Some people say drill and practice is really "drill and kill." What can teachers do to make sure this kind of use doesn't happen and drill and practice can serve a useful function?

Teachers need to make sure that students understand the meaning behind the lesson before drill and practice is used. For example a student needs to understand what addition is, be able to describe it, be able to explain it, give examples of what it is, and then they need to memorize their addition facts. If they do not have that foundation of what addition is prior to memorizing addition facts, then there is no motivation to memorize them. Drill and practice is a needed thing. We don’t want adults to whip out their fingers when asked a basic addition problem. So basically teachers can teach meaning before drill and practice to make it a useful function.

Some educators feel that distance technologies will greatly improve education; some feel
education will suffer if they are overused. What are factors you can cite in support of each of these positions?

Distance learning can greatly improve education in that the exposure is boundless. Students can access just about any information using the internet, and can connect with people who have had different exposures. It can also give people the opportunity to get an education with a non flexible schedule. Usually when you take on online class you can do the work at any time that works for you. Distance learning also provides students with an exposure to technology that they may not be inclined to use. For example, I don’t think I would have ever started my own blog, had it not been for this class.

The down side of distance learning is that it may not be everything that we think it is. A lot of us have known people who have taken an online course only to either flunk out, or drop the class. The fact is that it takes a lot of motivation and organization to complete the course. Another problem is that as teachers we are often telling parents to limit TV time, or computer time so that kids can do their homework or read, but if they are taking an online course, we are encouraging them to sit in front of the computer. While it may be educational, it is hard for some students to understand the difference.