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Aside from his usual plea for more technology in the classrooms, there is this interesting paragraph in his written testimony:
"Our current expectations for what our students should learn in school were set fifty years ago to meet the needs of an economy based on manufacturing and agriculture. We now have an economy based on knowledge and technology. Despite the best efforts of many committed educators and administrators, our high schools have simply failed to adapt to this change. As any parent knows, however, our children have not – they are fully immersed in digital culture."
First of all, his chronology is off. Fifty years ago was 1957 and the US was very much interested in advancing its technology expertise, particularly after October 4 of that year when the Soviet Union announced the successful launch of Sputnik. Putting aside that major gaffe, does he think that high schools using IMP and other attrocities that pass for math (and which are being used in his home state) are really doing the job? And to be "immersed in digital culture" doesn't one still need to master basic algebra? And more importantly, if one doesn't have the sound mathematical foundation in K-8, all the graphing calculators and lap tops in the world will not make students technologically savvy--in terms of being able to solve mathematical problems as opposed to being a software user.
But it doesn't matter. He's Bill Gates. And when he talks, people listen; even more than when E.F. Hutton used to speak. He points to the declining number of science and engineering degrees in the U.S. and goes for the easy answer: smaller schools and more technology in the classrooms.
Yeah, like that's really been helping so far.
And of course, we need national math and science standards. Senator Dodd and Congressman Ehlers have introduced identical bills calling for these. The bills are endorsed by NEA and NCTM. And probably Bill Gates.
Oh, and one more thing. He's pushing for upping the limits on H1-B visas. We shouldn't be so parochial he says. Gee, I wonder why he suggested that!
5 comments:
In one of the WMD cartoons http://www.weaponsofmathdestruction.com/wmd.cfm?comicID=50 the Apple fellow advises Gates to draw his designers for his next project from Gates schools. Good advice from a competitor.
Can people think?
Seriously.
How does "having technology in the classroom" make one able to invent technology?
And yes, by all means, let's have more visas.
We're gonna need them.
As a non-American, I can definitely see some advantages in lots of visas.
Some of my husband's workmates went over to the USA on H1-B visas. Their supervisor tried to work them like they'd come from a third-world country and was shocked when the Kiwi guys shrugged their shoulders and threatened to return to NZ rather than work 80-hour weeks.
Back in NZ, I've worked with people from all over the world, Americans, a woman engineer who escaped from Yugoslavia, a French guy who was a raving libertarian (I introduced him to my father - the start of a beautiful friendship), Asian engineers, a Swedish engineer, etc. There are a lot of benefits - particularly in the food area (though if a Swede ever offers you liquorice make sure you have lots of water on hand, somehow they manage to make the liquorice more salty than plain salt).
I'm not against visas; I think though that Bill Gates' suggestion to raise the limit is coming from something other than a good neighbor policy or a philosophy that multiculturism is good for you.
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