psychology dector

I keep thinking about Socrates , there on the streets of Athens, asking questions.   No PowerPoints , no laptops, no iPads, just a man in a toga who hated one-word answers.   He didn’t even have a chalkboard. Why is educational reform tied to technology?   Technology is a tool, and certainly can enhance teaching, but increasingly, it has become the means and the end to everything.   Jobs depend on how often technology is used.   I know of a principal who insists her teachers use blogs, and demands they force their students to comment on those blogs.   The teachers must turn in a list of blogs they follow.   They must contribute videos and pictures to the school website.   They must maintain class pages, updated at least once a day, if not more often.   Textbooks are passé.   Everything that can be known is available on the internet, so who needs a book, right?   Of course, when the technology goes down, as it does so often, the t...

The New York Times recently ran an essay by Frank Bruni that made some excellent points.   This presidential race is shaping up to be one devoid of a story, and story is how we live.   Human beings need a compelling narrative.   Barack Obama had one in 2008, the first black man to run for president, the man for change, the man for hope.   He wasn’t totally convincing.   I’m not sure when the book gets written or the movie made, if the audience will find his story a bit trite, or contrived.   He made the attempt to fashion a narrative, and it worked.   He got elected. Bruni writes:   “If you have any kind of heart, you’re struck by it:   the photograph of Barack Obama bent down so that a young black boy can touch his head and see if the president’s hair is indeed like his own.”   Yes, a nice, photogenic moment that tells a story.   “And that gives many voters an emotional connection to him that they simply don’t have to most othe...