Educators are always guessing about the future. Should we teach how to hunt and slay saber-toothed tigers? The beasts are very dangerous, fast and difficult to kill. On the other hand, they are thought to be extinct. If there are none and we can count on there being none, it is probably a waste of time. But it might be wise to have a few expert saber-tooth tiger hunters on hand in case we need them. This is more or less the subject discussed in the 1937 book The Saber Tooth Curriculum by "Abner Peddiwell" (Harold Benjamin).
Of course, we want to give students the tools they will need in the future. The problem is we don't know what the future will be or what tools will be most helpful. Handwriting instead of typing and keyboarding? Doing arithmetic calculation with paper and pencil instead of spreadsheets and computerized calculators?
One of the best depictions I ever saw of one technology against another were the battles in "The Mission", starring Jeremy Irons and Robert DeNiro. Why do so much work to put cannon into the jungle? Because of the firepower! Sometimes, one method is far more powerful than another, as John Henry found in his contest with the steam engine.
Elders sneer at the young sales clerk who cannot do calculations in his head while the clerk pities an oldster who has no idea how to use a smartphone. Ever since I saw the power of a Word or Excel file, that can be duplicated, copied and emailed to 100 people, changed into a larger or smaller font I have felt the advantages of computer documents over typed or printed ones. No method works under all circumstances and all that gain any popularity have strengths.
Enlarging the number of methods and techniques I can use well is fun.
--
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
