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January 15, 2002
The Back Page
By Amy Poftak and Kristen Kennedy
Gleanings
Debunking the Homework Myth
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In his column for USA Weekend online, education expert Tom Loveless claims that the average American high school student spends only five hours per week on homework-not quite enough by his standards. That's in contrast to 57 percent of American parents who responded in a recent Gallup poll that the amount of homework done by their oldest child is "the right amount." Only 23 percent felt that their child didn't have enough homework.
Filtering Goes Global
Our government mandates Web filtering for schools, a move that has drawn its share of controversy, but imagine trying to filter an entire country. At press time, Saudi Arabia was searching for a countrywide Internet filtering tool to block access to pornography, anti-Islamic sites, criticism of the royal family, and even human rights information. According to The New York Times on the Web, school filtering providers N2H2 and Surf Control were among the American companies vying for the overseas contract.
No Child Left Behind?
The latest Census Bureau report indicates mixed results on high school graduation rates. While the percentage of high school graduates has been on the rise for the past three years, leveling out at 86.5 percent in 2000, disparities among minority student graduation rates still exist. The completion rate for black students was 83.7 percent; for Hispanic students it was 64.1 percent. National completion rate goals, set back in 1989, strive for 90 percent graduation rates. Last year, 18 states hit that mark.
More (and Better) Computers for Students
Market Data Retrieval's recent study on school technology trends found that in the past five years the overall student-to-computer ratio has increased favorably from nine students per computer to 4.2 students per machine. More dramatic, however, were strides made in getting powerful multimedia computers installed in schools. In 1997, there was only one multimedia machine for every 21 students-today there's one for almost every seven.
Watch Words
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Born-digital adj. A way to describe paperless information, such as e-books and Web postings, that has remained digital since birth.
COWs n. COWs, or Computers on Wheels, are handy mobile carts that allow desktops and laptops to roam from classroom to classroom.
Diaper Change n. A repeat visit made by your resident technical support person to a particularly inept and ornery user.
Jumping the Shark v. A reference to an episode of Happy Days when Fonzie literally jumped over a shark, "jumping the shark" represents the defining moment when something that was once good-a television show or an Internet startup, for example-starts to go bad.
Vanity Plate n. Just like those quirky markers of driver identity slapped front and back of innocent vehicles, vanity plates of the digital variety are those incredibly slow-loading Web page images that serve no other purpose than to decorate a Web site.
Sources: The Word Spy, jumpingtheshark.com |
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