Additional Assignment #5

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Just Teach Them to Solve For "X"- This post is a very creative metaphorical way to present an idea. "Tom Johnson", or so he is named by the blog, tells a story of teaching a math class. In this math class he decides to have the students draw what they believe represents the letter "x" in an equation, or a metaphor for the variable "x". The metaphor isn't the students' interpretations of the value "x", it is the education in computers! Gertrude expresses her displeasure in his teaching them to use metaphors (computers) because there is too much room for  distraction. He should just teach them to solve for "x" (otherwise known as caveman-style teaching). She states that computers are messy and confusing "like having a scavenger hunt in a swamp" (apparently she prefers similes), but Tom retorts saying that the world's greatest teachers understood that their teaching was confusing and this made them better teachers themselves. Computers are very useful tools in the education of a child. Computers are going to be part of a child's life, just as metaphors will be part of the English language, whether we like it or not. Computers can be dangerous. We have plenty of evidence of that. However, we must equip our students with the knowledge of computers because of how prominent computers are in this world. People who will misuse computers in the future will learn how to do so whether or not someone teaches them how to do so. They will get a hold on the information, regardless. But those who could use computers to change lives, change the world, and perhaps stand up to those who misuse the technology need their teachers' positive influences and instructions to encourage them to make a difference in the world.

I commented the following on "Tom Johnson's" post: I love this post! "Metaphors are dangerous!" Computers are dangerous which is exactly why students NEED to be taught the values as well as the dangers presented through them. I think its great that you can evoke your beliefs about computer education programs through the use of metaphors. Awesome!
-Jameson Branch, EDM310

*I could not find the other posts listed for this assignment. This paragraph is focused only on "Just Teach Them to Solve For "X".