Computers And My School - Not a very good combination

CinnamorollTK

Apr 21 2006, 11:11 PM

They really need to start training teachers in how to use computers. I hardly new how to use those Apple computers yet I was always correcting and helping the new computer teacher. It was sad.

Maybe if you send the teacher and pricipal a few webpages about FireFox and what it does, they may change their minds. Make sure to add in two or three articles about how FireFox protects computers from many viruses that IE can't protect the computer from.

And they should require all teachers to take a good computer class before becoming a teacher. It would save many students from having problems with teachers that are caused because of the teacher's ignorance.

Hamtaro

Apr 22 2006, 01:45 AM

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with problems with teachers and computers. However, I bet that even if I did send the pages and describe it more, they wouldn't understand a word of it. Plus, on their list of "trusted" software, they pretty much have only Microsoft products. Here's their list:

QUOTE

Adobe Products
Central Products
Classroom or Office specific programs
Concourse Products
Epes
Follet Products
McAfee
Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Microsoft Front Page
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Works
Munis
Novell Products
Palm Software
Plato
Printer Software
Renaissance Learning Product (Such as Accelerated Reader)
Software that accompanied text books
STI Products

Most of those, I don't really like. Plus, they don't even acknowledge that there may be better programs that are distributed for free. There are only a select few teachers that actually let me do what I want on a computer (and one is a computer teacher). Anyway, I found out the reason why exactly I got kicked out of the activity (and it did invole the use of FF). However, her explanation was very bizarre. I can't even remember it now. I do know one teacher who knows a LOT about computers (and he's even used Linux). I could probably talk to him about it.

One last thing that I want to add:
That computer lab teacher did mention that she needs more training. The way it seems to me, is that our school has so little money, that they can't afford it. Whatever the reason, I wish that the teachers wouldn't be so ignorant about the use of a new program. I don't think that I'll ever understand some of these computer teachers.

Cool_Freaker

Apr 22 2006, 05:09 AM

Hamtaro, that software list looks pretty good actually. A number of the Business/IT teachers at my school could only use the Microsoft Office Suite and do some minimal browsing and MYOB. It was rather pathetic, but I guess the course only required them to know this - apparantly the basics of computing comprise of Word, Excel, Powerpoint and IE.

Anyway, best of luck with getting your internet at school back...

Sinari

Apr 22 2006, 04:02 PM

Our computer teacher knows only powerpoint, excel, word, and publisher so I know how that feels. Even the tech guys at school couldn't fix a small problem with the dvd burner on one of the better computers in my gifted class... Our school actually has FF on the computers but more sites are blocked that I use than ones I don't use. We're not allowed to bring any devices in to connect to the computer so I think you are lucky. I feel your pain though. My computer teacher doesn't have a website and I do if that tells you how much more I know than her...

psychiccyberfreak

Apr 22 2006, 07:12 PM

Dude, that's jappened to me loads of times. I use portable firefox all the timeand that's not the only reason I've gotten into trouble. Once it was for using my old cheap MP3 player as a flash key, another time I tried enabling java console because any web application done in jscript was non-functional, I used a CGI proxy for getting past sites that they block but they shouldn't, and numerous other things. One time I fixed the computer and my old computer teacher got mad. I used a live CD with slax on it (linux shrunken down) and that same teacher thought I tinkered with the computer and installed something. To tell you the truth, I would prefer to bring in my laptop for school then using those computers. And all the keyboards are horrible! Have you ever tried to type something at 50 WPM on a half-broken keyboard? That's my typing speed. And I simply can't to it on those keyboards (I'm so used to my laptop keyboard, I need to get out of that habit). At my town's high school, they use macs. I'm happy to hear that because guess what saffari was based on? KDE's Konqueror. (another great linux web browser) It has tabs, just not so popular becuase it's a linux exclusive. But eventually, they will have people bring in their own computers, most people have laptops, they just need to make them so consumer-avalable that everyone can afford one. Look at the $100 dollar laptop idea, that's awsome. I may get one anyway just for the hell of it. So, I don't expect to see this coming soon, but I think it will happen in about 10 years or so.

wariorpk

Apr 22 2006, 08:09 PM

All computer teachers have no idea what they are doing when it comes to computers. This year we had an Excel project in computer class. We had to convert miles to kilometers for something I am not sure what it was. My computer teacher said their was a formula to do this and she said its not the one for multiplying the cells. Many people including myself told her their was no such formula. She said there was and some kid claimed to get it working. It turned out to be the multiplication formula the teacher said we can not use but she was telling us to use it then. We also could not copy him we had to come up with our own formula which is not possible. Talk about knowing nothing about computers. She had an even worse time teaching us HTML. When we had to create our final pages, which were disgraces by the way since she taught us nothing about CSS so we could not get decent looking pages. I figured I learned something useful and went on HTML help sites to advance my skills. I come to realize she did not even tell us the first starting tag (the document type). If she is teaching us HTML she should have taught us that if you ask me.

Hamtaro

Apr 23 2006, 02:43 AM

Wow, some of your situations are much worse than mine! I never thought there'd be so many schools with computer teachers that know very little about computers! I thought that it was just where I lived in Kentucky (which just about the whole state knows very little).

Anyway, I also got into a situation at the public library. They have that stupid auto-complete on for IE (and it is a public account, which is actually the only one). I was going to disable auto complete so I could log in to Trap17 (I don't like stuff like that). The person there saw me, and apparantly thought I was messing with something else. She told me, "You're not supposed to be on that. If you do that again, you will have your Internet privileges taken away." That was as if I knew nothing about them!

It seems like people like that are everywhere. I wonder if there's anything I could possibly do about these people.

Laurie

Apr 20 2007, 09:11 PM

I took a computer class in my senior year of high school. That was in 1985. The year before my brother had helped them install a computer system. It was state of the art at the time. It consisted of a host terminal and 16 offshoots. The system used TRS 80s (trash 80s to us). We learned pascal. I was good at it and often helped other students. It was there that I discovered that not everyone thought like I did and they had alternative ways of doing things that often worked just as well or better. I had an assignment to create an alphabetizing program. My version took 2 hours to alphabetize 2000 names. It was considered fast for the time and they used it for the schools administration records. What I learned in that class was very valuable and I use it even now. Programming principles are pretty much the same no matter what the language is. It is funny to hear these people complain about not being able to use the computers fully at school. Remember there was a time when we didn't have them at all.

thejestergl

Apr 21 2007, 05:59 AM

QUOTE(Hamtaro @ Apr 20 2006, 08:00 PM)

My school has finally made me EXTREMELY mad! First of all, I need to explain sosme stuff: Duriing this week (for three days, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) we had testing. We had to sign up for after-testing activities (during those days, we did nothing after we tested). Well, the only one I really wanted, was the Internet. I signed up for it on all three days.

On my first day, I did everything I always do when I get on a school computer: Stick in my flash drive, and launch Portable Firefox (I'm not sparking a FF vs. IE conversation) because I hate IE. Nobody said a word. Plus, I'd been using it for over a year at school, anyway. Well, the next day, the computer lab teacher (who is pretty much computer illiterate), started fussing about me using some program she doesn't know about. Well, I'm not the only one who uses it, either. Two of my friends do. Plus, a lot of people were playing games that they downloaded from the Internet. She said that she talked to the principal, and he said that we couldn't use a program that wasn't already on the computer (stupid, isn't it? They even said that it wasn't a concern for viruses, either. I don't get the point in what they said). Oh, and I might add that the principal is also computer illiterate. Well, I did as they said (even though I hate IE), and didn't use Firefox the rest of the day.

Now comes the next day (today). It turns out, that they took me out of the Internet just simply because I used Firefox!!!! That ticks me off so bad!!! If you ask me, they're just afraid of people using new programs! I have no idea whatsoever why the heck they would throw such a fit over something like that. Oh, and I want to add: I don't mean to insult them by calling them computer illiterate. Most people around here, though, barely can get by with a computer (literally). I'm always helping people in computer classes with problems (most even the teacher doesn't know how to fix).

Anyway, I'm not mad because I couldn't get on the Internet, or use a computer, but I'm mad simply because I got kicked out for using Firefox. All my teachers have seen me use it before. None of them care if I use it, either. Except that ONE teacher. I don't see how she became a computer teacher in the first place!!! I wish there were some schools that at leas knew a LITTLE about computers around here. Anyway, my tennis coach is the technology expert of the school, so I'm going to try to get permission to use Firefox from him.

Wow that really sucks man... I know what you are talking about when you say that a lot of people at school are computer illiterate. Most of my teachers don't know anything about a computer, they only know the basics to a Mac (which I personally do not like). It does make me angry that for the most part the school computers are very restricted, new programs are almost impossible to get simply because the school doesn't want them on there. I asked one time why it was such a bad idea, they said it would "Slow the computer down, may have a virus on it, and the school's computers are supposed to be used for research/projects only and nothing more." Which I can understand, but a lot of the people at my school simply like using the computer and internet that is provided for them because they can't get it at home. Also most kids who are dumb enough (please excuse that if you are offended by it) to get a virus on the computer probably don't know how to download the programs in the first place.

But again, that really stinks and I hope that you get permission from your tennis couch.

-Jester

galexcd

Apr 24 2007, 02:29 AM

yea my school is all IE, and if you DL firefox, they just delete it off ur U drive. The computer network dude just searches for *BLEEP* on all the student's U drives all day. I once told him to get FF but hes like, oh i will eventually, but he keeps on deleting it. Somebody needs to tell him to f**k off our hd space...

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