美国国家公共电台 NPR Alexa Can Help Kids With Homework, But Don't Forget Problem-Solving Skills

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

There's a video that went viral on Twitter recently. It has a mom sneaking¹ up on her 6-year-old son as he's doing his math homework. And she catches him asking Alexa, Amazon's smart speaker, for help.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Alexa, what's five minus three?

GREENE: What's five minus three? Well, Alexa gives him the answer. And his mom, who's listening in the background, chastises² him. This is all pretty cute. But it gets at a deeper question, right? As kids have more access to virtual assistance, does that interfere³ with the learning process? Here's NPR's Jasmine Garsd.

JASMINE GARSD, BYLINE⁴: Clint Hill is an English teacher at Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Va. He says in his classroom, this often happens.

CLINT HILL: Kids quietly talking into their phones and asking Google or other services, hey. How do you spell - some complicated word that they don't know.

GARSD: Hill, who co-hosts the education podcast Schooled Ya!, says he actually doesn't mind.

HILL: I struggle with spelling. And spell check on my word processing has been a lifesaver for me. And I think being able to use those technological⁵ aids is not hurting anybody. I think it is just improving our ability to use our brains for other things.

GARSD: This is one of the big debates in education today. On the one hand, why deprive kids of technology most adults use every day? But some experts say it's not just about learning basic math or spelling.

DIANE LEVIN: One of the best gifts we can give our children is doing that kind of problem-solving together...

GARSD: Diane Levin is a professor of applied⁶ human development at Boston University and the founder⁷ of the nonprofit TRUCE⁸, or Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment.

LEVIN: ...Because they will use those skills that they're learning for all kinds of things that come along, where, if they're a good problem-solver, they'll do better than kids who just try to go to a screen to get the answer.

GARSD: Levin believes not allowing a child to even struggle a little for the answers leads to what she calls Problem Solving Deficit⁹ Disorder¹⁰. Dimitri Christakis is the director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle's Children's Research Institute.

DIMITRI CHRISTAKIS: There is reason to be concerned but not panicked. And there's also reason to be optimistic and hopeful. It's really about how we deploy¹¹ these technologies.

GARSD: Christakis says every wave of technology elicits¹² a panic about its effect on children and nostalgia¹³ over a more wholesome¹⁴ past. Consider this old clip of Kermit the Frog stuck on an elevator with "Sesame Street's" Count von Count, who is maniacally¹⁵ counting the floors.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Count von Count) Eighth floor, ninth floor...

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Kermit the Frog) Wait a second, Count. I wanted to get off on the seventh floor.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Count von Count) Ten - that's 10...

GARSD: It's sweet and educational. But Christakis points out that a child watching television - it's a completely passive experience. And he says, for children, the interactive¹⁶ aspect of new technology...

CHRISTAKIS: It helps them understand how the world works. And whereas watching television, of course, doesn't allow that to happen because you play no role in the content, interacting with touchscreens and, for that matter, interacting with these voice-activated technologies, allows that to happen in spades.

GARSD: Still, he agrees that this debate is about much more than knowing what five minus three is. It's about developing the patience to solve problems.

CHRISTAKIS: That ability to stay focused, particularly when something is not interesting, is one of the most important developmental skills that children acquire.

GARSD: In other words, it's not just about having the answers. It's about the work you put in to get them. Jasmine Garsd, NPR News, New York.

1 sneaking   

a.秘密的，不公开的

参考例句：

• She had always had a sneaking affection for him. 以前她一直暗暗倾心于他。
• She ducked the interviewers by sneaking out the back door. 她从后门偷偷溜走，躲开采访者。

2 chastises   

v.严惩（某人）（尤指责打）( chastise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It is by way of admonition that he chastises those who are close to him. 上主也这样鞭责我们，并不是为惩罚，乃是为警戒与他亲近的人。 来自互联网

3 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

6 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

7 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

8 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

9 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

10 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

11 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

12 elicits   

引出，探出( elicit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• You might find that a sympathetic approach elicits kinder and gentler behavior. 你或许会发现用同情的方法，可引出更友善及更温和的行为。
• It presents information, shares ideas and elicits emotions. 它展示信息、流思想和抒发情感。

13 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

14 wholesome   

adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的

参考例句：

• In actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.实际上我喜欢做的事大都是有助于增进身体健康的。
• It is not wholesome to eat without washing your hands.不洗手吃饭是不卫生的。

15 maniacally   

参考例句：

• He was maniacally obsessed with jealousy. 强烈的嫉妒心令他疯狂。 来自互联网

16 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。