DCI: Too much focus on tablets/devices?
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Anonymous
https://twitter.com/DCISchool |
Anonymous
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Finding this conversation quite interesting. However, I think it speaks less to DCI and more to a greater issue about how we, as a society, want to interact with technology.
A except from Sherry Turkle's book Together Alone. Food for Thought... (Director, MIT Initiative on Technology and Self Program in Science, Technology, and Society) "Through technology, we create, navigate, and perform our emotional lives. We shape our buildings, Winston Churchill argued, then they shape us. The same is true of our digital technologies. Technology has become the architect of our intimacies. Online, we face a moment of temptation. Drawn by the illusion of companionship without the demands of intimacy, we conduct “risk free” affairs on Second Life and confuse the scattershot postings on a Facebook wall with authentic communication. And now, we are promised “sociable robots” that will marry companionship with convenience. Technology promises to let us do anything from anywhere with anyone. But it also drains us as we try to do everything everywhere. We begin to feel overwhelmed and depleted by the lives technology makes possible. We may be free to work from anywhere, but we are also prone to being lonely everywhere. In a surprising twist, relentless connection leads to a new solitude. We turn to new technology to fill the void,but as technology ramps up, our emotional lives ramp down." |
Anonymous
Mine either. |
Anonymous
How old and what grade? |
Anonymous
| 14. 9th grade. Why on earth does a child/student NEED an Internet connection on their telephone???? Text and voice is plenty. Anything more is simply a disruptive toy in their hands 24/7 |
Anonymous
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I have learned the following from this thread:
1) We are fervently anti-technology in education 2) We throw our hands up, declaring that technology is inevitable in our kids' free time and there isn't anything we can do about it. 3) Schools must ensure ample socialization time is free from distractions, presumably to once again compensate for short-comings in the after hours. School is the time for learning and not socializing in every other country in the world. For some reason though, we need to make sure kids have ample opportunities to socialize without technology during the school day, while limiting access to educational technology because parents can't parent their children in the off hours. |
Anonymous
| The (il) logical jumps pp makes in this argument make me think he/she should step away from devices. |
Anonymous
I absolutely concur! And maybe PP should spend less free time socializing on DCUM and take some reading comprehension courses instead. 
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Anonymous
current dci parent here. I posted up thread and was shouted down for being lax with my tweens brain. this thread is hilarious and hysterical all at once....it's obvious that so many of you have so little clue about what is is real and what is not with kids in middle school. you keep believing that you can dictate when and how your kids will communicate when they are in middle school and high school. you are in for a rude awakening. remember in the 1950 when TV was going to eat all of our brains from the inside out?....I guess that didn't pan out either. my kid has a cell phone. he has used it responsibly. it is not web enabled because he has no use for that while going about his daily business away from a computer. it is a tool for communication...you know like a phone was always meant to me. has it rotted his brain? no, but it has made reaching him at he metro's home a lot simpler. and he also talks with his friends via text until it's time put the phone up and do homework eat dinner etc. all without making him an antisocial dolt. it's a miracle! he does use chromebook a lot for homework. he also uses workbooks and texts and reads from paper books. there is balance. what is unbalanced is all the outrage and descent from parents who's kids are still in grade school and CANNOT BELIEVE what is going on in a school their kids don't go to yet. sure things are still being worked on and worked out...the school is young. it's also packed with fantastic learning opportunities which have been occurring both onscreen and off. and fyi the 300,000 will be used in large part to fund international trips for the kids which seems like a worthwhile goal. |
Anonymous
| what grades go on these international trips? |
Anonymous
no internet on a phone - i can get on board with that (I am am of the hysterical crowd you reference above)! Doesn't sound like that is what is happening with most of your kids' peers though. Or the teenagers I know, who do not put their phones (which DO have the internet) down to study or eat or socialize. Sounds like your family has found a good balance. I am not sure the school has though. perhaps it will. |
Anonymous
And it's so obvious to me that parents like you need more exposure to more real parents with different approaches if you believe that just because you didn't figure this out for your middle school-aged kids means none of the rest of us who are concerned have middle school-aged kids or even better, have middle school-aged kids that we have actually worked successfully with to limit technology. |
Anonymous
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http://tech.ed.gov/futureready/?utm_source=December+2014+Haynes+Happenings&utm_campaign=December+Haynes+Happenings&utm_medium=email
E.L. Haynes Participated in White House Summit Last month, President Obama convened 150 superintendents and other educators from across the country who will lead their schools and districts in the transition to digital learning. E.L. Haynes Public Charter School was selected as the sole participant from Washington, DC. For more on the White House summit, click here. |
Anonymous
| It's all about the money....money.... |
Anonymous
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Um, I think we are confusing what parents elect to do at home and what goes on at school. Concerns have been raised about the tech heavy approach the school has adopted. This is not a debate about what kids do at home or with their free time.
My kids watch T.V and play video games. They will get cell phones in middle school. I want them to be comfortable using computers. That does not mean I agree with the approach the school has taken to using Chromebooks in everyclass. It is great that PP poster thinks there is a balance but there have been other current parents who disagree. Those of us at feeder schools are looking for answers and trying to gain a better understanding. Asking questions doesn't mean we are naive, clueless or, as one previous poster described, luddites. And, while past concerns about T.V might have been overstated, research does suggest adverse academic outcomes in children who watch a significant amount of T.V and/or who have a T.V in their bedroom. To current parents, including PP, could you please give more specific breakdown of the time of assignments your children are asked to do and break down how much is done on the computer vs. writing. Also, could parents clarify if books are read on Chromebook or paper? Thanks. |