Mother Guerrera

Sigh. I'm gaining notoriety (I think) for my propensity to write letters to my son's school, in an effort to make things better, or demand correction where they are due. I've just written another letter, which is about their textbook in Computer-Aided Learning. Read and react:

-------------------------

Dear Principal:

I write to ask for your assistance and disposition on two things: 1) the Computer Aided Learning (CAL) textbook for Grade 4, and 2) the schedule of the upcoming exams in Computer.

A. The CAL Textbook

In preparation for the upcoming quarterly tests in Computer, my son and I pored over the pages to review in the Computer Aided Learning (CAL) Textbook for Grade 4. I planned to simplify the topics for him because he complained that he did not understand the lessons given in class. However, I did not go beyond the first page to study without becoming as confused and frustrated as he was.

I am not a computer expert, nor a qualified teacher, but in my assessment, the book is too technical and hard to understand. To illustrate, here is a portion of page 11:

“Operating System. This is the main file-handling system for the computer. Actually two systems exist: one for disk-based files and one for non-disk peripheral devices. They are in hidden file IBMDOS.COM (or MSDOS.SYS). (IBMBIO and IBMDOS are IBM names; MS-DOS uses IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS.)

The two systems are necessary because non-disk peripherals demand their data as strings of characters, while disks move information in large groups, known as blocks.”

Did that make sense to you? Here’s another:

“The command processor (COMMAND.COM on your disk) performs three tasks: it handles critical interrupts… that is, COMMAND.COM takes care of all demands for attention by parts of the computer…

… It performs end-program housekeeping…that is, COMMAND.COM takes care of making the computer’s memory available for other programs and reloading parts of itself if the program wrote over them…”

The book presents too much information, in a language that is complicated and beyond the grasp of average, non-technical people, and even moreso, average grade four students. The book reads like it was written for students who will do computer programming, when it should be just a guide for children to become familiar with the use of computers. I wonder why the book is chock-full of theoretical information, when the students need hands-on learning.

While I do not question the contributors’ technical abilities, the way the book is written makes me doubt their competence and experience in bringing technical information down to the level of young children. I wonder, do the books contributors and the program coordinator --(names withheld)-- have units in Education? If only licensed teachers –in this sense, qualified teachers who specialized in Elementary Education are allowed to teach grade schoolers, then shouldn’t it be that only books written by qualified authors – in this sense, those who can themselves teach children—be used as textbooks?

Recommendations. With the above reasons, I believe the textbook SHOULD NOT be used as a reference because it only confuses instead of enlightening, and frustrates instead of encouraging learning.

I believe the school is duty-bound to remove the textbook from usage right away, and find a simpler and more suitable resource book or materials for the students in the upcoming lessons. If the book were to be used at all, it should only be used as a reference only by the teacher, who must take great pains to:

1) distill the contents of the book to topics that are practical (what the students need and what is demanded by the curriculum), and

2) present these topics in a language that is simple, easy to understand and remember.

B. The Upcoming Tests in Computer

Since the book was technical and complex to begin with, I surmise that the teacher has not been able to discuss the topics well in the previous weeks, and parents are now at a loss as to how to review their children. As a result, the students are not prepared for the coming exams.

Perhaps you will agree that it is not fair for the students to be graded for doing poorly in exams when they did not receive proper or enough instruction. I ask therefore that the examinations be moved to a later date, when the students have received the necessary preparation from better lessons and a better resource book. If this is not possible, then perhaps the school can design a test that will assess the practical knowledge they have learned at this point, rather than a concepts exam that will test learning that was not properly given to them.

Thank you very much for your time. Owing to the nearness of the upcoming exams, I request your immediate reply.

Yours truly,

ANK

---------

PS

I ran a Google Search on the contributors and the program coordinator, trying to find qualifications that might prove me wrong. Zilch.