Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Wow! Not only is this woman computer-illiterate, but she is not serving students well by being unaware of resources available to them. It's hard to imagine that she considered the particular student passing out these disks; if the student was a regular con-artist type, she might have some excuse, but from the report here she's simply close-minded and a subscriber to the "Microsoft knows everything about computers" philosophy.
In a sense, the teacher is right; software does cost money to develop (which is why I will never pirate software, though I do use established freeware). However, there is a large community of open-source and freeware program providers into which she could be tapping for class resources. Sometimes what's free is just a tease to get you to buy a more expensive product; sometimes its an altruistic contribution to the larger community. I'm glad she learned that.
I hope her students learn from the experience that teachers don't know everything, that one should do one's own research, that snap judgements should be weighed before being acted upon, and to listen before you condemn. It certainly would have been better for all concerned to have a more positive role model in this situation, but I'm glad that the story is calling attention to the wide range of resources available.