This sounds like blackmail to me! And I agree that it's money driven.
At 02:10 PM 02/02/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>You mean being wired makes you alarmed?
>
>Jamie
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: CASLL/Inkshed [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Russ Hunt
>Sent: February 2, 2005 1:29 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: classroom amplification
>
>
>I've just discovered that schools in our area are being urged to
>install classroom amplification (wireless mikes, a la a rock
>show) in _all_ their classrooms, so that all teachers would be
>miked and amplified.
>
>It's being merchandised as a guaranteed test-score-raiser. At a
>cost of only about $1000 a classrooom the school's performance
>on district achievement tests will stay up with the increased
>scores from the other schools who've already installed the
>system.
>
>I'd never heard of this before. I was, to put it mildly,
>flabbergasted to think that a model of education which focuses
>pretty much on whether students can hear, really clearly, just
>what they're told is being merchandised even as far from the
>cutting edge as New Brunswick. And for primary classrooms, which
>I thought might be a final bastion of resistance to the
>"teaching is telling" doctrine.
>
>I wasn't quite so astonished to discover that there's money to
>be made in installing these systems. Check "classroom
>amplification" and "test scores" in Google.
>
>I've been looking for the "studies" the companies merchandising
>this keep alluding to, and not having much luck; it occurs to me
>that inkshedders might be able to give me some leads.
>
>We've been sold a lot of technological nostrums for classrooms
>in the last few decades, as Larry Cuban regularly points out,
>but on balance this is about as alarming as any I've seen.
>
>I used to have a sign on my office door: "I know I taught it
>because I heard myself say it." I think I'll put it back up,
>adding, "and I know they heard it because it was amplified."
>
>-- RussSt. Thomas University
>http://www.StThomasU.ca/~hunt/
>
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>
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
> [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
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>
>For the list archives and information about the organization,
> its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
> http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
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>
Susan Bell
Coordinator
The Writing Centre
Room OM2674
Phone 371-5689
Office OM2678
Phone 371-5977
University College of the Cariboo
UCC becomes Thompson Rivers University in April 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
[log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]
For the list archives and information about the organization,
its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
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