Join the debate on education

OK, guys, I'm going through all of the old e-mails and although I'm a little late on this one, The Economist is debating education. You can still join in. Please do! The following is from Jeff Koo from the Economist.

Received via E-mail on October 1st “I saw your blog, Cool Cat Teacher Blog, and am delighted to invite you and your readers to be part of an extraordinary first for Economist.com. The Economist Debate Series officially kicks off October 15^th at http://economist.com/debates and voting is underway now to determine the topics that will be debated. We’d love to have you participate in the debate and link to the lively conversation.

The Economist Debate Series is an ongoing community forum where propositions about topical issues will be rigorously debated in the Oxford style by compelling Speakers. The first topic being debated is Education and The Economist is inviting you and your readers to take part by voting on propositions, sharing views and opinions, and challenging the Speakers.

Five propositions have now been short-listed to address the most far-reaching and divisive aspects of the education debate covering: the place of foreign students in higher education; the position of corporate donors; and the role of technology in today’s classrooms. The highest ranking propositions will be debated, with the first launching on Oct 15th.

Choose the most resonant propositions to be debated from the list below:

Education – The propositions:

1. This house believes that the continuing introduction of new technologies and new media adds little to the quality of most education.

2. This house proposes that governments and universities everywhere should be competing to attract and educate all suitably-qualified students regardless of nationality and residence.

3. This house believes that companies donate to education mainly to win public goodwill and there is nothing wrong with this.

4. This house believes that the “digital divide” is a secondary problem in the educational needs of developing countries.

5. This house believes that social networking technologies will bring large changes to educational methods, in and out of the classroom

Join the Debate

The debate schedule is as follows:

• Sep 17th-Oct 12th – Vote for your favorite proposition and join the open forum to discuss topics
• Oct 15th – Winning proposition is revealed and the Debate begins
• Oct 18th – Rebuttals. Share your comments on issues so far and vote for your winning side
• Oct 23th – Closing arguments by the Speakers. Post any additional comments you would like to share and vote for your winner
• Oct 26th – The debate winner is announced.

To receive debate updates sign up now. We will then contact you to announce the winning proposition and details of the debate as it unfolds.

I look forward to you joining us and fellow Economist readers for this lively debate. In the meantime, check the site to track which proposition is winning, and to view guest participants and the announcement of key Speakers at www.economist.com/debate.

Also, if you would prefer not to be contacted again in the future, please let me know.”