This is a catch-all blog post:
1) The "Technology in Education" Argument, due Tuesday, 02.23.16 -
a) Please post any sources you've used, either in prepping for the debate or just exploring the issues, as a
comment to this post. Also, remember that you and your classmates tweeted about tech in schools
earlier this week, using #apnshs. During the debate, there were lots of studies and numbers thrown
around, and there were many questions about the sources, so this will be important.
b) Keep in mind you need to have at least one editorial and one op-ed over the course of these four
arguments.
c) While, for the sake of the debate, our discussion was narrowed so that you were students debating an
editorial endorsement of one candidate or the other, that's not the case for the written argument. You
can be writing for the TAB or a student paper, and it can be as an editorial or op-ed.
d) The debate we had in class Thursday doesn't exist in the world of your written argument. What I mean
by this is that you should not refer to something someone said in the debate as if that passes as
evidence or an expressed counterargument: "As someone said in the debate..." "Recently, a class
discussed this issue..." "Mr. Kaplan said..." That doesn't mean the ideas don't exist, but you should be
drawing from published expressions of these numbers or ideas.
e) Even though the in-class debate doesn't exist, evidence does - one of the places many arguments go
under is when the writer takes the position that no one can know or envision the consequences of a
proposed change. ("I can't even imagine how students would react if...") The same goes for
arguments that go directly to the worse-case or best-case scenario when easily-accessed evidence
exists of other outcomes. Though the specific scenario is fictional, this isn't highly speculative: many
schools have attempted to integrate a greater amount of technology, and many schools have
attempted to unplug. That undermines arguments that have as their underlying logos that the only
possible outcomes of the change in policy are catastrophic or miraculous.
f) It can be a tenable position to agree or disagree with a caveat. In fact, using counterarguments or
more nuanced takes on things can lead to a more persuasive position.
2. The place for submission of Argument #2 is now up on TurnItIn.
3. When we return, I'll try to set aside some time in class and homework for you to work on your Heintzelman submission. You should feel free to work on that without my giving you a specific assignment, though.
4. Lastly, a new question about One School, One Book has come up, and the committee of teachers, administrators, parents, and students making the the decision have some questions. Take a few minutes to respond to this Google Survey. I think you might only have access using your school Google Account.