What does Chromebook use look like in your kid's elementary class?
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Anonymous
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This is our first year with Chromebooks and both my spouse and I feel like they are a real cluster.
Our kid is a fast worker and races through work to go play games on his Chromebook. Sure the games are pre-approved, but they are not exactly educational and the kids "game" the games to accumulate points as opposed to complete the actual learning objectives. According to my child the kids in the class are using all the various programs and games to collect stickers and prizes and change avatars as opposed to actually learning and reading e-books. I know an 8 year old should have some self control, but isn't it the teacher's or school's job to police this somewhat? They are allowed to use it for typing, but the typing programs that were approved aren't even touch typing. Rather, they're just racing to peck out sentences. Even more troubling is that my child told me his friend was googling all the kids in the class and found our Flickr account, etc... Yes, we have locked it. Yes, we told him not to emulate that behavior. We've already tried talking to the teacher but things have not improved at all. I wish that the teacher would tell early-finishers to do an extension assignment or read a physical book, but that ain't happening. Is this just what MCPS looks like for elementary kids with spare time after their work is done and if they are not meeting for direct instruction? If so, I am really really really discouraged. |
Anonymous
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It’s terrible!
Agree that many of the games are a huge waste of time. And the kids learn very quickly how to search for inappropriate things. Impossible for a teacher to monitor every kid’s internet usage in a class of 25. |
Anonymous
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If your kid is 8, he might be in 2nd or 3rd grade?
Our ES did not teach touch typing so we went ahead and taught him the summer before 3rd grade. In 4th grade they seem to be more mature and capable of using the Chromebooks for research and writing, but IME, the use of Chromebooks in K-2 is completely innecessary. This year my DS is using them almost daily in K. He has shown me what games they play and it is absolutely just a collection of time wasters. I would rather they practice handwriting! |
Anonymous
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Wait until Middle school and playing games during classes and tests...
Bringing Chromebooks with open internet to school is the worst decision possible by MCPS. My child became real gamer in school. Students "educate" each other what to play. Nobody watching what is going on. All study process (except Math) involves computers... |
Anonymous
I don’t understand why they can’t put some sort of Parental control mechanism on the Chromebooks. Maybe not in MS but at least in ES. At our school the principal gets a notification if someone is looking at an ‘inappropriate’ site. But there are 700 kids in our ES so that is pretty much impossible to monitor. And often the principal is off doing something else. Put some controls on there for the ES kids. Even my work is able to block sites like Facebook and Instagram. It wouldn’t seem that hard and there is no reason for my 3rd graders to be accessing Instagram at school. |
Anonymous
Our ES kids seem to have moderate amounts of Chromebook time but it is game heavy. It is a babysitter to keep them docile alas. Enables teacher to vope with the realities of a too large class. |
Anonymous
| Every teacher has access to Go Guardian to monitor their students' use of the internet. What most kids don't realize is that anytime they are on the Chromebook Go Guardian is collecting data on the sites/apps they have visited and the amount of time spent on each. A teacher can very easily check up on a student who they are concerned might be visiting an inappropriate site. However, I also understand as a teacher doing small group instruction would have a hard time monitoring this while still providing solid instruction. I left the classroom around the same time these rolled out. Can't say I missed it! |
Anonymous
OP here. I knew something like this was the case and I guess that's good. But as you imply, this does nothing to stop kids from abusing the games and overusing the Chromebooks. It is such a shame that MCPS relies on technology to babysit. I remember when I was a kid in the 80s/90s and we went to the computer lab 2x a week to learn typing and sometimes type up assignments. Yes we played Oregon Trail, but we all played it together and it was a treat, not a standby. Yes, we had a class computer or two to type things up during class time but it was rotated and we got access to more typing opportunities as we got older (as in 12+, not 8 or 9). I understand that some kids don't have access to computers and when they hit middle school they need to be able to know how to use a mouse and type too. That's a real issue. But how do we pass on that knowledge without obliterating actual learning? Do any counties actually do a good job with this? |
Anonymous
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I don’t really think we need to start with a Chromebooks in k to teach kids how to use a mouse and keyboard. Their hands are so small anyway at that age! Not like you will teach a 5 year old touch typing. They need to learn how to actually handwrite at that age.
If we want to introduce Chromebooks to get kids used to typing and mouse usage and research, it would be completely reasonable to wait until 4th grade. |
Anonymous
This isn’t exactly the case. And the PP who was a teacher was right. It’s impossible to work in a small group teaching kids reading, and at the same time monitor 5 other kids on the internet. |
Anonymous
I don't understand - it's not the case that it's chaos? It sounds just like my kid's 3rd classroom. If it's impossible to monitor, what should the teacher/MCPS do then? |
Anonymous
| They want the kids to be able to work on a keyboard competently by 3rd for PARCC. |
Anonymous
I get that. But playing game and allowing nonsense typing games that don't actually tech how to keyboard are not the way to get there. I want my kid to be able to walk a mile without feeling unfit, but I don't let him roam around the school grounds all day long in order to accomplish that small objective. |
Anonymous
SOrry. I am the PP. I meant to agree with the other PP that it IS the case. Teachers have to rely on Vhromebooks because of a too large class size. Fat fingers led to the ‘isn’t’. |
Anonymous
Well they are not teaching that the way it’s set up now. The PARCC Test has them doing writing samples but they are not going to improve on those by playing games. |