I have mixed feelings on the use of technology in subjects like mathematics or music. These are two fields where we have seen child prodigies. I certainly do not need technology to teach those subjects.

I do wonder how sound the school curriculum is and methodologies are. One morning my son wanted to play games on the computer. There were no games on my laptop but some of my work in computerized formative assessment was on that machine.

My son was in NB grade 3 at the time. I logged in to Quebec grade 4 formative assessments for mathematics and told him to it was a math game. He had trouble with the first few questions and then his level changed. He went throught the entire grade 4 and grade 5 program within less than 4 hours. He did higher than 90 on two summative assessments. Never had to teach him anything.

So I wonder what are they doing in school if a kid can do 2 years of math in 4 hours without even sweating. If you take into account that my son was assessed by the school system as a slow learner in his first year, it really makes you wonder. He seemed to like school at the time although when the teacher asked how he felt about school he said that it made him want to puke. Got a good laugh out of that one because he didn't realize there was anything improper about such a comment.

Gilbert