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Do letter grades have a place in our technological world?

The Surrey school district recently announced it was going to test a new system for evaluating children's academic progress, and do away with letter grades. At first, I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

The Surrey school district recently announced it was going to test a new system for evaluating children's academic progress, and do away with letter grades. At first, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Do away with grades? What about accountability? What about evaluation? It sounded like another way to make it easier to go through school without having to actually do much.

But it got me thinking - just because I had letter grades doesn't mean it's still the only way to determine how my kids are doing in school. Technology has changed our lives considerably, and in ways I hadn't really thought they would.

This really hit me as I was having a conversation with my son. He had tried to memorize a number, but had forgotten it. I never had

trouble memorizing numbers; I have my social insurance number, driver's licence number, credit card number and numerous phones numbers on the tip of my tongue. This was a necessity when I was a kid - you either memorize your friend's home phone numbers, or you wouldn't be able to get in touch with them unless you carried a phone book with you.

But my son doesn't have to do that - he's got his friend's numbers in his phone. "Why bother memorizing them?" he asked me. "That just takes up brain space that I can use for something else."

Good logic, as long as you don't lose your phone. But given how powerful phones have become, was there any point in memorizing anything? If I don't know something, I can grab my phone and Google it. There is a world of information in the palm of my hand these days, so why bother trying to stuff my brain with useless information when I can find it with a few touches on a screen.

Having such quick access to information sure does change things a lot. Gone are the days of long debates with my friends over useless trivia topics. I remember one time in college we were trying to remember the cast of Hogan's Heroes, and couldn't recall Richard Dawson's character. For months we wracked our brains trying to remember that name. Finally, one day, it came to me - Newkirk. Unfortunately, I was at a family function when I blurted it out, so they weren't as excited as I was to finally recover this information.

Today, I could have had my answer in about 15 seconds. Sure, finding it out that way wouldn't be nearly as satisfying, but I wouldn't have spent so much time trying to remember such a useless piece of trivia. Sorry, Mr. Trebek, but it sounds like Jeopardy is in, well, jeopardy.

I've always felt that school was a place to learn how to learn. When kids walk out of Grade 12, they might not remember a whole lot about the subjects they've completed, but they are well equipped to go onto the next adventure. And considering how much technology has changed the way kids learn, perhaps we should look at changing how we evaluate their success. I don't have all the answers on this one, but I can always Google it.