Saturday, August 03, 2013

Only A So-called Academic Could Think This

What can I say, except that I shouldn't be surprised?
Traditional classes in English language are a “bit unnecessary” at a time when pupils have so much access to state-of-the-art technology, it is claimed.
Sugata Mitra, professor of educational technology at Newcastle University, said good spelling and grammar was necessary “maybe a hundred years ago” but "not right now".
He insisted that children should be encouraged to express themselves in a number of different ways – including using mobile phone text messaging – rather than relying on established linguistic rules. 
The good news is that this idiot is a professor of "educational technology", a field just about as silly as that of education itself.

Hat tip to reader MikeAT.

4 comments:

allen (in Michigan) said...

You might want to familiarize yourself with some of Mitra's other work before dismissing him for predicting the inevitable. He is distinct from his philosopher-king peers who decide on a profound truth and verify it by ignoring criticism.

maxutils said...

good spelling and grammar WERE necessary? Just sayin'.

Auntie Ann said...

And people wonder why so many parents are pissed, looking for alternatives, turning to charters, magnets, ESAs, privates, supplemental tutoring, and homeschooling. The kids don't really need to know anything ed philosophy must be destroyed and worked against at all cost, not viewed as inevitable.

Ellen K said...

So we will have a generation limited to 140 characters or less. Who does Mitra think will read his research down the line? But please, please persist in dumbing down our population so that my children, all of whom are capable of reading, writing and speaking the language can be part of the vast Overlords.