Now THAT's a headline.

[tricotfeelya@woof.group]

@markhurst do kids even learn how to write anymore?

[skua@mastodon.social]

@Infoseepage @markhurst
I get that there are a lot of possible and probable contributors.

Maybe I'm misreading your posts but it seems that you're confident that "laptops and tablets" and "the screen" more generally are not significant contributors.

[greensofshade@mastodon.social]

@markhurst why do they always have to do one or the other, that's not how humans work

[geos@toot.community]

@markhurst
Bummer.

[skua@mastodon.social]

@luc0x61 @markhurst

Let's put your post up on the networked smart screens and student's tablets, and then look at whether it fits with the synergies between genAI in education, so called "individual learning plans", flooding teachers with adminstrative paperwork and removing music, fine art and crafts from the curriculum?
/(Is this marking the end of a sarcastic post? So hard to be sure these days)

[grb090423@mastodon.social]

@joycebell @oldoldcojote @markhurst

This is how we were taught to write (at a normal, state-funded school here in UK). I'll never understand why they stopped teaching it.

[eobeara@mastodon.ie]

@markhurst Our local school in Ireland tried that.
We protested. It stopped.

[drajt@fosstodon.org]

@grb090423 @joycebell @oldoldcojote @markhurst cursive handwriting is hard to read and slower than independent letters. It's also a pretty useless skill, compared to other things you could learn to do.

Not saying people shouldn't learn to write, but being able to type properly is more use than copybook cursive handwriting.

Most of what I was taught in school/uni has been directly useless in life but most has been transferable. Cursive handwriting is on the non-transferable list.

[tenpasttwo@mas.to]

@greensofshade @markhurst I was going to say just that. Same with assessment by coursework or exam, governments swing fully to one or other when a mixture gets the best of both.

[oldoldcojote@climatejustice.social]

@grb090423 @joycebell @markhurst

I taught my kids both cursive and printing at an early age. They prefer cursive.

[oldoldcojote@climatejustice.social]

@drajt @grb090423 @joycebell @markhurst

I have no problem reading it. Have helped read historic letters for people who didn't learn it. Its all about what you care to practice.

[ciarani@mastodon.green]

@markhurst That was quite a read. Thanks for sharing.

"A less capable population […] endangers how humans are able to overcome existential challenges in the decades to come. We’re facing challenges more complex and far-reaching than any in human history—from overpopulation to evolving diseases to moral drift. Now, more than ever, we need a generation able to grapple with nuance, hold multiple truths in tension, and creatively tackle problems that are stumping the greatest adult minds of today.”

[grb090423@mastodon.social]

@drajt @joycebell @oldoldcojote @markhurst

It helped me write quickly when needed in many jobs I had.

[drajt@fosstodon.org]

@grb090423 @joycebell @oldoldcojote @markhurst I was told it was faster when in school, but apparently there is little or no evidence to support this but there is evidence to suggest it is actually slower.

Obviously everyone is different, but I almost never took notes at school or university in full cursive handwriting as I found mixed cursive and printing faster to write, and with hindsight easier to read.

After decades of note taking at work I find I almost never use cursive.

[drajt@fosstodon.org]

@oldoldcojote @grb090423 @joycebell @markhurst obviously everyone is different and if you read it all the time you become more familiar with it.

I find it like reading scribbles, my mother's for example was very typical, it looks pretty from a distance but was in fact almost impossible to read. My step-father could only print in block caps, but it was far more legible and far easier to read.

[infoseepage@mastodon.social]

@skua @markhurst To me, pointing to laptops and tablets as a cause is the equivalent of yelling "Hey, squirrel!" by a bunch of state school administrators who have come under deep rebuke of late as their school system has fallen to the bottom 10 states in the nation in terms of basic standardized test scores. There are a LOT of problem's with Maine's school systems and I found plenty of other articles which do point to them and talk about these issues in depth.

[infoseepage@mastodon.social]

@skua @markhurst Lets talk about some of those factors highlighted in articles:

-Higher percentage of children whose parents lack secure employment than both the NE and national average.
-high housing cost burden on household budgets.
-poor teacher pay relative to cost of living (meaning they have a hard time attracting and retaining quality teachers).

[infoseepage@mastodon.social]

@skua @markhurst
-poor support for students with disabilities and from low-income households (these students have seen their test scores fall the most)
-Poor curriculum development and adherence to evidenced based standards of education.
-High degree of local control / local standards.
-High rates of under-supported behavioral and mental health issues with teachers expected to do to much. Maine has highest rate of restraint use in the nation.

[infoseepage@mastodon.social]

@skua @markhurst
-poor rates of teacher satisfaction, with high rates of resignations and over 50 percent saying they've serious considered quitting teaching entirely.
-bottom five states in nation for number of hours it instructs students per year.
-More than a fifth of teachers in Maine are early career (just started) or have not completed their training to be fully certified.
-Poor opportunities for ongoing professional development among teachers.

[luc0x61@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@skua Oh yes, I still think it fits well: too much attention would be lost on side "enriching" content, than payed to main subject.
I mean, it's a good thing explaining with examples and collateral facts that may help getting into the subject. I love that. However, beyond some limits, the focus may be moved.

LLM responses are then of a specialized kind, where with many well combined words, you fool your interlocutor to always be right and well informed. This is another very complex issue.