dagblog - Comments for "Rupert Murdoch Bets on Education"

Only if you get caught. One

Atheist — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:42:52 +0000

In reply to Doesn't stuff like that get

Only if you get caught.

One could make a convincing argument that if you're only doing it for research purposes, then it's not illegal, but the DMCA would beg to differ, I'm sure.

Doesn't stuff like that get

we are stardust — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:38:08 +0000

In reply to I had assumed it wouldn't be

Doesn't stuff like that get ya arrested? (None of these little yellow dudes have devil horns....)

I had assumed it wouldn't be

Atheist — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:28:55 +0000

In reply to I spent hours and hours

I had assumed it wouldn't be Open Source, as it seemed more like a Cathedral project than a Bazaar project*. That said, no matter how hard they try, it most definitely will be open source.

*That's a reference to the Cathedral and the Bazaar for those not up on Open Source lingo. Per Wikipedia, Cathedral projects evidently are actually open source as well, although I'm not familiar with that restriction and I'm not including that (obviously) in my description of them being more Cathedral-like

Waiting is. ;o)

we are stardust — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:13:08 +0000

In reply to True, one difference in the

Waiting is.

;o)

I spent hours and hours

we are stardust — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:12:01 +0000

In reply to First, I do understand your

I spent hours and hours reading for this blog, and one thing I read was that Wireless Generation software is not open source, but that parents can access their kids' files at home. What could go wrong? LOL! (thinking of the school that gave kids computers with webcams accessible to administrators). ;o)

I tend to lean toward creepy agenda for Murdoch; that dude's a bridge to far for me, and Murdoch + Educational Software = Eeeek!

One of the charges I've read

we are stardust — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:06:29 +0000

In reply to I've read that the

One of the charges I've read against Arne's beliefs is that 'class sizes don't matter'. (Sorry, no link.) That's hooey, though if some of the tech programs get inititated, one hook is that it 'frees up teachers'. Can't say I like the picture much.

True, one difference in the

Michael Wolraich — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:53:16 +0000

In reply to No, because Murdoch is not a

True, one difference in the analogy is that Wireless Generation is a for-profit company, and Murdoch bought it, rather than donated to it. Still, I think that speaks more to his profit motive than to his conservative agenda. I could be wrong, but I would need some evidence of Wireless Gen using biased techniques to take this seriously.

I've read that the

Donal — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:51:08 +0000

In reply to The problem is cmauken, that

I've read that the better-performing charter schools have ratios around 1:20. (I've worked on plans for religious charter schools with ratios that were even lower.) I recall higher ratios when I was in public school, up to 1:30, and I read that it is even higher now. In my kid's school they've introduced classroom aides into the mix, so I wonder if the newer calculations take that into account somehow. I suppose that's like hiring more nurses and medical assistants instead of doctors.

Although this is true, it's

Atheist — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:38:54 +0000

In reply to Interesting thing though.

Although this is true, it's also true that they are the exception. Most of our greatest minds and inventors learned a lot from this educational system (or one like it). The system serves the gifted better than it does the struggling, although it could stand to be greatly improved in both regards.

(I'd also like to point out that at least a few of the stories about great minds/inventors having difficulty in school are apocryphal, such as the stories about Einstein having difficulty in school.)

The problem is cmauken, that

Atheist — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:35:06 +0000

In reply to The problem is cmauken, that

The problem is cmauken, that no one knows what the problem with education is, though everyone seems to have a strongly held theory about it.

I do - class sizes are too damn large (and that somewhat fits in with cmaulken's discussion of assembly lines, but only somewhat). If you fix that one problem (limit class sizes to 15, or maybe 20 for advanced students and 10 for remedial), many other problems will also get resolved. Of course, fixing that one problem also requires fixing other problems, as you'd need a lot more teachers.