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Electronic boost for knowledge [Florida Times Union](Florida Times Union Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) It's September and the kids are well into school. I've been contemplating this second column for several weeks and had planned to write about cellphones, smartphones and tablets in the classroom. Most of Sunday's circulars continue to focus on this new technology instead of No. 2 wooden pencils and composition books. I decided to concentrate on my favorite of the three R's - specifically, the reading of real books, and reading about interesting topics and investigating new ideas on the worldwide web. Earlier this summer, I had taken an interest in the FCAT scores for this school year. Four elementary schools in Duval County had achieved double-digit gains in reading ability. What happened at these schools? New teachers? New textbooks? Did parents of students with "limited English proficiency" paying reduced lunch prices cough up $70 or more for computer tablets? I think not. I want to think that they took their children to the library and read with them. I'll admit when I see young readers loaded down with real books when I visit the impressive Southeast branch of the Jacksonville Public Library, I almost shiver with excitement. In July, as I sat at a local dealership having my car serviced for a road trip, I noticed a young girl reading a book to an older man in the waiting room. She was reading softly and carefully. I engaged in conversation with her and her father; they both were excited about her imminent entrance into the first grade. No technology needed. So does the new technology have a role in public education? Or are these portable devices merely toys? A February 2014 survey by the Michael Cohen Group called "Toys, Learning, and Play" stated that from 2011 to 2013 children who used a "smart" mobile device increased from 52 percent to 75 percent. Touch screens were the most frequently used object for play among American children under the age of 12. Touch-screen devices, the survey said, were used more often in play than game consoles, board games, puzzles, play vehicles, blocks and dolls/action figures. Despite this, the majority of parents surveyed said that a touch screen device was "never" or only "sometimes" a toy. No wonder I could so easily picture a bunch of 12-year-olds communicating with a device and not each other. But a recent experience made me put aside my trepidations about the usage of smartphones and tablets by students, especially the concerns about using them endlessly for mindless distraction and entertainment. A young lad was sitting in the hair salon near me playing games on a simple hand-held device. After my weekly beautification, I sat down by the boy, who said he would be entering sixth grade, and asked a few questions. Yes, he was allowed to take his device, which was also a cellphone and a camera, into the classroom in fifth grade for limited use. Did he have a tablet at home? Yes, he did and he uses it for looking up interesting subjects on the Internet. He also answered affirmatively that he often participates in outdoor and board games with his friends. Smartphones and tablets actually help in his search for knowledge and promoting exploration of new ideas. Why all this talk about students and education in a seniors column? Public education exists for the benefit of all generations. That's a fact I discovered in a quote I recently shared with friends on Facebook. John Green, who will be 37 years old this month, writes best-selling young adult fiction. His last novel was "The Fault In Our Stars," which was adapted into a successful film. Here's what John Green says: "Public education does not exist for the benefit of students or for the benefit of their parents. It exists for the benefit of the social order. "We have discovered as a species that it is useful to have an educated population. You do not need to be a student or have a child that is a student to benefit from public education. "So let me explain why I like to pay taxes for schools, even though I don't personally have a kid in school. It's because I don't like living in a country with a bunch of stupid people." Well said, young Mr. Green. Well said.Jane Crooks Britt is an octogenarian who has lived in Jacksonville off and on for 30 years. She will be writing a monthly column for Prime Time. (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |