External Post #1

On http://theedublogger.com/2012/06/13/no-more-memorizing-in-schools-yes-really/ -- posted as Emily619.

"At first glance, this thought seems very out of place.  There is so much memorization and regurgitation in education that it is hard to imagine a world where we as teachers would be not be allowed to test basic facts.

However, it was helpful to think of the example in the original post of using calculators on standardized tests.  Contrary to fears that calculators would not allow tests to measure student knowledge, they actually allowed students to answer questions that dipped deeper into math than just x+y=4.

Certainly, in my own life, I use technology frequently to check facts, to look up words I am uncertain about, and to learn more about topics that interest me.  But I would have to admit that if my students could access basic facts during tests, I would need to build more higher-level thinking into my class and especially into my evaluations.

That doesn't seem like a bad thing, at all."