DCI: Too much focus on tablets/devices?
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Anonymous
| then don't come? seriously. you have choice. exercise it. |
Anonymous
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I do have a choice. I want to make an informed choice which is why I am reading this forum. I also intend to go go to the open houses. I am not sure why you are getting so upset about parents engaging in a discussion about this. The questions are legitimate and reasonable.
DCI just started this year. There will be a lot of parents who have questions about many things. You don't need to be so nasty! |
Anonymous
| wow. you're kind of nasty yourself! |
Anonymous
as reported on another page - DCI current student is stating they have no real books |
Anonymous
| Wasn't trying to be, just responding to some completely unhelpful comments. If I find that DCI won't work for DC, we won't be joining the community and I will exercise my choice! |
Anonymous
I don't find the PP you're replying to nasty at all. I do find the "You have choice - exercise it" poster to be unnecessarily prickly about what is to me a very major concern. But it's true: we can talk about the pros and cons all day every day; but the only real conversations that matter are between DCI Admin staff and current and prospective parents. And most important will be what changes do or don't occur on this issue at DCI. |
Anonymous
Many of us coming DCI feeders lobbied hard to make this a possibility because we don't have another choice. At least not a good one. |
Anonymous
Thank you for being honest. Many families, in both feeders and DCI, don't have great IB alternatives. Sure, there are some families who really want a dual immersion education for their child, but moving IB for Oyster wasn't a financial possibility. And for high school, even if WIS (or other private schools) had the capacity to absorb these students, that's really not financially feasible for DCI parents either. Not many parents want their kids to serve as guinea pigs (a la DCI), but when you don't have many great options, you take what you can get. Hopefully, concerned parents can get DCI to adopt more common sense, and healthy, policies soon. |
Anonymous
| Thanks PP, we are in the same situation! BTW, what have parents done to engage the administration in this discussion and how can parents at feeder schools be included in the discussion? Thanks! |
Anonymous
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I am a current DCI parent. It is true that my DC does not have typical hard copies of a textbooks but he has plenty of handouts, worksheets and workbooks. He is a 7th grader studying Chinese. In his classes there are segments of the class where they shut the Chromebooks, have discussions, use paper, pencils and/or the whiteboard. We meet my DC's math and Chinese tutor at the Mt. Pleasant library and I am always surprised by the number of DCI students that I see at the library.
I could be wrong but it seems to me that some of the posters are under the impression that these children are simply staring at their Chromebooks and cell phones from 8:15am-4:15pm. Cell phones are only permitted to be used during brunch and lunch. This is a similar policy to many schools. Cell phones are confiscated if they seen during class time. There have been articles concerning the use and encouraged use of cell phones during class time if other jurisdictions for research purposes). Fairfax County PS was even mentioned in a few articles in reference to this controversial topic. I have visited the school during lunch on numerous occasions. During my visits a vast majority of the students were not on their electronic devices. I was pleasantly surprised to HEAR them as soon as I walked through the doors. They were communicating verbally and not standing next to each other texting. I would like to see more concrete evidence of the class time usage of the Chromebook. The administration has said that is less than 50% of the student day but I would like to see the numbers in black and white. I am sure that there is a way to monitor this digitally. Apparently the administration knows this is a concern for some parents and they appear to be communicating more information about how much technology is being used during the school day. Hopefully, the administration will engage the feeder schools in order to provide the information that so many parents seem to be requesting. |
Anonymous
Very glad to hear that it sounds (to a current DCI parent) that the Administration knows this is a big concern for parents. I hope they also begin to understand what a concern it is for prospective parents too, although expressing that is up to usprospectives to communicate in open houses and info sessions, and to our feeder schools for those who are in feeders. Will really be watching here and talking to the few current parents I know to see what the consensus ends up being on how much a typical day and week students are on their chromebooks. Thanks for posting DCI parents! |
Anonymous
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Found this interesting article which is relevant to the discussion on DCI's heavy use of chromebooks
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/30/opinion/can-students-have-too-much-tech.html?_r=1 |
Anonymous
That is really an eye-opening Op Ed... and the picture continues to get cloudier and stormier the more info I read on it. Main question is: how much are the DCI founders/staff willing to consider these concerns and consider (not automatically implement, just even seriously consider) revising their model? What if in 5 years there's abundant evidence that there is a tipping point of age and hours of exposure at which learning declines? That's the direction a lot of what I've read is pointing in - I'd hope they'd be committed to being vigilant about the data and studies as they come out and consider tweaks to their model. No, not suggesting that every time a new study comes out, they revamp the model. Just that this is a big issue, a serious issue, and the model they are currently implementing already goes against some of the growing bodies of research that indicate negative outcomes for kids of especially the younger ages (middle school for DCI) and a large degree of screentime. If 90+ % of your coursework is on the tablet/internet, right there you are in very tricky territory and the research is growing. |
Anonymous
| Totally agree PP. The school doesn't seem to be using technology strategically but actively encouraging it regardless of whether the approach makes sense. Do kids really need internet access in Art and Drama class? The only class kids aren't using the computer is during Gym. Why? |
Anonymous
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Current DCI parent here. DCI is finally getting some balance with Chromebooks with regards to Academics. They've already changed their tune to being "100% paperless" to having a "50/50 balance". (Probably b/c parent pushback). Don't think Art uses Chromebooks.
The big problem is the unfettered access to non educational content. Students are supposed to stay on task while games and Google are just a click away. I have spoken with all of my DC teachers. They hate the games being accessible during classroom hours. Big distraction for ALL kids, zero value. Here are some examples of inappropriate content kids have accessed: Netflix-some kids brought in home account Violent over 18yr games "Safe" games with online chats where anything goes (I've seen it) Music sites with explicit lyrics South Park episodes like: "Anal Probe" For some reason the administration seems dead set on allowing games. They say it's part of youth culture and are breaking the digital divide. The other inappropriate content? They don't know about it. We parents need to bring it to their attention. Seems monitoring server logs is too much work. I don't think this problem is specific to DCI. This happens when you open schools to the internet, even with restrictions. You get the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. |