Linux holds kids back - that's what the teacher says! Windows fundamentalism?

[Carol Haynes]

Interesting little spat:

http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2008/12/linux-stop-holding-our-kids-back.html

Be sure to check out the 'twitter' updates on the story at http://twitter.com/helios17

It has to make you laugh (or else you'd cry).

[Edvard]

[SKesselman]

Yes, this teacher's response does smack of Windows fundamentalism...but I can't help but agree with her on one point: the hype leading up to at least my installation of Linux was like a carnival...for all the reading I'd done, I was still perplexed & unprepared by the fact that there was *no* interface. As a child, I think I would've just lost interest. As an adult, I just think, "Linux, all show." The "go" is, or at least was, reserved for only the most computer-savvy.

Linux, too, seems a bit cult-like to me.
There's too much of an "in opposition of" tone when people talk about Linux that I just can't get comfortable, I guess.

Just my $.02

[40hz]

Wow!

The thing I find telling isn't the smack directed at Linux. It's this particular teacher's attitude that I find alarming.

I wouldn't care if she were bashing Linux, Windows, or anything else so much as I'm disturbed by the self-righteous and arrogant tone coming out of every sentence she's written.

And when you add in her hostility and general cluelessness, it goes beyond alarming and starts getting downright scary.

I wouldn't want someone like her allowed to be anywhere near a child.

[SKesselman]

I agree.

It actually sounds made-up, like a script from a movie, where the teacher is being shown as the culprit.

And to say that there's no such thing as free software...I mean, you don't have to download freeware to know that it exists!?! A bit over-the-top IMHO.

[SKesselman]

I've read the comments in his blog. This Ken guy's pretty skilled when it comes to yanking people's chains.
At the risk of being completely *wrong* in the face of, well, the world, I don't buy it. I just...don't buy it.

[40hz]

I've read the comments in his blog. This Ken guy's pretty skilled when it comes to yanking people's chains.
At the risk of being completely *wrong* in the face of, well, the world, I don't buy it. I just...don't buy it.

Yeah. Excellent point. On reflection, it does seem a little too extreme to be true.

The legal threat in the message  is what makes it particularly questionable. That's not something teachers do. Parents maybe, or school administrators, but not teachers.

And why no name or other information on the sender? That too seems very odd, since the Blog of Helios isn't usually shy about "naming names."

I'd be really surprised if "Helios" would be so stupid as to completely fabricate this thing themselves. But I wouldn't be surprised if somebody were jerking Ken Starks around a little bit. He's kicked over a few anthills in his time.

It would really be disappointing if it turns out that Ken knew this was a bogus e-mail, but still decided to be "taken in" by it so he could get up on the soapbox.

Oh well. The web is a big place. Sooner or later, the truth will come out.

[Edvard]

As they say, truth is stranger than fiction, so I won't rule it out.
Although I admit it does have a smack of the same kind of troll-licious satire that you'll find at shelleytherepublican.com or jerryleecooper.com (I see Mr. Cooper trolled in on this one as well...)

Either way, I can't help but agree that these attitudes exist and the law of averages says there has to be some representation of reality in the overwhelming response of the commenters.

All in all, it's funny and scary at the same time which of course makes it highly entertaining whatever the case.

[zridling]

Here's the relevant followup:

"The student did get his Linux disks back after the class. The lad was being disruptive, but that wasn't mentioned. Neither was the obvious fact that when she saw a gaggle of giggling 8th grade boys gathered around a laptop, the last thing she expected to see on that screen was a spinning cube. She didn't know what was on those disks he was handing out. It could have been porn, viral .exe's... any number of things for all she knew. When she heard that an adult had given him some of the disks to hand out, her spidey-senses started tingling. Coupled with the fact that she truly was ignorant of honest-to-goodness free software, and you have some fairly impressive conclusion-jumping. In a couple of ways, I am guilty of it too."

What triggered the flaming response was when she reached for the lawsuit bomb. Bring pitchforks, guns, and lawyers!!

[zridling]

My question is: what the hell is an 8th grader doing with a laptop in class? Are we removed from books, pen, and paper now?

[p3lb0x]

Yes, Zridling, yes we are

[Edvard]

I remember the first time I heard that kids were turning in homework by email

Whiskey.

Tango.

Foxtrot.

[Deozaan]

"... Neither was the obvious fact that when she saw a gaggle of giggling 8th grade boys gathered around a laptop, the last thing she expected to see on that screen was a spinning cube..."

Screen saver panic button?

I occasionally turn in homework by e-mail, but that's in college. That never happened when I was in high school.