Michael Gort writes:
> Having been computer literate for most of his life, he understand how
> easily spell checkers handle spelling errors, and therefore does recognize
> the importance of spelling. His school, of course, believes spelling to
Just an aside: I perceive an increasing number of malapropisms these days
which may come from over-dependence upon spell checkers. Unfortunately,
sometimes these errors make the writer's meaning hard to decipher.
> be as important as values and character, and is putting intense pressure
> on him to improve his spelling. The method used is quite draconian --
> weekly tests, with all of the focus on how many words are spelled wrong.
I'm not sure I'd label that as draconian; I recall having that in (public)
school, and each of my kids has had that in public school, as well. I
wouldn't necessarily label it as fun, but draconian had the connotation
(to me) of "cruel and unusual", and I don't see that as particularly
unusual.
I don't mean this to be too critical, but I am nervous about giving up
skills to machines before they have learned enough to assume the
responsibility. :-) (The same goes for calculation skills, BTW.)
Regards,
Bill Harris
billh@lsid.hp.com
--Bill Harris <billh@lsid.hp.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>