wouldn't let her use mine.  She said she could not complete her homework because she NEEDED the computer.  I asked what she had to do on the computer and her answer made me laugh.

"Mom, I have to figure out the definitions for these words!"  I suggested she use a dictionary and she looked at me like I had lost my mind.

"You are not serious!"
"yes, yes I am. We have two dictionaries in the office, go get one and look the words up."

"MOM - that is crazy! I can just type the words on the computer and it will tell me the definition. It will take me forever to look up ALL these words!"  (she had 7 words to define)

This conversation went on and on then..

"MOM, (said with the desperation of speaking to a crazy person) in the future there won't even BE dictionaries! I'll just talk to the computer and it will tell me the definition."

At this point I am laughing and talking with a friend who in unison we say "when we were 10 the future held flying cars and you wouldn't have to cook dinner, you would swallow a pill that had all you needed"

I of course followed with "but here I am driving on 4 wheels and cooking your dinner.  The future isn't as close as you would like - look up the words and while you're looking you may discover a new word."

Shaking her head and waving her hands lugging the giant, dusty, dictionary she says"I don't know why you are making me do this - did you go to school with this Webster guy or something?"  Buy this point the conversation had gone so far, I couldn't even take her seriously.

Remember when.... You were told how to treat a book.  Don't crack the spine! Don't fold the pages!  Be careful where you keep your books.  Don't eat while you read, you'll mess the pages.  The thrill of getting a new book.  The smell.  The crackle of opening the cover. The adventure that awaited you on the pages.  The respect.  If you had a question - you went to a book.  Remember Encyclopedias?

Yes, computers have made life easier - especially if you have a Mac. (sorry, selfish plug) Very few own encyclopedias.  We don't.  The internet is an instant resource at your fingertips.  However, our children are still tested to know what a Dictionary, Thesaurus, and an Encyclopedia are.  The test that they take on... a computer.

This year our school will be taking the Standards of Learning tests on the computer.  Computers that fail to work half the time. (PC's of course).  In order to practice these test taking skills, they take their subject tests on the computers.  It's nice that the teachers get instant results.  They no longer have to lug home stacks of papers to grade.

What concerns me is how do our children learn from their mistakes?  Remember taking a test, and when you got your test back, you had to look through to see which items you answered incorrectly?  What was the purpose in that? To learn from your mistakes.  Now my girls bring home a form that says D2 scored a "B" on the Economics test.  When D2 is asked "What kind of questions did you miss?"  She has no idea.

Your child bombs a math test with greater than & less than.  Since the teacher sees the raw score - they don't see that Susie got the symbols confused.  That Johnny transposed the numbers.  All Johnny and Susie know is that they bombed the test.  They don't know why.

Last night I reviewed D1's Math homework.  She made silly mistakes.  Here is a child who is tested as brilliant, years above grade level, gifted, and is bored in school.  She blows through her work b/c "it's easy".  Funny thing is, in her boredom, she makes careless mistakes.  9-3=2... um no.  She doesn't take the time to check her work.  When she gets her paper back and has a 'B', she is okay with that because a 'B' isn't bad.  Daddy and I are unreasonable because we give her that "seriously? you got a B on this" look.  We don't expect straight A's.  However, when she gets that 'B' because she forgot to carry the one, or answer the question all together... yeah, Momma has a problem with that.

This morning I explained to D1, I don't want her to ever just settle.  So she got a B when she could have easily pulled off an A.  I told her that all those B's would amount to a solid B on her report card and she said "a B isn't bad mom".  Sorry kiddo, it is when you earned that B because your being lazy.  Maybe I was extreme, but I went on to say how settling for a grade would lead to a life of settling.  So you settle for a lower grade then you are capable of.. do you then settle for friends, settle for a husband, settle for a job, settle for a life style.  When you have amazing potential... do you settle for less?

Learning from mistakes.  Doing the work.  Going the extra distance.  Asking questions.  Taking time to search for answers.  Not just settling.  Are these all things of the past.  Or I am just part of a generation now that looks at young children and complains about how easy they have it compared to when we were young?  I know we didn't have it as bad as our elders... but to completely toss aside life looking for the easy path and working so hard to resist other avenues... seems foolish.

I love technology.  But when it replaces fundamentals?  I love my dishwasher, but when it's broken or I live in a country without one, I still know how to wash the dishes.

I love that my children know how to use the computer to learn what they need to know, but I don't think it is absurd to expect them to know how to open a book and learn the knowledge they seek.

(stepping off soapbox)