Teacher presumptions

[LazerFlash]

My wife & I have taken over duties as homework monitors/supervisors for our grands. Today, the oldest came home with a paper describing a project that she will be working on over the next 2-3 weeks. One of the assumptions, (based upon the work to be done "at home"), is that the children live in households that (1) have a computer that (2) has a broadband Internet connection and (3) has Microsoft Word and PowerPoint installed on it. While we currently don't have an issue with that, is it valid for the teacher(s) to assume that everyone in the class can meet that requirement?

[Kensey]

My wife & I have taken over duties as homework monitors/supervisors for our grands. Today, the oldest came home with a paper describing a project that she will be working on over the next 2-3 weeks. One of the assumptions, (based upon the work to be done "at home"), is that the children live in households that (1) have a computer that (2) has a broadband Internet connection and (3) has Microsoft Word and PowerPoint installed on it. While we currently don't have an issue with that, is it valid for the teacher(s) to assume that everyone in the class can meet that requirement?

I would say not. My own personal feeling is that projects assigned to students should be things that can (and must) be completed using materials available in the school. Otherwise the students from wealthy families have an advantage over others at project time.

This might be an interesting time to challenge some of those assumptions. kkrapf and I do not have MS Office at home, only OpenOffice. If the instructions are really specific to MS products, I'd be only too happy to engage in a little parent advocacy. (Our kids' teachers are gonna hate me anyway, we might as well get the ball rolling early on that one.)

[LFE]

I would have to say no overall.. however I will expand into the sections with my opinion... All these replies are based on public schools as a private one could require more as part of a pre-req.

(1) have a computer that
Own one, no, but have access to one, yes.
And you should be able to have access to it form the school... at least you can go to a library these days... or in a pinch, hopefully someones house.


(2) has a broadband Internet connection and
No. but it sure helps if you want to show your kid how to find papers on the internet <-- kidding of course.
However, here again a school needs to understand that the government is not suppling this to us for free, and needs to have a lab open for use. Once again, at least you can go to a library.


(3) has Microsoft Word and PowerPoint installed on it
no. but you should have access to something that can read and manipulate these types of files, and they need to make sure everyone does have some access time available for free. BTW, student prices on a lot of software like this is discounted pretty heavily.


When we (we being folks with greying hair like myself) grew up, there were people that knew how to read and write, and those that did not. Now, that has changed to people that know how to use computers, and those that do not.

[grafxgirl]

Did the teacher say it had to be done at home with a parent? Did they say it had to be completed using those programs or can it be completed using other programs that can perform the tasks in a similar manner? Can the work that requires the broadband internet (or the programs that you don't have) be done at school while the rest can be done at home? I know the schools have computer labs that the students can use.

These are questions I would ask the teacher because I wouldn't think he/she would assume that everyone has these capabilities at their home. Also, since the schools have computer labs, most teachers take time during class to take the kids to the lab for projects like these.

[AAT53]

My experience has been that if a student lets the teacher know they do not have computer access then other arrangements can be made.

I know that over the past few years friends of DD have either gone to a friends house to use their computer, got time at school to use the computer lab or went to the library.

[cindylu]

I would like to think teachers would first notify parents of such upcoming assignments so they could purchase software/equipment AND/OR help students with an alternative solution---like finding out if the school or local libraries have such resources (I know Bolivar Library has high-speed connection AND computers that can be used by anyone while in the Library).

I took a college level class last semester and we were given several acceptable file formats that we could turn in our assignments. Especially when the professor discovered most of us were Apple users and only a small percentage were PC users. We could use TextEdit and not have to purchase MS software.

Not everyone has access to a computer--sometimes they break down.

[LFE]

Hopefully within the next couple of years each student will just be assigned a virtual desktop.
The required applications are preloaded so everyone has access to the same thing.

I like opensource, and the scale and efficiency of running eyeOS from a Linux server is incredible.
Yes, from home or while traveling you would still need internet access... but hey, that even comes through your cell phone now so the possiblities are really pretty impressive.

Go create your own virtual desktop for free now at:
http://www.eyeos.org/