The Computer Delusion

This article was written in 1997, but it remains relevant - perhaps moreso today than at its original publication. Considering the nearly-universal public acceptance of the educational value of technology in the classroom, a thoughtful and rigorous dissenting position is worth considering seriously.

Breaking News: Virgil [sic] in Video Game

A review in the Telegraph introduces a forthcoming video game, Dante's Inferno, recasting Alighieri as the game's swashbuckling hero, accompanied by... wait for it... "the disembodied voice of Virgil provid[ing] instructive quotations from the poem."

Should you find this worth a look, the site is here.

The Vaunted 'Reboot' of Trek

I've never admitted it on these pages, but this statement will come as no surprise to those who know me - I'm a fan of Star Trek in all its incarnations (some more than others, of course; sorry, but DS9 doesn't hold a candle to TOS). Having gone to see the new ST movie this past week with some friends, I thought I'd weigh in with some personal thoughts about the film and its concept. The idea of a 'reboot' was a bit off-putting at first, but upon reflection it's a better idea than trying to make the movie canon-compatible, given the little matter of ALL OF VULCAN BEING DESTROYED...I will be very intrigued to see the development of Spock's character in the new timeline. I imagine there will be a whole new set of conflicts; he might feel even more pressure to 'be Vulcan', as a member of an endangered species. But then there's his encounter with the older and wiser Spock Prime. The acting was true to TOS - campy and idealistic, just the way I like it, but in moderation - it doesn't shade off into parody (no mean feat). And of course as a longtime fan, I appreciate all the nods to memorable features of the original (e.g. Owen as the first 'red shirt' away team casualty). Small details were got right too - Admiral Komack on young Kirk's disciplinary board, for instance. They did a good job with the visual presentation, finding an appropriate balance between TOS's vision of 23rd c. tech and what we've seen develop in the 3 decades since.

Problems: the movie continues the Trek franchise's ongoing confusion about the economic philosophy of the UFP - in spite of frequent indications (and outright protestations) in the various series that the Federation is socialist, the trappings of capitalism keep popping up. Perhaps we can forgive the movie this since, after all, at this early date in the ST chronology, Earth's economy might still be transitional. Secondly (but by no means secondarily), the issue of gender parity. Many in the blogosphere are already hashing this out; opinions and passions vary widely on the matter. Do the roles of Nyota, Amanda, and Kirk's mother reflect unreconstructed mid-20th century chauvinism, or not? Worth considering.

Eugepae!

In less than an hour, I'll be boarding a bus to Hyannis, MA, for a weekend of LATIN!

The Massachusetts Junior Classical League annual State Convention is taking place at Barnstable HS. Latin students from around the state converge upon this sleepy little Cape Cod town once a year, bringing the joys of classicism to an otherwise weary world. Their adult Latin teachers and other chaperones are there too, and are just as likely (if not moreso) to crack a corny Latin joke, wear a toga, or engage in heated debate about the appropriate use of the middle voice in the Aeneid.

Pics will follow.

A critical analysis of the "Multiple Intelligences" theory

A segment from Christopher Chabris' review in the Wall Street Journal of Daniel Willinghams' Why Don't Students Like School:

The trendy notion that each person has a unique learning style comes under an especially withering assault. "How should I adjust my teaching for different types of learners?" asks Mr. Willingham's hypothetical teacher. The disillusioning reply: "No one has found consistent evidence supporting a theory describing such a difference. . . Children are more alike than different in terms of how they think and learn."

Teaching at a public high school, I've certainly heard my fair share of proponents of the 'learning styles' approach. It's refreshing to see the orthodoxy challenged once in a while.

Musings on External Goods

Prosperity and leisure are two states which can be either ethically praiseworthy or not. When the natural outcome or result of an agent's behavior, they properly attract praise. As such, they are more to be desired than the mere makaria to which they devolve when the result of tuche. But even then, prosperity and leisure are mere markers of the behavior (and, more fundamentally, the intentional state/character of the agent underlying the behavior). They are, however, natural markers of the makar (as a subset of the eudaimon); they reciprocally flow from, and allow for, the fullest expression or instantiation of the aretai. Considered from this perspective, it is (potentially dangerously) misleading to dismiss them as external goods in the pejorative sense often seen in the philosophical literature. Though not ethically significant per se, it is important to remember that precious few concepts are relevant per se - the worth of ethical thought arises from applied relations. Ethical theory is a derivative of applied ethics, not vice versa.

Thoughts on education and civics, part 4

Here's the fourth installment of the series I began in my post on March 2, and have continued here and here. As previously, it should be read as a continuation of the same overall essay. Comments welcome, of course.

We must, then, consider the possibility that it is the government which is (or at least should be) both competent and empowered to distribute educational resources to students in ways which maximize the good of the society. Such, for example, might be a system of 'tracking', in which, responsive to performance on standardized tests, students are assigned to sequences of courses designed to match and strengthen their aptitudes as demonstrated on said tests. Thus, in principle, students whose natural proclivities and skill sets are generally well suited to successful, productive, and satisfying engagement in, say, the legal profession will receive an educational experience tailored to this specific set of characteristics, and will be spared the wasted time and frustration of struggling through irrelevant classes. The government will be spared the wasted expense, supplying exactly the right education to the students who will most benefit from it, without paying for future artists to take trigonometry or future physicians to take computer-aided drafting. Students will, at a younger age, experience the camaraderie of like-minded and -talented peers, benefiting from cooperation and competition with fellows who are striving for similar goals and whose interests coincide closely with their own. Such homogeneous grouping will also allow for inculcation of a sense of the value of the particular vocation or pursuit particular to the group. Thus, the apparent second option, its features and consequences.