DCI: Too much focus on tablets/devices?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"Unfettered" access means access to the internet and cell phones during school breaks throughout the day. It also appears that students can access the internet during class time! Who in the world thinks that this is a good idea?!?

I do. I'm a high school science teacher and here are some reasons why I think this is a good idea.

First and foremost: text books are horrible. This is especially true when you are dealing with subjects that add new content all the time. They are out of date by the time they reach the shelves, so there is a constant need for revisions. They are expensive. My textbooks (required by the state) cost $90 each. Textbooks are written by standardized test writers to meet the lowest common denominator of needs in the largest number of markets possible. The only non-technology alternative is to create paper copies of collections of readings. Is that a good use of time or resources when the material could be read online without a copier?

The technology I use isn't just to read the assignments or to submit documents of answers they type. My google classroom creates a permanent, accessible archive of everything we've done. A kid who needed hospitalization? A kid who is sick from his meds? A death in the family? New student from another country just arrived? Went through a rough spot and need to review? A parent or a tutor or a big brother wants to help a struggling student? None of it could get done efficiently if at all without my google classroom and the rich, varied content I put on it. All of these situations and much more have happened to me in the past month, as they do (in one form or another) every year.

As for cell phones, I collect some of my best student data from a handful or apps that I use with them. My favorite by far is a cell phone app called Exittix. I create questions and the kids respond to them on their phones. It can be a quick quiz or a question or two to spot check for understanding. All of the student results are disaggregated so I know who/how many have mastered each question. It also tells me how long it took them to answer (if I think they cheated and looked it up). I can even arrange the questions to sort for common misconceptions. Kids also take pictures of projects, film presentations and check their grades with their phones. I send them assignment reminders and messages about things via a group text app. I flip the classroom whenever possible and I film myself with my phone sometimes.

These are just a couple of the things that happen in a technology infused classroom, but I have many more are part of my repertoire. Unfortunately, I don't have a computer lab or dedicated devices for everyone so it severely limits what I can do.

I should clarify that I do not support wild, unsupervised access to kids. As a professional, it is my duty to monitor them, guide them, help them choose properly and keep them involved in learning. As a future DCI parent I hope to see substantive training and support for the teachers to implement the technology well. Since our family isn't there yet I can't comment on whether or not that training is there. I would just caution people from interpreting ALL of DCI based on the anecdotes of a few 'tweens as filtered through their parents on an anonymous listserv.

What school do you teach at?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"Unfettered" access means access to the internet and cell phones during school breaks throughout the day. It also appears that students can access the internet during class time! Who in the world thinks that this is a good idea?!?

I do. I'm a high school science teacher and here are some reasons why I think this is a good idea.

First and foremost: text books are horrible. This is especially true when you are dealing with subjects that add new content all the time. They are out of date by the time they reach the shelves, so there is a constant need for revisions. They are expensive. My textbooks (required by the state) cost $90 each. Textbooks are written by standardized test writers to meet the lowest common denominator of needs in the largest number of markets possible. The only non-technology alternative is to create paper copies of collections of readings. Is that a good use of time or resources when the material could be read online without a copier?

The technology I use isn't just to read the assignments or to submit documents of answers they type. My google classroom creates a permanent, accessible archive of everything we've done. A kid who needed hospitalization? A kid who is sick from his meds? A death in the family? New student from another country just arrived? Went through a rough spot and need to review? A parent or a tutor or a big brother wants to help a struggling student? None of it could get done efficiently if at all without my google classroom and the rich, varied content I put on it. All of these situations and much more have happened to me in the past month, as they do (in one form or another) every year.

As for cell phones, I collect some of my best student data from a handful or apps that I use with them. My favorite by far is a cell phone app called Exittix. I create questions and the kids respond to them on their phones. It can be a quick quiz or a question or two to spot check for understanding. All of the student results are disaggregated so I know who/how many have mastered each question. It also tells me how long it took them to answer (if I think they cheated and looked it up). I can even arrange the questions to sort for common misconceptions. Kids also take pictures of projects, film presentations and check their grades with their phones. I send them assignment reminders and messages about things via a group text app. I flip the classroom whenever possible and I film myself with my phone sometimes.

These are just a couple of the things that happen in a technology infused classroom, but I have many more are part of my repertoire. Unfortunately, I don't have a computer lab or dedicated devices for everyone so it severely limits what I can do.

I should clarify that I do not support wild, unsupervised access to kids. As a professional, it is my duty to monitor them, guide them, help them choose properly and keep them involved in learning. As a future DCI parent I hope to see substantive training and support for the teachers to implement the technology well. Since our family isn't there yet I can't comment on whether or not that training is there. I would just caution people from interpreting ALL of DCI based on the anecdotes of a few 'tweens as filtered through their parents on an anonymous listserv.

What school do you teach at?

Probably DCI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"Unfettered" access means access to the internet and cell phones during school breaks throughout the day. It also appears that students can access the internet during class time! Who in the world thinks that this is a good idea?!?

I do. I'm a high school science teacher and here are some reasons why I think this is a good idea.

First and foremost: text books are horrible. This is especially true when you are dealing with subjects that add new content all the time. They are out of date by the time they reach the shelves, so there is a constant need for revisions. They are expensive. My textbooks (required by the state) cost $90 each. Textbooks are written by standardized test writers to meet the lowest common denominator of needs in the largest number of markets possible. The only non-technology alternative is to create paper copies of collections of readings. Is that a good use of time or resources when the material could be read online without a copier?

The technology I use isn't just to read the assignments or to submit documents of answers they type. My google classroom creates a permanent, accessible archive of everything we've done. A kid who needed hospitalization? A kid who is sick from his meds? A death in the family? New student from another country just arrived? Went through a rough spot and need to review? A parent or a tutor or a big brother wants to help a struggling student? None of it could get done efficiently if at all without my google classroom and the rich, varied content I put on it. All of these situations and much more have happened to me in the past month, as they do (in one form or another) every year.

As for cell phones, I collect some of my best student data from a handful or apps that I use with them. My favorite by far is a cell phone app called Exittix. I create questions and the kids respond to them on their phones. It can be a quick quiz or a question or two to spot check for understanding. All of the student results are disaggregated so I know who/how many have mastered each question. It also tells me how long it took them to answer (if I think they cheated and looked it up). I can even arrange the questions to sort for common misconceptions. Kids also take pictures of projects, film presentations and check their grades with their phones. I send them assignment reminders and messages about things via a group text app. I flip the classroom whenever possible and I film myself with my phone sometimes.

These are just a couple of the things that happen in a technology infused classroom, but I have many more are part of my repertoire. Unfortunately, I don't have a computer lab or dedicated devices for everyone so it severely limits what I can do.

I should clarify that I do not support wild, unsupervised access to kids. As a professional, it is my duty to monitor them, guide them, help them choose properly and keep them involved in learning. As a future DCI parent I hope to see substantive training and support for the teachers to implement the technology well. Since our family isn't there yet I can't comment on whether or not that training is there. I would just caution people from interpreting ALL of DCI based on the anecdotes of a few 'tweens as filtered through their parents on an anonymous listserv.

I agree textbooks are bad. Collections of readings are fantastic, but students won't read or deeply engage the material if they read it online. So convenient, but not pedagogically sound.

[Anonymous]

Science teacher makes a good argument and points out the convenience. But what about the effect on learning if this is done in every subject all day long and then homework is in screens as well. Science teacher is not looking at the big picture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Science teacher makes a good argument and points out the convenience. But what about the effect on learning if this is done in every subject all day long and then homework is in screens as well. Science teacher is not looking at the big picture.

+ 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"Unfettered" access means access to the internet and cell phones during school breaks throughout the day. It also appears that students can access the internet during class time! Who in the world thinks that this is a good idea?!?

I do. I'm a high school science teacher and here are some reasons why I think this is a good idea.

What school do you teach at?

Probably DCI.

DCI doesn't have high school grade levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"Unfettered" access means access to the internet and cell phones during school breaks throughout the day. It also appears that students can access the internet during class time! Who in the world thinks that this is a good idea?!?

I do. I'm a high school science teacher and here are some reasons why I think this is a good idea.

What school do you teach at?

Probably DCI.

DCI doesn't have high school grade levels.

It's possible that she is a middle school teacher at DCI, but she's trying to hide her identity by saying she's a high school teacher. It's shocking, I know, but people sometimes lie on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It's possible that she is a middle school teacher at DCI, but she's trying to hide her identity by saying she's a high school teacher. It's shocking, I know, but people sometimes lie on DCUM.

And sometimes people actually support schools and the education they are providing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's possible that she is a middle school teacher at DCI, but she's trying to hide her identity by saying she's a high school teacher. It's shocking, I know, but people sometimes lie on DCUM.

And sometimes people actually support schools and the education they are providing.

Yes, but I doubt that's the case here. It sounds as if someone from DCI is trying to explain this disastrous school policy.

[Anonymous]

Was anybody able to attend the information session last night? Did the school address some of the concerns raised here?

[Anonymous]

Science teacher here. I teach high school at in Montgomery County at one of the W schools. I'm on lunch break right now and giggling at the notion that I am some sort of covert operative. I think most of the people on this thread are just trying to stir the pot, but have no ingredients to add.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Science teacher here. I teach high school at in Montgomery County at one of the W schools. I'm on lunch break right now and giggling at the notion that I am some sort of covert operative. I think most of the people on this thread are just trying to stir the pot, but have no ingredients to add.

And I'm giggling at the notion that you think that you should be believed. Hi DCI teacher/admin. (waving bye).

[Anonymous]

Oh, you got me. The school is a den of conspiracy and deceit. You should stay far, far away. You've been warned! (waiving bye)

[Anonymous]

Current DCI parent here. I can't agree more with HS teacher that technology can be a wonderful, powerful tool, allowing us to access information in ways that many of us never thought possible. No current DCI parent that I have spoken with discounts that the use of technology in the classroom is here to stay and again, we LIKE this. Parents that I have spoken with support the DCI education model.

However, what we are questioning is school environment. Having great education apps and taking a mid-day Tech Free Break are not mutually exclusive. We are calling for balance. You don't know what you don't know and none of us thought to ask at the DCI info sessions if our kids would be online during non-classroom times. Many of us assumed DCI would have the same no-cell phone policy as many of the Districts MS including Deal where the DCI principal came from. I don't think the administration "hid" this from us, they just have a different take on technology and thus, didn’t think to bring it up.

But now that we are four months into the school year and DCI has gotten it's footing it's time for the administration and parents to have an open and honest discussion on what constitutes a healthy, academic yet "fun" (for the kid’s sake) school environment. And THAT is why some current parents are weighing in on this thread. Prospective parents have a right to get the full picture to enable them to ask more meaningful questions, questions that matter to them.

To the HS science teacher, please don't try to belittle current parents postings "anecdotes of a few 'tweens." Yes, I do listen to my child and I value her viewpoint. But of course I have done due diligence. I have been to the school on many, many occasions, and what I have seen is kids huddling around someone who just leveled up on his game or girls Snap chatting, etc. I've seen this waiting for my Parent conference while the Principal stood by. I've seen this at lunchtime on a sunny warm day. Yes, I've also seen some very dedicated kids doing their homework (of course any tech free times should still have this option) and I've seen kids reading books, the paper kind. But the environment reminds me of going to a sports bar full of TV screens to have a quiet dinner. You wouldn't choose that environment (or maybe you would but I wouldn't).

For many of us current parents the non-educational environment is the crux of the matter. Not that our kids are typing on a laptop.

I apologize for the long post but I think that it is really, really important to stay focused on the environment issues. Not what the latest research does or doesn't show. Actually I just read how using facts in an argument can backfire. Go figure.

Prospective parents, think about the environment you want your kids to be in. Think about how much screen-time (in hours) you can comfortably live with. DCI is an 8 hour day with an average of 2 hours HW per night. Think about how much time you can dedicate to homework time to ensure that you kid is not playing games or chatting using the school issues Chromebook (assuming they need supervision because I’m well aware not all, but many do). Listen to your gut and go from there.

[Anonymous]

It seems like there is a simple solution. Go open your own school.