What does Chromebook use look like in your kid's elementary class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so everyone has all the facts...

Go Guardian not only allows teachers to monitor/track student Chromebook use-it also allows them to block certain sites at certain times (or always if needed) and customize by student, if needed. Additionally you can limit the number of tabs students can open up. I am a media specialist and we use the Chromebooks with the older grades for one research project a quarter. Occasionally we also use them in order to incorporate interactive tools such as Kahoot, padlet, and Nearpod into classroom lessons. We are reading and discussing books the majority of the time.

There are plenty of teachers who know how to effectively implement instructional technology and ration independent use of computers to a reasonable degree. We go by the philosophy that technology is yet another tool in our teacher toolbox not a replacement for books and other instructional tools. Feel free to ask your child's teacher about their philosophy regarding Chromebooks and instructional technology in general. Hopefully it will be a productive conversation and you will find that they are being used very purposefully--if not feel free to discuss it with them or go to the principal if that avenue doesn't yield good results. But just complaining here in a blanket fashion, making sweeping generalizations about Chromebook use in MCPS schools, is not very productive. Both my ES children are in schools where they are used to good effect and truly boost classroom instruction.

This sounds so reasonable and I bought this line when our school announced it had gotten Chromebooks for even the second graders. Kids need to learn how to use technology, so I was in.

Then reality.

*Teachers use the time as a reward for finishing seat work, so kids anxiously rush and don’t pay attention to their work.
*We got all these Chromebooks so we might as well use them, right? So now kids spend their “reading” time on myOn, which is mediocrity personified, but hey, it provides the administration with “data” so let’s love it no matter what.
*Speed math programs like Xtra Math and Fast Math have become teacher tools for assessment in our school, despite the lack of any research that they benefit kids’ math skills and ignoring the profound performance anxiety fully 1/4 of my child’s class exhibits about these high pressure programs. But they provide such enticing data and analysis performance charts!
*Instead of using their time to write or imagine, students spend their device time fooling with avatars, fancy fonts, lame clip art, and other things on which no lower-grader should be wasting their school time.
*Since you are a media specialist, I’ll throw in this one - when my kids go to media, they often have a book “read” to them by a computer. Happens in class, too, to keep the kids occupied for a few minutes while the teacher catches a break. Don’t love it, but I understand. But in the school library?! I’m speechless (well... not really!).

Discussions about this at our MCPS school, with teachers and principal, are like speaking to an uncomprehending brick wall. Clearly, I am stupid and troublesome for not understanding how critical and amazing data and persistent technology access are for my young kids (btw, I develop apps for a living). Most other parents think screens are fine, don’t have the interest or genuinely don’t have the time to care about it. (thank you, DCUM, for letting me know I am not entirely alone in thinking this is all insane). And these are generally great and experienced teachers. The principal is “embracing technology” and our school has lost several excellent staff members who couldn’t stand the assessment and data obsessed environment. Remaining teachers are forced to use the above programs whether they like them or not. Staff development time seems to be focused on analyzing performance data and learning how to use yet more digital programs (and then analyzing yet more data charts).

I am with you on the overuse of Chromebooks in some schools for math practice and the like. Data gathering is super important but we take it to a crazy level. I also feel that we need to be careful with giving free time on Chromebooks as a reward. It's a slippery slope. Hopefully these are some of the kinks/issues of the early phases of Chromebook use and teachers, admins, and parents can pull back, reflect, and improve upon our current use. It is a learning curve and I truly believe most teachers and media specialists have good intentions for the use of these devices.

As for students having books read to them via computer vs. a teacher I am not a fan of this at all. I became a media specialist partly because of my interest in instructional technology but mainly because of my passion for reading books to children and matching books to readers. There is no greater joy than sharing good books with children and discussing these texts with them. I even like to go old school and use songs, felt boards, and puppets to supplement these stories.

MCPS has enough data to know exactly what is and is not working. Thing is, it hides half of it and keeps searching for unicorns.

[Anonymous]

Haha!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so everyone has all the facts...

Go Guardian not only allows teachers to monitor/track student Chromebook use-it also allows them to block certain sites at certain times (or always if needed) and customize by student, if needed. Additionally you can limit the number of tabs students can open up. I am a media specialist and we use the Chromebooks with the older grades for one research project a quarter. Occasionally we also use them in order to incorporate interactive tools such as Kahoot, padlet, and Nearpod into classroom lessons. We are reading and discussing books the majority of the time.

There are plenty of teachers who know how to effectively implement instructional technology and ration independent use of computers to a reasonable degree. We go by the philosophy that technology is yet another tool in our teacher toolbox not a replacement for books and other instructional tools. Feel free to ask your child's teacher about their philosophy regarding Chromebooks and instructional technology in general. Hopefully it will be a productive conversation and you will find that they are being used very purposefully--if not feel free to discuss it with them or go to the principal if that avenue doesn't yield good results. But just complaining here in a blanket fashion, making sweeping generalizations about Chromebook use in MCPS schools, is not very productive. Both my ES children are in schools where they are used to good effect and truly boost classroom instruction.

This sounds so reasonable and I bought this line when our school announced it had gotten Chromebooks for even the second graders. Kids need to learn how to use technology, so I was in.

Then reality.

*Teachers use the time as a reward for finishing seat work, so kids anxiously rush and don’t pay attention to their work.
*We got all these Chromebooks so we might as well use them, right? So now kids spend their “reading” time on myOn, which is mediocrity personified, but hey, it provides the administration with “data” so let’s love it no matter what.
*Speed math programs like Xtra Math and Fast Math have become teacher tools for assessment in our school, despite the lack of any research that they benefit kids’ math skills and ignoring the profound performance anxiety fully 1/4 of my child’s class exhibits about these high pressure programs. But they provide such enticing data and analysis performance charts!
*Instead of using their time to write or imagine, students spend their device time fooling with avatars, fancy fonts, lame clip art, and other things on which no lower-grader should be wasting their school time.
*Since you are a media specialist, I’ll throw in this one - when my kids go to media, they often have a book “read” to them by a computer. Happens in class, too, to keep the kids occupied for a few minutes while the teacher catches a break. Don’t love it, but I understand. But in the school library?! I’m speechless (well... not really!).

Discussions about this at our MCPS school, with teachers and principal, are like speaking to an uncomprehending brick wall. Clearly, I am stupid and troublesome for not understanding how critical and amazing data and persistent technology access are for my young kids (btw, I develop apps for a living). Most other parents think screens are fine, don’t have the interest or genuinely don’t have the time to care about it. (thank you, DCUM, for letting me know I am not entirely alone in thinking this is all insane). And these are generally great and experienced teachers. The principal is “embracing technology” and our school has lost several excellent staff members who couldn’t stand the assessment and data obsessed environment. Remaining teachers are forced to use the above programs whether they like them or not. Staff development time seems to be focused on analyzing performance data and learning how to use yet more digital programs (and then analyzing yet more data charts).

PP, I agree with EVERYthing you are saying and also agree that it's like talking to a brick wall to try to address this at school with the principals. Luckily we have had some good teachers who haven't drank the 'tech' Kool Aid completely and can understand where we're coming from. However, our principal is definitely not in agreement.

Hopefully people will become more aware of this, and ask more questions of their kids. I think part of it is that parents really have no idea how ubiquitous the Chromebooks and other tech is, and how it's being used.

[Anonymous]

Great article and comments, but disappointing how little easy research WaPo does when discussing health and privacy dangers of technology in K-12 education. Yes, smartphones in class are distracting, but big carrots like playing "games" on the PC are as well.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2018/04/06/new-research-teachers-deeply-concerned-about-digital-devices-but-parents-take-rosier-view/?utm_term=.63da89c1608d

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great article and comments, but disappointing how little easy research WaPo does when discussing health and privacy dangers of technology in K-12 education. Yes, smartphones in class are distracting, but big carrots like playing "games" on the PC are as well.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2018/04/06/new-research-teachers-deeply-concerned-about-digital-devices-but-parents-take-rosier-view/?utm_term=.63da89c1608d

How apropo.

Headline: New research: Teachers deeply concerned about digital devices

When asked, “Do you believe that students’ use of digital devices such as smartphones, tablets and computers has helpful or harmful effects” in the area of mental health, 69 percent of teachers said digital devices have been “mostly harmful.” Fifty-five percent of teachers think the devices have a “mostly harmful” effect on students’ physical health as well.

But perhaps the biggest change she sees in her students is how much trouble they have thinking through problems. “Everything is so instantaneous to kids, and they expect answers to questions right away,” she said. “There’s a downside in that it doesn’t help our kids wrestle with the gray area or complexity.”

Instead, she says she sees many students pulled into the devices as an escape, not getting outside, getting exercise, learning to think deeply.

“I think it’s affected their ability to think, to reason, to have a higher order of thinking,” she said. When she considers when she started teaching 28 years ago vs. now, students’ “ability to sit down and take the time they need to think out a problem has drastically changed. And I think a lot of that has to do with digital technology.”

[Anonymous]

I work at the same school as the teacher who said that, and I respect her. She speaks her mind and pushes back when she thinks something isn’t good for students. She has a “reputation” for it, and I’ve been told our principal doesnt really like her. We younger teachers (not new, but not as experienced) are grateful to her for speaking up in general, and many of us think he should listen very closely to what she says instead of listening to someone else in the building who is competitive with her—though I think he’s figured that out in the last year. I’ve felt a change, anyway, and I’m crossing my fingers on that—because the other person kisses up and craps down in the worst most disgusting ways, but she has more “politics” sense than the teacher in this article. Anyway, I doubt a younger or less confident teacher would have spoken on the record about tech in schools, even in this general way. And as teachers like her get fed up and move on, we’re going to lose important voices. I don’t have her guts (which is why I’m here on DCUM and not in the Washington Post speaking up), but I hope I get her guts as I get older. She’s a role model for me, though she doesn’t know it and would probably be surprised to hear me of all people say that. So if you’re reading this, JG, please know that you’re appreciated! Stay fearless! Some of us are watching and learning and quietly encouraging you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at the same school as the teacher who said that, and I respect her. She speaks her mind and pushes back when she thinks something isn’t good for students. She has a “reputation” for it, and I’ve been told our principal doesnt really like her. We younger teachers (not new, but not as experienced) are grateful to her for speaking up in general, and many of us think he should listen very closely to what she says instead of listening to someone else in the building who is competitive with her—though I think he’s figured that out in the last year. I’ve felt a change, anyway, and I’m crossing my fingers on that—because the other person kisses up and craps down in the worst most disgusting ways, but she has more “politics” sense than the teacher in this article. Anyway, I doubt a younger or less confident teacher would have spoken on the record about tech in schools, even in this general way. And as teachers like her get fed up and move on, we’re going to lose important voices. I don’t have her guts (which is why I’m here on DCUM and not in the Washington Post speaking up), but I hope I get her guts as I get older. She’s a role model for me, though she doesn’t know it and would probably be surprised to hear me of all people say that. So if you’re reading this, JG, please know that you’re appreciated! Stay fearless! Some of us are watching and learning and quietly encouraging you.

Wow! That’s such a fantastic thing to say about her. I don’t know her or the school, but as an MCPS parent, I am rooting for teachers who seem to be advocating for the kids.

[Anonymous]

All teachers advocate for their students. People assume that teachers have more decision making opportunities than they do. Many of us feel like cogs in the machine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All teachers advocate for their students. People assume that teachers have more decision making opportunities than they do. Many of us feel like cogs in the machine.

This is true. The ones who speak up pay a price. It’s why the one above is so unusual. She may have always been this outspoken, but she’s also close to the end of her career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All teachers advocate for their students. People assume that teachers have more decision making opportunities than they do. Many of us feel like cogs in the machine.

PP here

Sorry, I did NOT mean to imply that teachers do not advocate for their students. I completely empathize. I work in healthcare and nurses/doctors feel the same way - we want to advocate for our patients but we feel like cigs in a poorly-running machine.

I think parents and teachers in MCPS are probably both equally frustrated by the ridiculous beauracracy of MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All teachers advocate for their students. People assume that teachers have more decision making opportunities than they do. Many of us feel like cogs in the machine.

PP here

Sorry, I did NOT mean to imply that teachers do not advocate for their students. I completely empathize. I work in healthcare and nurses/doctors feel the same way - we want to advocate for our patients but we feel like cigs in a poorly-running machine.

I think parents and teachers in MCPS are probably both equally frustrated by the ridiculous beauracracy of MCPS.

I think so too. (Teacher here.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at the same school as the teacher who said that, and I respect her. She speaks her mind and pushes back when she thinks something isn’t good for students. She has a “reputation” for it, and I’ve been told our principal doesnt really like her. We younger teachers (not new, but not as experienced) are grateful to her for speaking up in general, and many of us think he should listen very closely to what she says instead of listening to someone else in the building who is competitive with her—though I think he’s figured that out in the last year. I’ve felt a change, anyway, and I’m crossing my fingers on that—because the other person kisses up and craps down in the worst most disgusting ways, but she has more “politics” sense than the teacher in this article. Anyway, I doubt a younger or less confident teacher would have spoken on the record about tech in schools, even in this general way. And as teachers like her get fed up and move on, we’re going to lose important voices. I don’t have her guts (which is why I’m here on DCUM and not in the Washington Post speaking up), but I hope I get her guts as I get older. She’s a role model for me, though she doesn’t know it and would probably be surprised to hear me of all people say that. So if you’re reading this, JG, please know that you’re appreciated! Stay fearless! Some of us are watching and learning and quietly encouraging you.

awesome, we need more like here!

[Anonymous]

her!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great article and comments, but disappointing how little easy research WaPo does when discussing health and privacy dangers of technology in K-12 education. Yes, smartphones in class are distracting, but big carrots like playing "games" on the PC are as well.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2018/04/06/new-research-teachers-deeply-concerned-about-digital-devices-but-parents-take-rosier-view/?utm_term=.63da89c1608d

The comments show 95% believe less screen time in K-12 is considerably better. Lots of teachers and professors wrote in.
Going to HK next week and I'm going to see what they're doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great article and comments, but disappointing how little easy research WaPo does when discussing health and privacy dangers of technology in K-12 education. Yes, smartphones in class are distracting, but big carrots like playing "games" on the PC are as well.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2018/04/06/new-research-teachers-deeply-concerned-about-digital-devices-but-parents-take-rosier-view/?utm_term=.63da89c1608d

The comments show 95% believe less screen time in K-12 is considerably better. Lots of teachers and professors wrote in.
Going to HK next week and I'm going to see what they're doing.

Most parents are on screens way too much. I am sick and tired of parents who blame teachers and the school - Turn off the screens at home, in the car, on the plane, at the restaurant, in the Dr. Office, in the grocery store....