Fourth grade chrome books in school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly think we will look back at this and see it like smoking while pregnant or not using car seats. What were we thinking??? That is if we don't fully turn into Idiocracy by then.

The sad thing is this is just one more way that poor and rich kids will be different. Rich kids at private schools learn cursive and how to read novels. They develop attention spans. Poor kids get ed tech with ads shoved in their faces for 80% of the day.

Yes. This. And UMC families can afford to have a paper encyclopedia where the content is reliable.

[Anonymous]

We are in Fairfax County and the tide has turned. My elementary student does not bring home her laptop and is only on it about 30 minutes a day. She brings home a lot of written schoolwork, I am thrilled. Much better than my older child who is on her computer nonstop.

[Anonymous]

My kid got a Chromebook in 5th grade because it was needed for virtual school (pandemic).

I can’t believe they give one to 3rd graders now!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid got a Chromebook in 5th grade because it was needed for virtual school (pandemic).

I can’t believe they give one to 3rd graders now!

My local public gives it to kindergarteners!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid got a Chromebook in 5th grade because it was needed for virtual school (pandemic).

I can’t believe they give one to 3rd graders now!

My local public gives it to kindergarteners!!!

Are you in the DC area?

[Anonymous]

I sub in California and have kids in elementary. They use Chromebooks in the classroom, but many tests are on paper such as spelling tests and math tests. Worksheets too. No online homework, but they have access to a reading library and other things.

As a sub it's hard to keep students on track and know if they are playing an educational game or not with how fun/gimmicky the education games are now. But usually elementary only spends 1-2 hours on them. They read on them during reading time instead of paper books (a few have books from the library, no library in the classrooms typically like my teachers had).

Students are very misbehaved (title 1). Honestly for me I'm just trying to keep everyone alive. I wish it wasn't like this. But to answer your question, my kids don't have online homework yet (1st and 3rd).

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure that I understand the objection. I suppose that we could argue that buying Chromebooks at the elementary level isn't the best use of limited school-district resources, but children do need to learn how to be computer-literate. Researching stuff on the Internet is at least as important as learning how to use library resources. I know that people my age (late 40s) spent significant time in library class in elementary school, learning how to find information. These basic skills served me well thorugh my secondary and college education. This is still necessary for children today, but they also need to know how to use online search functionality, how to evaluate the quality of a given source, and how to prepare a bibliography including Internet sources.

If your kids are playing games all day, then the teacher has a classroom-management problem. This isn't a problem with the technology.

[Anonymous]

When did you learn to become computer literate? I learned in high school. There is no need for kids to be on laptops so early. There is also a correlation between the 1-to-1 laptop program and falling test scores.

Everyone learns better with paper and pencil. Studies show comprehension when reading online is much lower than reading on paper. Online, your eye moves up and down. On paper, it moves left to right so the earlier you start reading online, the harder it is to learn to read on paper. Try learning a new language or statistics online - it is much harder even for adults to retain the information learned online.

1-to-1 devices were heavily pushed by Google and Microsoft lobbyists and have clearly been a failed experiment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in Fairfax County and the tide has turned. My elementary student does not bring home her laptop and is only on it about 30 minutes a day. She brings home a lot of written schoolwork, I am thrilled. Much better than my older child who is on her computer nonstop.

I wonder if maybe the same school. My kid said his fourth grade teacher tried to find a charging/docking station for their class, but the school didn't have enough so they are still bringing home their laptops. I know another class in the grade is able to leave them at school to charge overnight. I am so jealous! Its dofficult to get my kid off of it on the weekends without a major stuggles sometimes.

There is a lot of written work as well. I don't think they do anything on the computer except the required assessments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When did you learn to become computer literate? I learned in high school. There is no need for kids to be on laptops so early. There is also a correlation between the 1-to-1 laptop program and falling test scores.

Everyone learns better with paper and pencil. Studies show comprehension when reading online is much lower than reading on paper. Online, your eye moves up and down. On paper, it moves left to right so the earlier you start reading online, the harder it is to learn to read on paper. Try learning a new language or statistics online - it is much harder even for adults to retain the information learned online.

1-to-1 devices were heavily pushed by Google and Microsoft lobbyists and have clearly been a failed experiment.

I disagree. We only had Apple IIe computers in my elementary school classroom, and as a result I still struggle to use a computer to this day. I haven't been able to get the hang of starting my computer without a boot disk, and I'm constantly calling IT to ask for help. As a soon-to-be-40-year-old, I'm also really struggling to use the internet. My elementary school didn't offer any instruction in using search engines, since they basically didn't exist at the time, and it's seriously disadvantaged me at work. It's a good thing that I have an assistant who can help me with google searches and downloading pdfs. She's also been wonderful about turning my typewriter-written documents into computer files with the scanner. Haven't figured out how to retrieve them from the computer yet, but I keep hard copies around in case of emergency. I've enrolled my children at a preschool that offers a 5:1 device:student ratio so they don't labor under the same disadvantages I've had to endure in my life, and I've also signed them up for social media at home to increase their computer literacy and prepare them for the 21st century.

[Anonymous]

My fourth grader had math homework on two websites. one they do these math drills and then it turns into a game as a reward and then it's impossible to take the computer from him to get off the game. it feels like a trap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure that I understand the objection. I suppose that we could argue that buying Chromebooks at the elementary level isn't the best use of limited school-district resources, but children do need to learn how to be computer-literate. Researching stuff on the Internet is at least as important as learning how to use library resources. I know that people my age (late 40s) spent significant time in library class in elementary school, learning how to find information. These basic skills served me well thorugh my secondary and college education. This is still necessary for children today, but they also need to know how to use online search functionality, how to evaluate the quality of a given source, and how to prepare a bibliography including Internet sources.

If your kids are playing games all day, then the teacher has a classroom-management problem. This isn't a problem with the technology.

So you managed to develop computer skills, online research skills, online literacy etc WITHOUT being issued a personal chromebook in elementary? In other words, it is completely unnecessary. I hate the argument that kids NEED them in order to develop computer skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When did you learn to become computer literate? I learned in high school. There is no need for kids to be on laptops so early. There is also a correlation between the 1-to-1 laptop program and falling test scores.

Everyone learns better with paper and pencil. Studies show comprehension when reading online is much lower than reading on paper. Online, your eye moves up and down. On paper, it moves left to right so the earlier you start reading online, the harder it is to learn to read on paper. Try learning a new language or statistics online - it is much harder even for adults to retain the information learned online.

1-to-1 devices were heavily pushed by Google and Microsoft lobbyists and have clearly been a failed experiment.

I disagree. We only had Apple IIe computers in my elementary school classroom, and as a result I still struggle to use a computer to this day. I haven't been able to get the hang of starting my computer without a boot disk, and I'm constantly calling IT to ask for help. As a soon-to-be-40-year-old, I'm also really struggling to use the internet. My elementary school didn't offer any instruction in using search engines, since they basically didn't exist at the time, and it's seriously disadvantaged me at work. It's a good thing that I have an assistant who can help me with google searches and downloading pdfs. She's also been wonderful about turning my typewriter-written documents into computer files with the scanner. Haven't figured out how to retrieve them from the computer yet, but I keep hard copies around in case of emergency. I've enrolled my children at a preschool that offers a 5:1 device:student ratio so they don't labor under the same disadvantages I've had to endure in my life, and I've also signed them up for social media at home to increase their computer literacy and prepare them for the 21st century.

If you are struggling to use a computer today, you are not smart. My parents are in their 70s and use computers just fine, even though they didnt have them throughout their entire educational life even through grad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When did you learn to become computer literate? I learned in high school. There is no need for kids to be on laptops so early. There is also a correlation between the 1-to-1 laptop program and falling test scores.

Everyone learns better with paper and pencil. Studies show comprehension when reading online is much lower than reading on paper. Online, your eye moves up and down. On paper, it moves left to right so the earlier you start reading online, the harder it is to learn to read on paper. Try learning a new language or statistics online - it is much harder even for adults to retain the information learned online.

1-to-1 devices were heavily pushed by Google and Microsoft lobbyists and have clearly been a failed experiment.

I disagree. We only had Apple IIe computers in my elementary school classroom, and as a result I still struggle to use a computer to this day. I haven't been able to get the hang of starting my computer without a boot disk, and I'm constantly calling IT to ask for help. As a soon-to-be-40-year-old, I'm also really struggling to use the internet. My elementary school didn't offer any instruction in using search engines, since they basically didn't exist at the time, and it's seriously disadvantaged me at work. It's a good thing that I have an assistant who can help me with google searches and downloading pdfs. She's also been wonderful about turning my typewriter-written documents into computer files with the scanner. Haven't figured out how to retrieve them from the computer yet, but I keep hard copies around in case of emergency. I've enrolled my children at a preschool that offers a 5:1 device:student ratio so they don't labor under the same disadvantages I've had to endure in my life, and I've also signed them up for social media at home to increase their computer literacy and prepare them for the 21st century.

And yet… you’ve managed to find DCUM. lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When did you learn to become computer literate? I learned in high school. There is no need for kids to be on laptops so early. There is also a correlation between the 1-to-1 laptop program and falling test scores.

Everyone learns better with paper and pencil. Studies show comprehension when reading online is much lower than reading on paper. Online, your eye moves up and down. On paper, it moves left to right so the earlier you start reading online, the harder it is to learn to read on paper. Try learning a new language or statistics online - it is much harder even for adults to retain the information learned online.

1-to-1 devices were heavily pushed by Google and Microsoft lobbyists and have clearly been a failed experiment.

I disagree. We only had Apple IIe computers in my elementary school classroom, and as a result I still struggle to use a computer to this day. I haven't been able to get the hang of starting my computer without a boot disk, and I'm constantly calling IT to ask for help. As a soon-to-be-40-year-old, I'm also really struggling to use the internet. My elementary school didn't offer any instruction in using search engines, since they basically didn't exist at the time, and it's seriously disadvantaged me at work. It's a good thing that I have an assistant who can help me with google searches and downloading pdfs. She's also been wonderful about turning my typewriter-written documents into computer files with the scanner. Haven't figured out how to retrieve them from the computer yet, but I keep hard copies around in case of emergency. I've enrolled my children at a preschool that offers a 5:1 device:student ratio so they don't labor under the same disadvantages I've had to endure in my life, and I've also signed them up for social media at home to increase their computer literacy and prepare them for the 21st century.

And yet… you’ve managed to find DCUM. lol

Yeah… unfortunately I have to rely on my admin assistant for that. She printed out your comment and I dictated a response. If only I’d had a Chromebook in the fourth grade I’d be able to do this for myself…