Compute or Not to Compute

This is a little wordy but needed to get the point across.

There is no question that computers have changed our lives. They probably could be blamed for the situation our world is in today.

Back in 1978 after serving my term in the military I came home in a time when computers were beginning to emerge. The Ford plant in Walton Hills as I heard, laid off ten thousand employees. Not all were called back.

The plant was being retooled to accommodate a new type of worker. The robotic welder was coming on the scene. This robot was able to perform the same task as a human while doing it faster and better. Quality of the merchandise increased dramatically and the cost of production dropped like a rock. The computer had done what it promised.

A few years after that, the Personal Computer hit the scene, but it was taken lightly and since it had an analogue processor, usefulness of the machine was limited. It was when the digital processor entered the market that people began to take notice.

The precision of the tool raised the eyebrows of those on Wall Street and since IBM put their label on it, it must be for business. This new fangled gadget would bring an impact to the world like no one has seen before.

Today, computers are found in every nook and cranny you could stuff one. They're in homes, businesses, charities, churches, hospitals, law offices, dentists, doctors, in phones, PDA's and just about any where you turn. Oddly enough they are found in limited capacity and numbers in our schools. In a world where everything relies on a computer (and using one), outside of the education system, our training in the school system and their practical use is virtually non-existent.

There are a few schools out there that have provided a computer to every student, but they are far and few between. If this tool is so valuable to everyone else, why are they so long in coming to our local districts?

Computers have proven themselves to reduce cost, balance a budget, monitor production, educate, tutor, organize, create, produce, , relieve stress, create stress and a host of other items that pretty much is almost an endless list.

In the hands of a student, computers will tutor, enlighten, keep track of homework, tests, and maybe also provide the student the ability to review their status and grade. A Student's course of study can be downloaded to their individual machines along with the Text book assigned to that course. These textbooks could be then updated as the need dictates and this would also provide us the ability to do away with all the course books we currently have that are old and outdated. This would also preserve our trees in the environment if we can eliminate the need for text books in our district. We would also eliminate the need to store all these text books and pay for their maintenance.

Teachers and Administrators alike would be able to produce reports required by the State with little or no effort. Data collected by the computers on a day to day basis can be manipulated to produce the State Reports leaving educators more available time for either personal time after school or more time to be in front of the students.

Currently, in order to achieve the personal one on one interaction with the students, our district's only recourse would be to higher one teacher for each student. A computer in every students hand from first grade to twelve would provide each student with this one on one interaction and their own personal tutor even when they are at home.

Many if not all students would have the ability to connect to the internet from their home to do research and interact with educators. Their minds would be focused on academics.
All students would now have the same opportunity as the other to achieve. Cost for schools supplies and materials would also be greatly reduced for all families.

The way we educate our children must change and it must change as quickly as possible. Tomorrow is too late. We need to act now while the opportunity is knocking at the door.
I know the stimulus funds have not reached the school systems but the fact that the schools may be receiving it from the state should be enough of a reason to plan for our student's future. Even if the funds do not arrive, the plan would be in place to move on if the opportunity presents itself.

It would be a contingency plan so to speak. We should be ready to seize the day if it presents itself and not let this golden opportunity slip past us.

This plan would reveal the cost of implementation in our district and also provide a time frame as to how long it would take to complete the project.

I know our district could use a new high school. However, our economy in this area would not be able to provide the funding through bonds or a levy. If approved, it may not be ready for occupancy for maybe 5 to 8 years. Our children of all communities need educated now and I believe the cost of updating our children to school provided notebook PC's is within reach and would only be 1/10th if not less that what it would cost to build a new school. The money just may be there already! I'm not saying it is, but who's to say it really isn't if we scrutinize more than has been done before.

We can deliver a brighter future to ALL of our children now and increase their chances to survive immensely, or we can build a new high school, pay more for books, higher more educators, increase the percentage of salaries and benefits, higher more assistants, and put more people out of their homes.

The solution is obvious. Which will we pick?

Martin Fleming