Elementary Foundation
In David Gelernter's essay titled "Unplugged", he expresses that computers should be in schools and with the right application be invaluable to education. Also, he attacks the way calculators and computer programs accentuate bad habits students already have. What's more is that many of these students are cheating themselves out of learning and understanding the real meaning behind their core curriculum of math and grammar skills. In elementary school children, this is a direct result from the misuse of calculators and computer-aided learning programs. Calculators and spell checking programs should be used only after students are able to demonstrate a strong foundation in math and grammar on their own. Before that happens, they have no place in elementary school.
Elementary school education acts as a porthole through which children's imagination and curiosity can take flight into their unknown future. Experts on elementary learning maintain that, for students who lack basic number proficiency, calculators may provide only the illusion of progress, according to the article from The Wall Street Journal , Friday, 15 December 2000 "Calculators May Be the Wrong Answer As a 'Digital Divide' Widens in Schools" written by Daniel Golden.
education online
education
Group of Woodbine Agricultural School students, Wo...If the student uses a calculator instead of figuring out how and why he or she made the mistake in the first place, the point of the lesson has been lost. The first few years of school are critical because there are some fundamental aspects of math being taught. First, adding and subtracting with single numbers is introduced to students to help them understand the concept of relating numbers with the one another. After that multiplication tables to twelve are and simple division of single numbers. If you take away a solid foundation of a building, it falls, as does a child's mind, if you...