1/13/2011
Professor Jonathan Zimmerman
New York University
Dear Sir,
I am a student at Holy Cross High School, the school of whose students a photo was used for your article on the utilization of computers in high schools. I have recently examined your article, and I am appalled at your insulting manner and remarks. The following is a set of counter arguments which may not be on par with your own educated position, but will certainly offer the position taken by several educators I know, not to mention many students of my recognized COLLEGE PREP school. I should hope you would do me the courtesy of reading this letter fully rather than discarding it, as your article’s theme suggests you will do so.
To begin with, I have a plethora of theories on your motivations for the article, not the least of which is your daughter’s school district’s misuse of laptops in attempting to enhance of education. I am sure, and several others agree, that this recent unpleasantness would place your disposition towards laptops in schools on the negative side, a sort of subconscious bias. I would suggest you examine your thoughts and decide whether or not you would have written the article at all had that law suit never occurred.
My second point would offer the usefulness of laptops which I have observed in my classes, and the policies used in my school to ensure these tools are properly utilized. Surely you have used the internet. It would seem obvious that any and all of the multitude of sciences and arts can be researched, documented, categorized, published, applied, or even briefly skimmed for enjoyment when employing this unending library of knowledge. It is also obvious that without laptops or other computers in schools, students would not have such immediate and unrestrained access to this knowledge. New York University’s library is surely large and contains many volumes, but even that mighty collection cannot compete with the information you can access with a computer. I must also mention that note taking during a class is much faster when typing than handwriting notes. However, if you find that is not the case, I commend your manual dexterity.
In terms of school policies, my high school has measures in place to ensure proper use of computers in school, such as fining students who install games on their leased school laptops. They have removed all cameras, CD drives, etc. from the leased computers to eliminate the possibility of gaming or online interaction during class. Further, regarding the idea that computers distract students from classes, I will have you know that my school and most others BLOCK THE DISTRACTING WEBSITES.
I will cease my arguments for a brief moment to make sure your impression of me is correct. Given my previous arguments, you may have thought me to be a mildly annoying fan of computers, and just another member of the generation you claim is being cheated in education by the use of computers. I will have you know that I am an Eagle Scout, take Honors and AP courses, and have received awards and scholarships for academic excellence. Further, I speak a smattering of French, Italian, and German, and know a few words and sentences in Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and Arabic. I am listing these accomplishments because I wish you to know that I probably would never have achieved any of these without the use OF A COMPUTER. My final piece of personal evidence swings in the direction of computers not taking over one’s life and lowering their attention span or coherent thinking. Your article suggested that students who use computers seem to be abandoning books or possess miniscule attention spans when reading on them. I have not only taken the time to read your article, but have used the computer to read analyses of some major literary works, for better comprehension, which have added an insurmountable amount of knowledge to my mind. I now list these works:
1. On War by Carl von Clausewitz
2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
4. Othello by William Shakespeare
5. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
6. Macbeth by William Shakespeare
7. Commentarii de Bello Gallico by Julius Caesar
8. All Quiet on the Western Front byErich Maria Remarque
9. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
10. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
11. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
These works and many others have been absorbed and further understood by myself and many of my peers using the computer. I apologize if this categorization of accomplishments seemed self-serving, but I felt that it proves the point that a student can use a computer to further their education and expand their intellect.
Now I come to the insults included in your article. You wrote, and I quote, “The first problem with computers is that they distract you. Did you catch that, or were you checking Facebook?” This remark particularly offended myself and several students and teachers because of its disregard for the fact that not all people are obsessed with Facebook. You will find that while most high school students possess and use a Facebook account, they are not on it 24/7, and the majority cannot access it during class due to it being blocked. Another passage which offended my peers and I was “Look, I can study for calculus and iChat with my boyfriend and watch Glee, all at the same time!” While I admit that some people try to do too much at one time, your article uses this to imply that all teenagers do this, which is grossly unfair and serves to stereotype teenagers.
At that point in the article I concede I was becoming irate from reading your comments, but you still went further, using the sentence “Then there's the book problem. Remember books? Those relics of a long-lost time, with pages and bindings and covers?” Again, you are using a stereotype of teenagers using technology to imply we do not read books. This should be disproven by my above list of works I have read IN PRINT. It is the use of the computer which allowed me to access summaries and analyses of the books so that I may understand the works. The final remark I found insulting was the reference to the 80’s Public Service Announcement about drugs and using an egg. I may have drawn some erroneous observations from this reference, but it seems to me that you are using the drug reference because of the stereotype of teenagers using drugs, which was not necessary to make your point.
I feel I must now point out that you may have caused damage to the reputation of my school by using the picture of our students. While using the image was not a problem, the fact that you included the name of the school and town implies that our school is suffering a decline in student ability and success. This not the case, as our school this year has produced multiple students with perfect SAT scores, or at least students scoring perfectly on one or two sections. Even if you had used another school’s student’s picture and named the school I would still have been offended as you are defaming an institution. As it is, this publicity may sway those who live in the area and read your article to not send their children to Holy Cross High School on this implication of dropping performance. I should think you know something of what I am speaking of, considering the aforementioned bad publicity your daughter’s school district received from their computer related incident. Further, I feel it is necessary to mention that the two students in the photo were demoralized and publicly embarrassed because the photo’s use implied that they were ignorant cretins.
Here I think I should ask that you send the research and statistics you claimed prove your point, as all I saw were a few quotes from other professors. If you mention such research in an article, it would seem prudent to actually include the research in the article, as well as reasons why this is credible information.
I realize that this complaint has dragged on and possibly been a bore, but I thank you for reading it in its entirety. Should you wish to respond, please do so, as I am interested to hear what you have to say in your own defense. You mentioned in your article a possible counter argument that a teenager would use:
“Now, if you're really clever, you'll hit me with some good old-fashioned American techno-futurism. “See, Professor Zimmerman, you're from that '1.0 World,' where people actually digested full articles and books, and wrote linear texts like your boring op-ed pieces. But we're entering a Brave New '2.0 World,' my friend.”
Now, I hope my letter unequivocally surmises a general opinion of your notion that teenagers using computers in school are setting up for failure. I also hope I have disproven that a teenager will respond in the way you described as will, I’m certain, the numerous other letters you most assuredly will receive on the subject. It seems that a teenager using a computer can in fact write a formal and thorough response to what he feels is an egregious effrontery to himself and his peers. I now close with my adaptation of a French saying: “Vive l’ordinateur!”
Intellectually yours,
A dissatisfied reader,
Holy Cross High School student,
and computer proponent
Geoffrey S. 1/12/2011
Dear Mr. Zimmerman,
At the end of your article “Is your computer making you stupid?” in The Inquirer, you asked your readers if they had “any questions” about the points you made in your work. I am writing to you to respectfully ask the questions that have been raised in my mind after reading your article.
I would first like to ask why you seemed, and please forgive me if I am misinterpreting your point of view, to categorize all teenage students learning with a computer as inattentive and lacking in focus. I agree with your opinion that computer multitasking is not very effective and that the technology can be a distraction, but that’s exactly the point I am trying to emphasize. Having personal computers in the classroom can be distractive; they do not have to be. It is up to the students themselves to undertake the responsibility of using the computer as an instrument of knowledge not amusement. Teenagers of the 21st century are more than capable of totally focusing on their studies, with or without a computer.
Another question that I would like to ask you, Mr. Zimmerman, is why you think students working with computers learn less. Speaking as a student who has been learning with a tablet PC for four years, I believe I have been exposed to more types of subjects, more modern information, and more opportunities for knowledge then my peers who learn without a computer. If I had not had a computer in my classes, I would not have been able to create and present an Oscar Wilde video parody in my AP Literature class, Google century old political cartoons in my AP US History II class, or view a human autopsy on my computer in my Anatomy class.
Mr. Zimmerman, I appreciate the time you have taken to read my questions. Please know that I am extremely respectful of the opinions you voiced in your article, and even though I disagree with most of them, I value your personal viewpoint as an esteemed college professor.
Sincerely,
Shannon Grogan
Dear ???,
I am a student at Holy Cross High School. I have a school-issued laptop, like mentioned in your article. My name is Jessica Snyder, a senior who has had a laptop in school for the past four years. Yet, I seem to not be lacking in academic performance. Many of the statements in your article were very insulting to me as a student who using a computer. In your article you make claims that computers lower a student’s intelligence, like lower SAT scores and poorer performance in school. Many of my peers have achieved excellent SAT scores and are currently taking the most difficult courses our school offers and they are succeeding. In our school, several students have gotten perfect scores on sections and many have a combined score of over 2000 on all three SAT sections.
Many Adults like to think that teenagers are Facebook-addicted people who are constantly texting and just never seem to have time for homework or to study. Well, obviously we do, and we can work hard at what we do. Also, it’s not like these websites are readily available for students to access at school. The laptops after all are intended to be a tool in the learning process. Another point, why was a picture of Holy Cross students used in an article that was originally written for an audience of Lower Merion High School students? This article is partially based on instances in Lower Merion School District, not Holy Cross High School. Holy Cross has now had a laptop program for 4 years now, and it seems to be running smoothly and successfully. To the students of Holy Cross, being labeled along was this article is degrading and insulting to the way our learning and curriculum is based. It degrades the hard work and effort that many students put out throughout their tenure at Holy Cross. Using a computer in school actually has many benefits, like being able to search information at anytime, or being able to have the text of a book in seconds. It is very convenient to just download a copy of Othello or Hamlet rather than having to go to Barnes and Noble and buy a copy. Also, with access to sites like Youtube, we can make video projects, post them, and show them to our classes. Using technology in school does not necessary make a student “stupid”, technology has the ability to enhance a student’s learning experience and prepare them for what they will have to work with in future careers.
Sincerely,
Jessica Snyder, HCHS Senior.
Dear Mr. Zimmerman,
I am a freshman at Holy Cross High School in Delran. I take the same Honors English I class as the two children did a year ago in the picture you used in the article in the Philadelphia Enquirer entitled, "Is your computer making you stupid?" I have to say that I disagree with just about each point you made in your article; it's caused a bit of a stir in the school lately.
Many people seem to think you are implying that these two Holy Cross students in the picture are not intelligent because they use computers and enjoy it. As a matter of fact, Holy Cross is anything but a school full of 'stupid people.' In the past few years numerous students have received perfect and near perfect scores on SATs and ASATs, and 99% of graduates go on to prestigious colleges everywhere. I wouldn't say we are smart in spite of our laptops, rather because of it. Being able to quickly type notes, look up information on the internet, and explore a whole new horizon of learning has helped me and every other student here at Holy Cross learn faster, easier, and more than we ever had before. And if that's true here, what means it isn't true in other schools across the globe?
I also must point out the flaws in your article. The tone doesn't seem to be informative or backed with much fact or proof at all; it's simply your opinion of computers. It sounds as if you are not writing an article, rather shouting at us, the high school students at which it is addressed. It points out that Facebook, television and phones are distractions from schoolwork - but Facebook and other gaming sites are always blocked in school, and phones and television are not available in class. People may multitask when at home, but Holy Cross at the least has rules to prevent this in class. And most importantly, children my age still read books. The bigger the better! I and a lot of people I know don't just treat books as a form of enjoyment - it's a lifestyle. I'm honestly appalled that you can't see that there is in fact a happy medium: I can be smart and use computers at the same time.
JJM
As a freshman at Holy Cross High School, I have seen firsthand how technology can enhance learning. Learning today in the classroom is much more than just learning through textbooks. At Holy Cross, we have the opportunity to use tablets for research, note taking, presentations and reports. Students and staff can access websites that are relevant to the courses offered through wireless networking. Instead of technology being offered as a class by itself, it is integrated throughout each subject so that real-world applications can be implemented.
Looking at the future, I know that I will need to be proficient in technology to be successful in both college and the workforce. In college, students are also given laptops or encouraged to use them as tools to be successful. I am gaining not only confidence using my tablet at Holy Cross High School, but the necessary skills I will continue using later in life. So far this year, I have created both Powerpoint Presentations and word processing documents to enhance projects and reports.
I strongly disagree with the argument that our tablets are not a positive influence for our education. Like all technology, there is a learning curve when you first begin using the tablet as a school resource. However, once you realize the benefits of using a tablet, and are mature enough to utilize it properly, there is no disputing that technology can enhance the learning environment. I am proud to be a Holy Cross students, and know that I will take full advantage of the tablet program offered at my school!
Nick Falcone
To the Philadelphia Inquirer,
As a senior at Holy Cross High School, I was shocked to read the article “Is Your Computer Making You Stupid?” Unlike a well balanced article the disdain of the author is evident but it is interesting to note that research on the use of computers in the educational setting was not presented. As a professor well into his life, I can understand why the author would think that change is scary. You have already grown up with the technologies that were available to you, but you should not open a vendetta against this advancement simply because you cannot keep up.
You say that computers will make SAT scores suffer. Really? I know of three people, including myself, that have achieved a score above 2000. In fact, we all attend a class in the same room that is pictured in your article. And multitasking is not a procrastinator’s attempt to get ahead. Ask any mom or dad trying to run a household or a business owner trying to stay afloat. By multitasking I can complete my homework, attend clubs and sports, and anything else, while still attaining a 4.0 GPA. However, I do not waste my time multitasking as I “study for calculus and iChat with my boyfriend and watch Glee, all at the same time!” as you so stereotypically insinuated.
Computers allow for a free exchange of information readily and easily. If this opinion hinders me from the proposed ideal lifestyle of books and rejecting innovation, then I am more than happy to be the technological black sheep.
Kerry Farrell
Dear Professor Zimmerman,
I disagree with your article “Is your computer making you stupid?” It is derogatory, demeaning, and stereotypical. Not every teenager has a Facebook, uses iChat, or watches Glee. To state that every teenager does so is unwise and unfair.
There are many benefits to using a laptop in school. I found that by using a laptop to take my school notes, I am unconsciously more organized. With laptops, teachers are able to post worksheets on their websites for the students to access during school. By doing this, not only is it less likely that a student will lose a printed out worksheet, but it also saves the environment by eliminating the use of paper.
As for going onto unauthorized websites during class, there is a block on certain websites, like Facebook for example. There is also a program installed onto the computers to help teaches see what a student is looking at on their computer. If the student is not doing their school work, the teacher can close down the program and remind them to stay focused. It could be argued that without computers, an installation like this would be unnecessary, but paper notebooks could be just as distracting. Students could doodle in their notebooks instead of taking notes just as easily as a person on a computer could be on an unauthorized program. The only difference is that it is easier for a teacher to catch the person on the computer than the person with the notebook.
The picture that was posted with this article gives the connotation that the students pictured are playing games or an unauthorized program on their computer. It does not let the reader think of other options, such as the students are actually having fun in their class and the activity that they were assigned to complete. I know many students do not have fun at schools, especially at prestigious, Anglo-Saxon private schools let or Catholic high schools, but it does happen.
Your article only lists the negative aspects of computers and not the positive, like the Internet for instance. While books are great sources and should be utilized as much as possible, much of the same information is on the Internet where it is easier and quicker to find and utilize.
Your article goes about explaining the validity of its title “Is your computer making you stupid?” A computer is an inanimate object and therefore can not make a person more or less intelligent. Only a person can do this. A person chooses whether to use the computer to help them with their school work or to help them make friends on social networks. A computer is not able to think for itself and make the decision that it is going to do everything it can do to hurt a person’s grades.
I disagree with your article on the basis that it exudes sarcasm in every word and conveys the people in the picture as students who only play during class when you could not know whether or not this is true. Your article makes judgments that while true for some teenagers, are not true for all.
Sincerely,
Sara Castronuova
Gabrielle Butcher
I am a senior at Holy Cross High School, which is pictured alongside of the article “Is Your Computer Making You Stupid?” I find this extremely offensive. This article brings unnecessary negative publicity to my high school. Why not use a picture from Lower Merion? I have used a laptop for the last four years of my education, and have found them beneficial. Rather than using the internet for Facebook or gaming purposes, the students here use the computers to enhance their learning. I am typing this response on my school laptop right now, and I learned about this article online. We use them to research and complete our homework. We can communicate with our teachers by E-mail. Literary works such as Shakespeare’s plays can be accessed online instantly. The website CollegeBoard.com is particularly helpful. Students can take online practice tests and answer an SAT question each day. We are able to get work done faster by typing rather than writing. We can find out about events in other countries around the world from using our laptops, making us more aware of our surroundings.
Websites of the social or inappropriate use are blocked completely from my high school’s internet connection. While in class, teachers have programs in which they can monitor their students’ use of the laptops. Holy Cross High School has not had any major problems with the laptops. We have a Technology Department that prevents misuse of the laptops. This department also works to correct any problems that arise from the laptops.
It is vital to be familiar with computers after graduating from high school and entering college. When finding a job and becoming a working adult, knowing how to use a computer is essential. Holy Cross High School is technologically advanced. You cannot stop technology from growing, whether you think computers make you less intelligent or not. High schools might as well take the advantage. The article written is stereotypical of all teenagers and is unfair to Holy Cross High School. A Holy Cross student was featured on the news last year for achieving an 800 in the math section of the SAT, and she is not the only one at our school with a near perfect score. Her laptop has not slowed her down. The laptop does not decide whether to study for the SAT, the student does. The high school students using the laptops can make their own decisions on how they chose to spend their time. The notion that technology lowers the intelligence of students is false. 1/7/2011
Find a copy of the photo in the photo portion of this sharepoint site.
23 Dec 2010 THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Is your computer making you stupid?
Research shows technology is hampering learning.
By Jonathan Zimmerman
Dear high school student:
Can we talk? It's about computers. No, not the Lower Merion laptops; we're all sick of that subject.
I'm talking about computers in general. And I've got some bad news for you: They make you dumber.
There, I said it. And so have numerous researchers from a wide array of fields. It's time to take them seriously.
The first problem with computers is that they distract you. Did you catch that, or were you checking Facebook?
If you were on Facebook or another site, we have strong data showing that you won't understand or remember what I wrote as well as you would if you were only reading my article. As Stanford professor Clifford Nass has shown, avid "multitaskers" perform worse on almost every measure of cognitive skill.
Nass expected to find the opposite, because multitaskers have suckered us all - and themselves. They told Nass they were better at different tasks while doing them simultaneously. "Look, I can study for calculus and iChat with my boyfriend and watch Glee, all at the same time!" Yes, and you do all of them less effectively than if you were doing them separately.
Are computers the only reason multitasking has spiked? Of course not. There's also this little gadget called a cell phone. And there's TV and radio and your annoying younger brother. But no serious person can doubt that computers have increased our propensity to do more than one thing at once. And that makes us do each thing worse.
Then there's the book problem. Remember books? Those relics of a long-lost time, with pages and bindings and covers? It turns out that the more time you spend on a computer, the less you read them for pleasure.
Here you might reply, "So what?" Well, the less you read, the worse you do on standardized reading tests. If you want to improve your SAT score, don't invest in a high-priced tutor. Just turn off your computer and open a book. It works.
And here you might reply, "I do read, but I read on a computer."
But as former Sun Microsystems engineer Jakob Nielsen has demonstrated, people read on screens differently - and, yes, worse - than in print. Using an eye-tracker, Nielsen found that screen readers jumped about and rarely absorbed a full article or even a paragraph. Why do that when there's something more interesting calling out, "Click on me!"? And if that's not to your liking, well, here's another link, and another.
Now, if you're really clever, you'll hit me with some good old-fashioned American techno-futurism. "See, Professor Zimmerman, you're from that '1.0 World,' where people actually digested full articles and books, and wrote linear texts like your boring op-ed pieces. But we're entering a Brave New '2.0 World,' my friend." In the soon-to-be-eclipsed age of books, students had to passively absorb whatever the text said. But now they interact, inquire, collaborate, innovate.
Please. Every time a new technology develops, there's an American telling us it's going to transform education. In 1922, Thomas Edison predicted that the motion-picture technology he invented would "revolutionize our educational system." In the 1930s, similar claims were made of radio. Ditto for television in the '50s and '60s, and now computers.
But education hasn't changed. And it won't. I teach college students, and the things I ask them to do - analyze, synthesize, critique - are exactly what I learned at their age. And computers don't make it any easier. To the contrary, they get in the way.
Back in the '80s, as the so-called war on drugs escalated, public-service announcements showed a guy with a frying pan and an egg. "This is your brain," he said, holding up the egg. Then he cracked it into the pan and said, "This is your brain on drugs." Camera back to the guy: "Any questions?"
This is your brain, the most remarkable, dynamic learning machine ever devised. This is your brain on computers, which make you learn less. Any questions?
Jonathan Zimmerman is a professor of education and history at New York University. He wrote a longer version of this for the Merionite, the school newspaper at Lower Merion High, where his two daughters are students. E-mail: jlzimm@aol.com. |
After the invention and popularization of the typewriter, many critics decried its use in education. At the time, many believed that there was little need to change what had worked. Would students forget how to write? Would handwriting become illegible? Would the new technology only distract students?
Soon after these questions were raised, Mark Twain published the first novel to be written on a typewriter, Life on the Mississippi. Today, in the 21st century, it seems foolish that the use of typewriters was ever criticized. I am certain that, in the next century, it will seem similarly foolish that the use of computers in education was ever questioned.
In an increasingly digitalized world, the implementation of laptops in the classroom makes sense. A fundamental goal of any high school education is the preparation of students for the workplace. Today, computers are used in nearly every occupation. Artists, writers, scientists, bankers, and mathematicians all use computers to aid their profession. In the coming decades, the use of computers in the workplace will only increase.
The ability to multitask on a computer should not be seen as a negative, but rather as a positive. Modern computer operating systems were designed to incorporate and encourage multitasking. In the classroom, multitasking is not defined by doing work while on Facebook. In reality, multitasking in the classroom is used to enrich the material being presented. For instance, students using computers can use Google Earth to interactively learn about the geography of a work of literature or supplement a lesson in history.
I believe that it is erroneous to assume that students using laptops in a school program are more likely to hire a tutor. Instead of discouraging reading, laptops enable it. In fact, laptops allow students to instantly access thousands of public domain classics for free. At any time, students are able to read instantly online from works such as The Great Gatsby and Hamlet. The perpetuated fact that onscreen reading differs from print reading is additionally perplexing. The millions of e-readers sold in the past year, including the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook, seem to suggest that onscreen reading is increasingly accepted by a population of all ages.
The notion that use of computers leads to lower standardized test scores is especially ironic. As a student in a high school using the laptop program, I have found that computers aid in the preparation for standardized tests such as the AP tests and the SAT. I have grown immensely academically in a school incorporating laptops. I believe that this is reflected by my test scores, which include two perfect scores on the SAT writing section and two fives on the AP exams.
Historically, brilliant technological progress has been debated and questioned before its wide embrace. I am confident that the implementation of laptops in the classroom will become the educational standard of the near future.
- Justin Falcone |
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