WHAT SAY YOU?
If you’d like to post a comment, contact us at teacher@skateteachersonline.com
Parents, teachers and school administrators must be well informed, cautious and accountable when using taxpayer money or federal funding. Schools are the microcosm of culture and the society that supports them. As such they should be bastions of ethical behavior and expect the same ethical and moral standards with companies they do business with.
Martin Fletcher, Founder and Researcher of Quantum Learning Technologies and SkateKidsOnline™ said…
“I won’t work in schools. Teachers are stupid and don’t get it.”
to a PhD - School Psychologist and also to a parent
What then does one think of any school who hires an organization whose founder and researcher makes such statements?
A teacher with 35 years experience commented on Fletcher‘s remarks:
“Teachers aren’t stupid Mr. Fletcher. We don’t want YOU in our schools.” PV - teacher
Martin Fletcher made the following comment in an email about teachers at Montessori School in Dearborn Michigan:
“The teachers have been nothing but trouble for me. Once I got out of that school, I vowed to never return.”
CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
Corporate responsibility means doing the right thing in all aspects of our business, including how we treat our customers, our partners and our communities.
“Why would any parent, any teacher, any school or school administration support a company whose founder thinks ‘teachers are stupid’ and ‘don’t get it‘? I have worked in
a school for 30 years now. What kind of an example would they be setting?“ NC
“It would appear that on the one hand Mr. Fletcher discredits our teachers and calls them stupid, and then tries to profit from our education system“. EB - teacher
WHAT SAY YOU?
If you’d like to post a comment, contact us at teacher@skateteachersonline.com
In a press release issued by Quantum Learning Technologies (QLT) on April 8, 2009 in e School News:
“Quantum Learning Technologies (QLT) is the premier developer of web-delivered educational gaming products. Designed for pre-kindergarten through first grade, Ramps to Reading develops the requisite cognitive and pre-literacy skills that prepare young learners to become emergent readers. Designed for grades 3 through 6, Skatekids picks up where Ramps leaves off by helping young learners become critical thinkers as well as confident, competent readers“.
| In an article published in ScienceDaily, January, 2009, “Is Technology Producing A Decline in Critical Thinking And Analysis? Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children’s Digital Media Center, Los Angeles states ’As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved. Dr. Greenfield analyzed more than 50 studies on learning and technology, including research on multi-tasking and the use of computers, the Internet and video games. Technology is not a panacea in education, because of the skills that are being lost.” University of California - Los Angeles (2009 - Janary 29 Is Technology Producing A Decline in Critical Thinking And Analysis? ScienceDaily |
WHAT SAY YOU?
If you’d like to post a comment, contact us at teacher@skateteachersonline.com
INDEPENDENT RESEARCH
Independent research provides access to high-quality and truly independent analysis for schools and businesses. Independent research is conducted by organizations with no conflicting interests.
The charisma of a salesman or the attachment of an education leader to an unproven program/innovation drives school administrators in far too many schools - to make uninformed decisions in purchasing programs that promise raised academic levels. It is therefore essential that schools, teachers, parents and administrators become informed consumers of education research when selecting programs.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2007
On the QLT and SkateKids Online™ website, under ‘Testimonials’ is a letter dated September 5, 2007 written and signed by Jack Naglieri, Professor of Psychology at George Mason University, on George Mason letterhead. It states:
“What impresses me most about Skatekids Online™ is that the authors of this exceptional instruction program have merged an excellent understanding of the academic skills like reading and math children must have with a modern view of what cognitive processes underlie acquisition of these skills.“
In this letter Prof. Naglieri praises the ‘authors’ of the program.
Prof. Nagleiri closes his letter with the following statement:
“I give Skatekids Online™ my highest endorsement.”
www.skatekidsonline.com
JUNE 18, 2008
George Mason University announced ‘Sponsored Projects’ - New Award and Increments: $38,066 - Jack Naglieri - Skate Kids Online™ (Quantum Learning Technologies, Inc.)
http://chss.gmu.edu/sponsoredprojects
JUNE 22, 2008
In an article written by Arleah Difebbo and published in the Cleveland Daily Banner, Cleveland, Tennessee it states:
“Some quick facts: Skatekids Online™ was created and designed by Marty Fletcher and Jack Naglieri, two leading psychologists in the country.”
www.clevelandbanner.com/index.cfm?event=news.view&id=A7353857
Alan Aldworth, CEO of Quantum Learning Technologies, states in an online video that:
www.schooltube.com/video/29091/Quantam-Learning-Technologies-Skate-Kids
“We know our programs are effective. How do we know that they are effective? Well, we meticulously analyze the results on student achievement of our programs through a partnership we have with the Cognitive Psychology Department at George Mason University.”
‘Thanks for the insight. What I find alarming is that schools and administrators aren’t doing their ‘homework.‘ More alarming is that the ‘creator’ of a program is a professor at a university who ‘attaches’ his name to it and gives it his ‘highest endorsement‘, praises the ‘authors’ in writing prior to doing any research (is that ‘research-based?) SD
WHAT SAY YOU?
If you’d like to post a comment, contact us at teacher@skateteachersonline.com
WHY PAY FOR SOMETHING WHEN SCHOOLS CAN PROVIDE THE SAME SERVICES FOR FREE?
On August 22, 2005 in the New York Times, ‘Once a Booming Market, Education Software for the PC Takes a Nose Dive’ Matt Richtel writes:
“What happened was an explosion, of new often free technologies competing to entertain and teach children. Young children have long been a primary audience for computer learning games. But with free games and learning sites now available all over the Internet, parents are finding they do not need to buy software that can teach the A B C’s…And the spread of broadband connections has made playing online games easier.”
www.nytimes.com/2005/08/22/technology/22soft.html
EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN IS NO GAME.
So, what do parents know that school administrators, using taxpayer money and federally funded Title 1 money, in an already impoverished education system, don’t??
With state budgets facing billions of dollars in shortfalls with billions of dollars in budget cuts being proposed, most of these cuts are directly aimed at already beleaguered schools. From the West coast to the East Coast and in-between, districts have spent reserves, reduced staff, eliminated transportation or increased class sizes.
The San Diego Unified School District JUST signed a contract with QLT, costing the taxpayer over $80,000 using Title 1 funding at a time when California is cutting education funding at it own peril.
WHAT SAY YOU?
If you’d like to post a comment, contact us at teacher@skateteachersonline.com
IT’S FREE ONLINE
One just has to search the web for free online research-based and National Reading Panel standards-aligned education games.
This is by no means an ‘endorsement’ but take for example Arcademic Skill Builders http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com, a free, on-line educational program found searching on the Internet ’free online education games on the Internet.’ They are “research based and standards-aligned education games that offer an innovative approach to teaching basic academic skills. We incorporate features of arcade games and education practices into fun online games that will engage, motivate, and teach your students. And it‘s free!!”
Sales pitch sound familiar? Yet one program schools are paying for and the other is free!!
Here are some other FREE educational games for children easily available on the Internet.
www.jumpstart.com - Your pre-schooler will love this online 3D virtual world. Play free!!
www.FunBrain.com - Kids can brush up on their math & language skills by playing three different interactive games - math baseball, wacky tales and change makers. My students love it!
WHAT SAY YOU?
If you’d like to post a comment, contact us at teacher@skateteachersonline.com