one for the 'oldies', do you get the impression that we are helping the kids do homework?

Question

wondering what is going on with education these days, i remember having to wander to my local library and spending hours searching for the right reference book to back up my answers. Then having to get home and write all i could for the next day at school. It seems now all the kids do is use the internet, the worlds biggest and best reference section where they get almost instant answers, yet they come on here, ask a question then ask you to leave websites as they have to 'show' that they found it themselves. Then all they do is print a page and hand it in.
The amount of silly, childish spelling mistakes annoys the hell out of me, if we spelt a simple word wrong we were told to write it out 100 times correctly, now it seems they just let them get on with it.
text speak, annoying
'what is wrong with......' no other info, annoying
people leaving answers and it is obvious they have not got a clue, annoying.

running out of characters so better let this rant end, anybody in agreement ?

thank you peggy K....you spotted my err ...deliberate mistake (little red faced fella)

*****.....hmm, spelling not important, well it is if you are researching something, spell it wrongly and you will not get the answer you need.

Chunkylo…agreed in part, but the very act of going to a library and having to search out the correct reference is in itself a lesson, it helps to develop a logical thought process.

to the others, many thanks, i try to be as 'up to date' as i can but am slowly turning into the old man i feared.....youngsters today, no manners, dont know they are born, too much freedom, need a good slap on the butt etc etc.
i know the internet is a great source of information and it is 'allowed' to be used....my gripe was about the apparent inability of youngsters to follow the simple act of 'doing a google', maybe it is the spelling thing ;)

Answer 1

I agree in spirit. I remember going to libraries, researching encylopedias and old newspaper articles, and meticulously checking my spelling with a dictionary. Now everyone relies on the Internet, "spell check" and now Y! Answers it seems....and still managing to get it wrong.

For example, the world wide web is also the MISINFORMATION highway, given all the inaccuracies and biases you find in things like Wikipedia, which some dupes think is the ULTIMATE resource. Spell check isn't helping people spell, and often even if the word IS spelled right, it might not be the grammatically or technically correct one ("My boss is sew happy that I maid the sail to our clients today"!), and don't get me started on what text messaging is doing to their impressionable brains.

As for the kids wanting us to do their homework, I either avoid them or deliberately feed them the wrong answer, to teach them that it helps to develop research skills and not rely on a forum of strangers to do your thinking every Sunday eve.

(ex: "Goshers, if SunsetSam thinks Columbus discovered rye bread before assassinating Robert Kennedy atop the grassy knoll, then it MUST be true! He's almost at Level 6, doodz!")

This technological age must be seen as a tool, not a crutch.

Answer 2

What I find most interesting is ok we have made the world easier to find the answers but finding the answers isn't learning. Learing is all about understanding...that's why in my estimation there really aren't that many good teachers. They can lecture on a subject but teaching is about making students understand the subject. Think about it...its really not enough to know a fact...you need to understand it ...that is learning. But my real worry is like I said before; we have made it easier to find the answers so yes...they can pass the test but what happens when they get in the real world and now they need the reason behind the answer. Whats going to happen to an entire generation of kids that when they get out in the world, they really can't solve tomorrow's problems much less reconcile their check books because they really didn't learn...they didn't understand...they may have process facts...maybe even wrote those fact down in a report but do they really understand those facts? Scary stuff

Answer 3

How lame is it when a student can't Google his or her own homework question? You want information on the Civil War, you type in "Civil War." It does seem ironic that with so much information at your fingertips now more than ever before that reading skills go down the toilet. Reading is more than just a sum of its parts, and though it is not quite yet a lost art, not by a long shot, the decline in literacy is being felt and manifests itself in obvious ways, like the people leaving answers that you refer to.

Answer 4

I do agree to a certain extent. Research is much easier now that we have the internet (I was part of that group of students who made the transition from books to webpages). But it also seems like the work load and expectations have increased (although actual instruction on how to complete assignments is quickly dissipating). Because info is so readily accessable, teachers give very little time to complete research assignments. There is also little to no instruction on how to do research. My sister is in middle school and I had to teach her how to do a research paper. Most of my professors require at least 2-3 book sources (which I prefer) for major assignments. But yes, good, old-fashioned book learnin' is definitely underappreciated.

Answer 5

Yes, but... I do think you should know... "spelt" should be "spelled."

I do agree with you. Some of the questions on here are shameless. I would never have asked someone to give me the answers to questions at the end of a chapter in my textbook because the answers are plainly written in the text for anyone willing to actually read it.

I don't mind helping kids with algebra, though. I still remember struggling with that because Mom and Dad didn't know how to help me with it.

Answer 6

Think that the homework kids get from an early age needs too much parental imput and the kids get dependent on us. My year one daughter had a project on the egyptions - fifteen pages using a variety of different mediums to get the information accross!!

Once you start helping (because it is needed!) then it becomes the norm. Also a lot of pressure to get good grades at school, and to get into best secondary schools etc. Whole thing has gone mad.

Answer 7

I am in agreement.

My husband was teasing me the other day because my responses on here are often a lot longer then any others. And we discovered, after looking closer, that it's not that my answers are actually longer in information. My answers often look longer because I take the time to use correct grammar and paragraphs, instead of abbreviating everything.

Answer 8

Yes!!!

I fully agree,in my time there was no Internet or allowance to use a calculator or a English O' level that you could pass verbally lol,I can read,count,and express myself in writing as to allow understanding,and not simply in text language on a mobile phone or email lol

Answer 9

okay okay everybody undoubtebly agrees with your winge-i mean insight
but the question is, what are you going to do about it? the interenet stops then going ut and being atttacked raped molested kidnappped etc
just joking but seriously library tredging to find books is so tedious, whole days wasted looking for some reference books, thank god those days are gone
god bless the internet

Answer 10

when i was at school we had no home work at all in my opinion there should be no homework im 46 and have 5 kids
i never pressure them in doing homework
when you start work you dont expect to bring some work home with you
your time is a gift you shouldnt have to waste it all on doing things others think you should be doing we should be free to do want we want to do
just stop being annoyed with others and let it ride