[Sur] [Caos] Oscar Becerra contesta (25 veces) al art�culo de Christoph Derndorfer

[forster en ozonline.com.au]

Thanks Yamandu 

Again, please excuse my reply on this list in English.

> IMHO you have hit the very center of success or lack thereof.
> "...if children are excited..."

Yes, this is the center of success or failure. It is a center which we need to know more about. I have seen this excitement with PC's. (What works on PC's should work with XO's.). I have had a student emailing me his creations all through the school holidays from home.

I have also seen it not work. 

It needs the teacher to be confident enough to step to the side and act as a facilitator of learning. It needs a cooperative environment where students are encouraged to share and peer tutor. It needs low entry, high ceiling creative tools.

> Reality is, few kids get excited - for a long enough term to make a 
> difference.  Oh, they all love the machine at first (great "first day"
>  pictures!)

How few? What percentage of classes? Do you have data? What are the characteristics of these classes, how was the teacher prepared, what were the socio-economics of the class, how did the teacher run the class, what were the expectations of teachers/parents/students? This is where the real research needs to be done.

> Fewer grown ups get excited, either.  Among the many reasons for this is 
> that they fear, wisely or not, they might lose power, whose allure is 
> what drew many of them to the teaching profession in the first place

Yes this is true. It is also true that most teachers care deeply about their students. How do we help teachers stand to the side and let students take control of their own learning when it is appropriate but also step to the front and take control when it is appropriate? What computers are particularly good at is the first of these two styles, self-directed project-based learning. Both learning styles are important. Students need both. 

Thanks, you raise good questions that don't have simple answers, students can get bored or excited, either outcome is possible. We need more research.

Tony