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Post by monklady123 on Nov 14, 2023 21:34:33 GMT
Specifically elementary classrooms. In my district all elementary kids are given an iPad. 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades are allowed to take it home if the individual teacher has said yes. All three 3rd grade teachers do not allow it, 4th and 5th is mixed. If a parent doesn't want it at home they can request that. At some point in middle or high school kids are given Chromebooks, but I don't know where that happens because I don't sub above elementary. So today in third grade here was our schedule and how the iPads fit in. 1. Kids come in, put stuff away, then start with cursive practice in a workbook. Great you say... Nope, apparently there is a companion video that goes along with this program, that demonstrates how to make each letter. In theory that could be helpful (although the workbook does have excellent diagrams)...I understand because I am a visual learner. But...I watched several kids *watching* the video as an ordinary video. Just sitting there watching. They didn't pick up a pencil to actually practice anything until I walked over and told them to. I ended up taking one kid's iPad away for the cursive time and reminded him of the demonstration in the book that he could follow. 2. After cursive they had free reading time. Not one child read an actual book, except for the one boy who has lost iPad privileges. Everyone else was reading graphic novels on the iPad. Now, I had comic books when I was a kid and loved them. But from what I've seen today there are SO many kids who never read anything else but graphic novels (in book form, or on the iPad). Don't they need to practice reading a block of text at some point? I know people say "reading is reading" but my thought is that they need to practice reading something that's not a graphic novel. 3. Then we had a lesson with the school counselor. The subject was "feelings and negative thoughts". Halfway through the lesson she had everyone get out their iPads and they did an exercise where the kids logged into the activity and their icon appeared on the SmartBoard. Then she asked questions for examples of positive statements. The kids had to type on their iPads and the answers appeared on the screen. But why was it necessary to use the iPad for this? Why not just brainstorm and write on the white board? 4. Math -- I did the lesson on the SmartBoard then they did an actual paper worksheet! However, when they were done they could get on their iPads to do one of the math apps. 5. After lunch, 40 minutes of Lexia on the iPad (a county-mandated language arts program, 20 minutes required) and then quiet reading time. Yep, every single kid read a graphic novel on their iPad after they finished with Lexia. Except for my one friend who has lost iPad privileges. After maybe 15 minutes of me harassing him he finally settled down with an actual book. 6. Language Arts lesson... me leading with use of the SmartBoard, me reading while they followed along on...yep, their iPad. Then they had an actual paper "exit ticket" to fill out, but they could use their iPads for reference. 7. Science -- animals and adaptation. We watched a video. I didn't know the people in the video but the kids did because they've watched a lot of their videos in class before (I asked)... which tells me that it's not just a video because a sub is there. And it was one of those types that I call "frenetic"... jumping around, lots of glitzy things, and the "hosts" were wild.  Yeah, I'm old. 8. Time to go home, finally. And a kid asked me if they could go on their iPads while we were waiting for buses to be called. Hey, at least he asked! I said no. I remember once, also in 3rd grade, when it was indoor recess and I said no iPads. You would have thought I'd told them to jump off a cliff naked into a lake filled with ice and crocodiles.   No, FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO! And here are nine or ten things you can choose from (games, drawing, books, etc.) Am I just too old for all this? I'm old enough that my own kids didn't even have "technology" until ds got his first Game Boy in 4th grade. We had a computer at home, with dial-up internet. No fancy phones, no iPads, no laptops, no smart watches (yes, 3rd graders have those).... I just feel like so many kids are addicted to it. We have kids who CANNOT help themselves, even five minutes after being told to put it away they're trying to log on to something. I can't believe this much iPad/technology use is good for kids. What do you teachers think? Parents weigh in too. And what do your school districts do? I am very often thankful that my kids aren't kids now. |
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pantsonfire
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Post by pantsonfire on Nov 14, 2023 21:42:48 GMT
Same as if a school or district uses Google Classroom.
I see no difference than if it was a book being referenced.
And it helps cut down on book costs and paler costs and printing costs.
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pantsonfire
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Post by pantsonfire on Nov 14, 2023 21:43:53 GMT
Majority of my son's lessons are on his touch screen lap top. Very useful in that if he is out he can still do work at home to keep up.
Almost all of dd's college work is on her school's canvas and other web based programs to turn in assignments.
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Post by monklady123 on Nov 14, 2023 22:03:01 GMT
Majority of my son's lessons are on his touch screen lap top. Very useful in that if he is out he can still do work at home to keep up. Almost all of dd's college work is on her school's canvas and other web based programs to turn in assignments. But those are older kids. I'm talking about younger elementary school age kids. Obviously as kids get older they're going to be using more and more technology. Personally I love my technology, lol. But I wonder at what point it's just too much to be healthy for younger children. |
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Post by mom on Nov 14, 2023 22:03:40 GMT
My kids are long out of school but I would not like so much iPad time. Sure, there is a time and place for an iPad, but it doesn't have to be for every part of their day. Sure, older HS kids + college kids will use technology all the time with their lessons, but at 3rd grade, I would expect that it would use more non-technology based instruction to teach lessons. And honestly, it breaks my heart that it's possible that kids will one day never pick up an actual book to read.
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pantsonfire
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Post by pantsonfire on Nov 14, 2023 22:14:54 GMT
Majority of my son's lessons are on his touch screen lap top. Very useful in that if he is out he can still do work at home to keep up. Almost all of dd's college work is on her school's canvas and other web based programs to turn in assignments. But those are older kids. I'm talking about younger elementary school age kids. Obviously as kids get older they're going to be using more and more technology. Personally I love my technology, lol. But I wonder at what point it's just too much to be healthy for younger children. Our district has been Chromebook/Google Classroom since a year before the pandemic. Almost everything is online. |
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pantsonfire
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Post by pantsonfire on Nov 14, 2023 22:17:12 GMT
My kids are long out of school but I would not like so much iPad time. Sure, there is a time and place for an iPad, but it doesn't have to be for every part of their day. Sure, older HS kids + college kids will use technology all the time with their lessons, but at 3rd grade, I would expect that it would use more non-technology based instruction to teach lessons. And honestly, it breaks my heart that it's possible that kids will one day never pick up an actual book to read. AR is about the only real book kids in district use. They visit the library weekly and classes have book cases. Our district also have robotics starting in Kindergarten and ties with a person who worked for Disney so lots of various levels of robotics and it ties in with iPad and other PC systems. |
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johnnysmom
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Jun 25, 2014 21:16:33 GMT
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Post by johnnysmom on Nov 14, 2023 22:23:24 GMT
I’m not ina classroom so I can’t speak to exactly how much time kids are on iPads (we are 1:1 devices) but I will say that our classrooms all have libraries and our kids visit the school library weekly (and check out books). I just placed an order today to fulfill grants our 2nd/3rd grade teacher won….it contained a sizable order from Lego Education (I told my boss if can’t find me I’ll be down in that class playing Lego), lots of books, math manipulatives and some art/makerspace materials.
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Post by monklady123 on Nov 14, 2023 22:34:39 GMT
I’m not ina classroom so I can’t speak to exactly how much time kids are on iPads (we are 1:1 devices) but I will say that our classrooms all have libraries and our kids visit the school library weekly (and check out books). I just placed an order today to fulfill grants our 2nd/3rd grade teacher won….it contained a sizable order from Lego Education (I told my boss if can’t find me I’ll be down in that class playing Lego), lots of books, math manipulatives and some art/makerspace materials. Yes, all of our classrooms have reading corners/book nooks/whatever. And I almost never see a kid getting a book to read from there because they read graphic novels on their iPads. All classes also visit the school library once a week and they can all take out a certain number of books (depends on grade level). Pre-K, 1st, 2nd... they LOVE taking out books. 3rd, 4th, and 5th, mostly they want graphic novels. The librarians have told me this. -- Of course there are some kids who take out books, read them, and bring them back even before the next week so they can take out more. But they are in a real minority.  |
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Post by leannec on Nov 14, 2023 23:09:08 GMT
I can't speak to your issue but I will say that I am envious that students all have an iPad ... or a Chromebook for older grades! I teach junior high in Canada and in my public school system there is not enough technology to go around ... we have to share ... it sucks! They want us to do away with textbooks but don't give us the technology to replace them.  This leads to huge amounts of photocopying which also sucks! |
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CeeScraps
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~~occupied entertaining my brain~~
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Post by CeeScraps on Nov 14, 2023 23:31:32 GMT
I didn't read everything but here is a recess suggestion.....
Each child had a pocket folder with their name on it that I kept in a tub until indoor recess. In the folder I put fun sheets. Some coloring (had to do math problems to color), some puzzles, word finds....whatever I could come up with. Initially I gave them 3-4 sheets. That way there was something in there if there was an unexpected indoor recess. After a couple of indoor times I'd pull out a couple more sheets. I'd have the kids distribute them and add to the folders. I tried to get a wide variety of pages for them to do.
The kids didn't have to use their folders if they didn't want to. It was just nice to know that they'd have something.
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Post by Merge on Nov 15, 2023 0:20:51 GMT
Eh, I just see it as times changing. I used to get in trouble for keeping a novel inside my social studies book and reading it during lessons. I was just as compulsively waiting to open my book at all times as some kids are with screens today.
I wish we were 1:1 devices at my school. My music curriculum has robust options for individual learning online with a Chromebook. I can’t use those at this school because the principal is afraid to have the kids carry their Chromebooks from the classroom to the music room.
One really good thing about online learning is the ability of the site or app to generate content based on what a student is missing. Paper worksheets don’t do that.
I hear you about kids needing to learn to read a longer block of text. I would speculate that they get that experience in novel studies in their ELA classes. I don’t have a problem with them choosing graphic novels for their free reading time. It’s not like I was hiding the classics inside my social studies book - it was more likely to be Sweet Valley High or, later, VC Andrews. 😂
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pancakes
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Post by pancakes on Nov 15, 2023 16:22:13 GMT
I have a 3.5 year old and there is no tech at her age, and from what I've seen in the grades above her, there is some tech being used but I agree with you that your district sounds...egregious in their use.
I am all for saving money with textbooks and paper. But a lot of the things you described sound like they're using it for the sake of using it. It's bizarre. I personally would not be running my class that way, if I were a teacher.
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RosieKat
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Post by RosieKat on Nov 15, 2023 16:39:04 GMT
There is way too much in our school district, and it's very highly rated. It does seem like 3rd grade is when they really start getting into it hard core, and by 4th and 5th it's very tech heavy. By high school, they're basically having to do online assignments and learning 99% of the time - DD's teachers don't even actually teach anything for the most part. (This year, she really has just one teacher who teaches anything, everyone else is just having them read stuff online and do activities online. It's BAD, and again, this is one of the best-rated high schools in the state.) But of course, the teachers are also screwed because of all the crap they have to cover and how all the requirements require tech. Tech has a definite use, but we're not applying it wisely. |
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huskergal
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Post by huskergal on Nov 16, 2023 0:59:42 GMT
We have been 1-to-1 in our middle school for about 5 years now. I teach computer science. I used to have a lab. The kids were excited to be in my class because they hardly touch computers during the day. Now they are on them all the time.
Downsides: students forget chargers, students forget laptops, students break laptops, things on the laptop not working, app or site won't work.
Opening other tabs and doing other things when they are supposed to be working. Game playing. Cheating.
A lot of teachers are going back to using worksheets and packets again.
One-on-one is not the end all be all.
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Post by ExpatBackHome on Nov 16, 2023 1:26:42 GMT
I’m not a teacher but a parent of two (4th grade and college) and I would prefer very little screen time in elementary. I still get books from the library for my son to read. I also don’t allow screen time during the week at home.
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Post by worrywart on Nov 16, 2023 3:08:59 GMT
Many of them are addicted to clicking and can't bear the thought of putting effort into paper and pencil work. It is also contributing to shortened attention spans (in my opinion). I'm not opposed to technology, however, I don't see much bang for the buck over other methods for student achievement much of the time.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Nov 16, 2023 4:26:22 GMT
Our district is 1:1 devices from elementary on, iPads in elementary and school issued Chromebooks in middle and high school. I know my kid didn’t spend that much time on hers in class at that age. She always brought home tons of books from the school library as well as from her teacher’s classroom libraries. Even now in 8th grade, she has been bringing home actual books from her ELA class to read during free reading at school and at home. I know they use their Chromebooks throughout the day but they don’t use it as much as you’ve described.
She has her own personal iPad and I’ve asked her once or twice if she wanted to download the Libby app onto it so she could check out the next books in whatever series she’s reading from the library if there isn’t a physical copy available to check out but she said no, she doesn’t like reading books on it and prefers an actual book. She only brings her iPad to school if she needs it for an assignment or for her after school film club for editing video.
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Post by jeremysgirl on Nov 16, 2023 12:28:52 GMT
Now I know that I'm coming at this from a higher ed experience but it is my experience. I went to college from 93-98. At that time we had computer labs to communicate by email and type papers. But everything was human driven
I went to grad school from 13-16 and almost all of it was online.
IMO, there was a missing element in the instruction. The focus on computers as learning tools, left the instruction hollow IMO. I wanted to hear a lecture from a knowledgeable professor. I believe that there is a level of engagement and expertise that a professor (teacher) provides that is meaningful and memorable in a way that technology cannot replicate.
I also thought that mostly online learning lacked the ability for spontaneous conversation and interaction between classmates. There were online focused "discussion questions" but they were bullshit questions without any real deep thinking and the responses were so hollow and delayed, no actual discussion was had. I didn't know my classmates and I didn't grow from interacting with them. It was an experience of learning in solitude.
With that said, I don't often participate in threads here that are empty either. I hate the threads where someone asks a question and people just throw out an answer and very little interaction takes place. That's not why I'm here. So maybe what I want to get out of my education is different than others. And I'll own that.
I admit too that part of my discomfort is with the fact that I feel the world is becoming more isolated. I pulled into myself during COVID and following Esther's death. But now I'm looking for more opportunities for human interaction. I am not an introvert. So the focus on the individual and solitude is not the way I'm built. I enjoy people. Most people.
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huskergal
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Post by huskergal on Nov 16, 2023 13:36:08 GMT
Now I know that I'm coming at this from a higher ed experience but it is my experience. I went to college from 93-98. At that time we had computer labs to communicate by email and type papers. But everything was human driven I went to grad school from 13-16 and almost all of it was online. IMO, there was a missing element in the instruction. The focus on computers as learning tools, left the instruction hollow IMO. I wanted to hear a lecture from a knowledgeable professor. I believe that there is a level of engagement and expertise that a professor (teacher) provides that is meaningful and memorable in a way that technology cannot replicate. I also thought that mostly online learning lacked the ability for spontaneous conversation and interaction between classmates. There were online focused "discussion questions" but they were bullshit questions without any real deep thinking and the responses were so hollow and delayed, no actual discussion was had. I didn't know my classmates and I didn't grow from interacting with them. It was an experience of learning in solitude. With that said, I don't often participate in threads here that are empty either. I hate the threads where someone asks a question and people just throw out an answer and very little interaction takes place. That's not why I'm here. So maybe what I want to get out of my education is different than others. And I'll own that. I admit too that part of my discomfort is with the fact that I feel the world is becoming more isolated. I pulled into myself during COVID and following Esther's death. But now I'm looking for more opportunities for human interaction. I am not an introvert. So the focus on the individual and solitude is not the way I'm built. I enjoy people. Most people. I did my Master's Degree all on line. I agree with you. Online classes do not provide the same experience as in person classes. I know my students can learn from online videos and tutorials, but what is the point of my job if I let the computer do the work. |
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Post by jeremysgirl on Nov 16, 2023 13:46:13 GMT
I know my students can learn from online videos and tutorials, but what is the point of my job if I let the computer do the work. Exactly. And you and I had that foundation so we could look at what this looks like. We were miles ahead of 3rd grade in graduate school. The OP just doesn't sit right with me. |
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craftymom101
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Post by craftymom101 on Nov 16, 2023 14:17:14 GMT
My son is a senior this year and last year, as a junior, he asked to take classes at the local community college through the dual enrollment program. He qualified for the program and was accepted at the college to take four classes. Three "in person", and one online.
His in-person classes consisted of one 40–70-minute class each week for student check-in, no lectures or teacher driven discussions, and the rest of the class was done on the online portal, outside of the classroom. These were three credit college level courses. My son struggled with the lack of teacher involvement and the reliance on technology as a replacement for teaching. After one semester, I pulled him from dual enrollment and he re-enrolled full time at the high school. I also expressed my frustration to his counselor, who let me know my kid is not the only one who is struggling with the fully digital college model. I took dual enrollment classes in high school and three credit classes required 4 50-minute classes (on campus) per week. Four credit classes met five days per week for 50 minutes each day, and five credit classes met five days per week for 50 minutes, plus a one-hour lab. Five credit classes were reserved for science classes, for the most part.
I was disappointed with the elimination of group/class discussions in my son's college classes. I learned so much during great college discussions, but the community college has moved all discussions online to a forum within each class. Of course, there is some value in that, but I feel like physically being in a classroom setting creates better discussions overall. My son felt a separation between himself and his instructors and didn't feel as engaged in each class. I think part of that was his age (16) and the newness of taking classes fully online, but I also think he was expecting a lively college experience, which he did not receive.
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dawnnikol
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Post by dawnnikol on Nov 16, 2023 14:45:14 GMT
Not one child read an actual book, except for the one boy who has lost iPad privileges. Everyone else was reading graphic novels on the iPad. Now, I had comic books when I was a kid and loved them. But from what I've seen today there are SO many kids who never read anything else but graphic novels (in book form, or on the iPad). Don't they need to practice reading a block of text at some point? I know people say "reading is reading" but my thought is that they need to practice reading something that's not a graphic novel.
ETA: Timely add that this graphic novel just won last night: ‘A First Time for Everything’ Wins 2023 National Book Award for Young People’s LiteratureI think if graphic novels were available back when my husband was growing up, he might actually read now. The stigma around reading comic books not being "real books" has now been attached to graphic novels, IMO. Our elementary school librarian's assistant was irritated at the Book Fair because kids "only want to read those". Graphic novels have come a long way and there are so many now. If my kids go through them quickly, they re-read them. I get what you're saying about reading longer blocks of text, but don't they also get that when doing other subjects, too? I don't hear anyone saying, "picture books aren't reading", what's the difference besides length? As far as screens... ugh. When my teenager was in Kindergarten, I would volunteer every Friday. The teacher handed me an iPad and told me to do something, and I had no idea how. My next question was "why does my kindergartner need to know how to operate this?" Of course, after the shutdowns in March 2020, they decided to ramp up the technology purchases for our district so now each child can have an iPad or Chromebook (different between elementary, middle, and high school) to take home if necessary. The kids haven't brought them home though between last year or this year. They use them all the time though in class. Heck, they even use math games at school and then the kids come home asking for the membership so they can play more or get whatever items in the game. It's a lot... but I don't see it going backwards anytime soon. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Nov 16, 2023 15:21:48 GMT
Not one child read an actual book, except for the one boy who has lost iPad privileges. Everyone else was reading graphic novels on the iPad. Now, I had comic books when I was a kid and loved them. But from what I've seen today there are SO many kids who never read anything else but graphic novels (in book form, or on the iPad). Don't they need to practice reading a block of text at some point? I know people say "reading is reading" but my thought is that they need to practice reading something that's not a graphic novel.
ETA: Timely add that this graphic novel just won last night: ‘A First Time for Everything’ Wins 2023 National Book Award for Young People’s LiteratureI think if graphic novels were available back when my husband was growing up, he might actually read now. The stigma around reading comic books not being "real books" has now been attached to graphic novels, IMO. Our elementary school librarian's assistant was irritated at the Book Fair because kids "only want to read those". Graphic novels have come a long way and there are so many now. If my kids go through them quickly, they re-read them. I get what you're saying about reading longer blocks of text, but don't they also get that when doing other subjects, too? I don't hear anyone saying, "picture books aren't reading", what's the difference besides length? As far as screens... ugh. When my teenager was in Kindergarten, I would volunteer every Friday. The teacher handed me an iPad and told me to do something, and I had no idea how. My next question was "why does my kindergartner need to know how to operate this?" Of course, after the shutdowns in March 2020, they decided to ramp up the technology purchases for our district so now each child can have an iPad or Chromebook (different between elementary, middle, and high school) to take home if necessary. The kids haven't brought them home though between last year or this year. They use them all the time though in class. Heck, they even use math games at school and then the kids come home asking for the membership so they can play more or get whatever items in the game. It's a lot... but I don't see it going backwards anytime soon. My kid begged for us to get a Prodigy subscription when she was in I think 4th grade because they used it in school. We caved at Christmas and got it for her and I think she logged in maybe 4-5 times total in the year that followed. 🙄 Money wasted. Lesson learned. I’ve been personally using DuoLingo off and on since 2018 to learn Spanish, mostly on for the last two years and currently have a 217 day streak. I’m at the point now where I’m seriously considering getting the paid subscription for it because after more than a half year of doing it daily I know that at least I would use it. |
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Post by monklady123 on Nov 16, 2023 16:53:20 GMT
Not one child read an actual book, except for the one boy who has lost iPad privileges. Everyone else was reading graphic novels on the iPad. Now, I had comic books when I was a kid and loved them. But from what I've seen today there are SO many kids who never read anything else but graphic novels (in book form, or on the iPad). Don't they need to practice reading a block of text at some point? I know people say "reading is reading" but my thought is that they need to practice reading something that's not a graphic novel.
ETA: Timely add that this graphic novel just won last night: ‘A First Time for Everything’ Wins 2023 National Book Award for Young People’s LiteratureI think if graphic novels were available back when my husband was growing up, he might actually read now. The stigma around reading comic books not being "real books" has now been attached to graphic novels, IMO. Our elementary school librarian's assistant was irritated at the Book Fair because kids "only want to read those". Graphic novels have come a long way and there are so many now. If my kids go through them quickly, they re-read them. I get what you're saying about reading longer blocks of text, but don't they also get that when doing other subjects, too? I don't hear anyone saying, "picture books aren't reading", what's the difference besides length? As far as screens... ugh. When my teenager was in Kindergarten, I would volunteer every Friday. The teacher handed me an iPad and told me to do something, and I had no idea how. My next question was "why does my kindergartner need to know how to operate this?" Of course, after the shutdowns in March 2020, they decided to ramp up the technology purchases for our district so now each child can have an iPad or Chromebook (different between elementary, middle, and high school) to take home if necessary. The kids haven't brought them home though between last year or this year. They use them all the time though in class. Heck, they even use math games at school and then the kids come home asking for the membership so they can play more or get whatever items in the game. It's a lot... but I don't see it going backwards anytime soon. Yes, I think if they'd had graphic novels when my son was a kid he would have learned to read earlier, and would have like reading more. I have nothing against them in that way. It's just that I know in the "old days", i.e., when my kids were in elementary school, they were reading textbooks and novels with actual paragraphs in them. I guess these iPad kids will have to do that at some point though... not sure when that arrives because I only sub in elementary school. It just bothers me when every single child chooses to read on their iPad instead of finding one of the MANY good books in the teachers' library corners, and that they all choose graphic novels when they have digital access to the entire kids' collection in the county.  But maybe that's just the way it is these days... I know I'm a dinosaur anyway. haha I'll check out what you linked... |
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taliakat
Shy Member
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Oct 31, 2023 4:22:28 GMT
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Post by taliakat on Nov 17, 2023 8:00:22 GMT
I used to be a teacher. It has been decades. Teaching today has my admiration and empathy. It is hard to navigate in this time. I recently read an article discussing how the Covid pandemic has made a generation of lost readers- www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095947522200127XNewYork Time covered it in 2022- www.nytimes.com/2022/03/08/us/pandemic-schools-reading-crisis.htmlI see why kids are grasping graphic novels. I know my library that is one of the most respected in the country with good funding has been ordering more graphic novels. That was an eye opener. I agree that students need to read block of text. The proliferation of graphic novels I keep wondering if this new norm in reading will make stronger readers in the future. I think it will. On the upside graphic novels are based on an original novel. I think graphic novel fans will end up reading the original novel at some point. If a teacher has a say in her curriculum hopefully she/he will be able to incorporate this into reading time. I know I would if I could. Tech in classrooms. It is needed and needs balance. Stories of all tech schools I keep thinking we are raising children to be robots.  Whiteboard brainstorming should be taught. The videos would drive me crazy. Videos, Ipads, screen time, no creative learning. I would be banging my head on my desk. Teachers you have my sympathy. No, I don't think all those videos are a good idea. TikTok is the new search engine- www.nytimes.com/2022/09/16/technology/gen-z-tiktok-search-engine.html I get it from the Z viewpoint. YouTube is my search engine. I know I am old school teacher but I need my kids to look at me, talk to me, be creative, watch that light come into their eyes when they figured it out themselves. I want to see them do math without tech. Tech is fine in math and encouraged but balance. I agree I don't think overwhelming tech is good for kids. They are already anxious, burned out and pushed. Too much tech makes me feel the same way. |
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Post by mammajamma on Nov 19, 2023 13:45:19 GMT
I wonder what all the screen use in children is doing to their vision. My 12 year old daughter just got bifocals. The optometrist said that people are loosing their distance easier because of so much up close work. I wonder if there is real research on that. My DD has not used screens to the extent of some of her peers. I was strict on her iPad use until probably age 10. Now she has so much reading and homework, that I notice blocks of time she is looking at a book or a screen.
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Post by Lexica on Nov 19, 2023 14:28:03 GMT
I know my students can learn from online videos and tutorials, but what is the point of my job if I let the computer do the work.As I read the main post, this is what popped into my mind. Is this a portend of the future? I sure hope that school districts don’t end up trying to save money by going with some type of subscription computer classes with just low-paid babysitters with multiple classes all in one large room instead of an actual educated teacher. Or the option to stay at home to learn instead of building physical schools. 😳 |
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artbabe
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,042
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Post by artbabe on Nov 19, 2023 16:31:06 GMT
I know my students can learn from online videos and tutorials, but what is the point of my job if I let the computer do the work. But is the computer really doing the work? Because when I was teaching at home during covid I was working as hard as I was working in person. I'm an art teacher and I still use computers more than I did before covid. We do the projects on actual paper but they write about art on a computer. I also post slide shows I made and videos on the computer. Computers don't make the lesson plans or grade the art. I don't think I'm working any less than I did pre-computer, I just have more tools to work with. I used to have to make a million paper copies and had to calculate grade percentages with one of those cardboard sliding grading scale things. Does anyone remember those? That being said, I made sure the kids have lots of hands on work because I know they aren't getting that in a lot of classes except for science. It isn't good for them to be staring at a computer all day. The kids come to me with far less hands on skills than they used to. For example, so many of them can't figure out a ruler. On the upside graphic novels are based on an original novel. I'm a picture book and graphic novel nerd and most graphic novels are not based on an original novel. Graphic novels are an original form of literature in themselves. The 8th graders were reading a book in class last month that was a graphic novel- an original one, not one based on a "real" novel. Some graphic novels are award winning literature. Just think of the graphic novel "Maus". It is a classic. |
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Post by playingcinderella on Nov 19, 2023 16:59:16 GMT
I teach high school and work at a campus where every kid has a laptop. Three years ago I was frustrated with how little the students seemed to retain, the fight to keep them on task- it so easy to open a new tab, and the lack of engagement. I teach a hands on course but vocabulary, safety, etc is taught as we begin each unit and I really need to know they are paying attention as we are discussing safe use of a jig saw. So 3 years ago I tested a theory and printed my own workbook from our district's print center - spiral bound so they couldn't leave their worksheets scattered on my floor. The engagement, number of completed assignments and retention on exams has increased dramatically and I haven't changed anything else about how I was teaching. We still use their laptops - when I'm absent, when they are absent, for some really great sound and lighting design programs, to submit assignments, to build portfolios..... BUT now it's not in front of them when I an doing direct instruction or when we are having a class discussion. It also sets my class apart in their day because they do use those laptops so much in their other classes.
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Yeah, I'm old. 
No, FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO! And here are nine or ten things you can choose from (games, drawing, books, etc.)
But maybe that's just the way it is these days... I know I'm a dinosaur anyway. haha 
Whiteboard brainstorming should be taught. The videos would drive me crazy. Videos, Ipads, screen time, no creative learning. I would be banging my head on my desk. Teachers you have my sympathy. No, I don't think all those videos are a good idea. TikTok is the new search engine- 
