Over the Thanksgiving weekend my mother’s side of the family got together, and like every time this occurs we had a debate over some issue, not a big enough debate that we could not talk to each other the next day but big enough that not everyone ended it happy. The issue we debated over that how children are being taught in schools is changing because of technology; mainly computers, we all agreed on this. Then my aunt said that she has been hearing that in the area she lives in and where her kids attend school that they will be in the next couple of years getting rid of spelling; because it will not be necessary especially with things like spell check.
On the one side of the topic the school in which my cousins attend are both paperless, everything is online. At the high school my cousin attends they received a laptop their freshman year, pay for it and keep it all 4 years. It is then used in every classroom, for notes and class assignments (there are blocks on websites like Facebook and other things while in school). My other cousin who is in 6th grade has no textbooks; all her homework is done online and even takes certain tests online.
And with all this already happening that there will be certain subjects in the school that will be changing especially how they’re taught but also that there will be a loss of certain subjects like spelling that just will not be as practical with all this new technology, because with computers and spell check you just will not need to able to spell everything because there will be other things to help you.
The argument on the other side was that yes while all this new technology is changing how things are being taught and will be taught in schools, even if they choose to get rid of spelling is will end up coming back. The argument that was made was that while spelling will not be as important as it was when almost everything was hand written, it will be important in helping children with their reading and forming a solid base to do many other things through out there years in schooling.
I found this debate to be very interesting because the people who were arguing were kids against their mothers, sister against brothers, sisters against sisters, cousins against cousins. It was interesting to see people who had been raised together or in similar fashions going against each other in an issue which I thought would be very clean cut. But the main factor that divided the lines was career paths or intended career paths.
My mother who is a special education aid in a public school was very much on the side that spelling may initially go away but it will come back or will not go away at all because it is just too important for kids learning and reading. At the same time she has also raised 4 kids; 2 in college 1 in high school and 1 in grade school. I too agreed with this and my jobs right now are that I am a nanny during the summers, and during the school year I work for America Reads helping kids with their reading and homework.
While my older brother who is in his senior year of college and is majoring in electrical engineering, believed that spelling will in the future be a subject no longer taught to students because with all of the technology we have and the technology coming it will no longer be necessary and that it could be time spent on working and learning other more important material. My aunt who is a florist and who has also raised 4 kids; 2 in college, 1 in high school, and 1 in grade school also agreed with my brother, and the schools her kids attend have already begun to make the transition into using technology more in schools.
This debate is one that I think only time will tell, but I found it very interesting that the sides were picked not some much in how we were raised; but by the career paths we had chosen or are currently in, as my brother continued to say; “you guys are only think like that because its connected to the work you do.” I also think it is really interesting how technology is changing a lot of things and how people view certain ideas.
I think this is a very interesting topic I can see that soon people may think that they no longer need to teach spelling but it is obvious from the multiple misspellings I see in places such as Facebook that regardless of the resources available one still needs to learn to spell because if he or she doesn't they may not use the resource to find out. This would ultimately lead to a nation of kids incapable of spelling and we all know this can't happen therefore I too agree that if they get rid of it, soon it will make a comeback. I also think it is interesting but so true to see that our experiences and majors influence our thoughts on something so simple and creates such strong feelings.
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