Edline, Wiki, Powerschool, Blackboard, and the like create infinite mischief
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Anonymous
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I'm really curious as to whether teachers and parents find these electronic homework/grade links useful. In my experience they have only led to teacher overwork, parent frustration, and loss of child ownership of their 'job'.
Here's a post from the Deal thread that I'm following up on:
This is a huge issue that nobody is really talking about. The idea of using electronically-accessed assignments is efficiency for teachers, students and parents. It is NOT working out that way. Since schools can't assume students have access to electronics, everything has to be belt-and-suspendered: kids expected to write assignments in their journals, often issued verbally by teachers, then there's the worksheet(s) itself, along with explanatory material which needs to be separated out and placed in a binder?), there's Edline which the teachers are expected to have scanned the worksheet(s) along with other material that may not have been handed out, and is it cleared after a week? left up indefinitely? Then the teachers are expected to post grades for these assignments, which is a separate unlinked database, yet does the assignment have a name and is that name consistent between databases and on the child's journal? Any kid with the least bit of Tom Sawyer work-avoiding, envelope-pushing mentality, for example my kid, will not write in the journal knowing that Edline is available. And then they check Edline and, well, it's a short hop to just quickly check Facebook or email, and they're off and surfing. But they can say they're checking homework and with a quick flick of the wrist, they are. But of course, Edline says one thing, the kid claims the teacher verbally said something slightly different, like, "If you're not getting it, do what you can and we'll finish in class tomorrow." or, "we didn't get to that material in class yet so even tho it's on Edline she said we don't have to do it" etc. etc. Then I email the teacher for clarification or make him check with other kids, who say they were able to do it, etc and a loud "debate" between parent and student ensues. OMG it was a bloody nightmare last year. This year it's paper and nothing else, and everybody (teachers, students, parents) are on the same page, parents stay out of it unless asked to help in a specific way, and there is no emailing the teachers about an assignment. Now if there could be a guarantee that all kids can access the internet, print out worksheets, etc, so that EVERYTHING is on Edline, that might work. But in the absence of that guarantee, Edline and its ilk are anathema to a reasonable teacher workload, demands on parents, and kid empowerment for all concerned. kid ownership of the problem and teacher workload. |
Anonymous
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As parents, we've found Edline to be a useful tool. However we don't use it to check up on individual assignments, we use it to track grades. We leave it up to our DD to track her assignments and get them in on time. She receives way to much homework at Deal for it to be micromanaged by us.
I think it's useful depending on your expectations. I've found that teachers are inconsistent with loading assignments but pretty consistent with loading grades - it works for us. |
Anonymous
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I am an MCPS parent and I find Edline very useful. My high school age DC uses it extensively for content and assignments. Teacher notes are uploaded, i think even the classroom notes from the Promethean board, copies of assigned readings (there tend to be more assigned readings from multiple sources than a single text book), etc. I look at it only for grades, which are updated reasonably frequently by the teachers. It is a good check that DC is getting schoolwork done (since i don't otherwise ask).
Agree that there is a downside is for families without internet access at home, but otherwise it seems like a really useful tool. Not sure where the infinite mischief comes in, but maybe MCPS uses it differently than DCPS. |
Anonymous
| I only use it for tracking grades. I only mention what I see to them when I notice that they've missed an assignment. |
Anonymous
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I think there's WAY too much focus on technology at some of the elementary schools. Requiring small children to go online to do homework is probably three times a tedious both for the parents and the students. They kids have to find a computer with a web connection. The parents have to supervise the overall computer use as well as provide assistance if needed on the homework itself. It is just so much easier to read the instructions on a piece of paper rather than log onto a site.
In our family we strictly limit "screen time" of any sort for our kids. Older kids (middle school and above) no doubt can use computers for the tools that they are (for writing long essays on a word processor, eg.) But for little kids it's just a hassle. |
Anonymous
| OP here. The mischief comes from the overwork on everybody's part and then the inevitable breakdown when the various homework tracking methods do not sync up well or at all. This problem doesn't emerge right away but it will: if every assignment has to be tracked in three places, they will not sync up and then the emails or phone calls to clarify will add to everybody's workload. The point is that the child should have a single, ultra-reliable source of info on what the assignments are and when they are due. If that single source is paper, then the child can be in complete control. |
Anonymous
MCPS user here. That sounds great until the kid loses the piece of paper. Or has to miss class for a dr appt or a sports game or something and never gets the paper. We've had 3 years of no breakdowns so it doesn't have to be a problem. We were at back to school night last night and all the teachers were very positive about edline and most said they load their syllabus, assignments for the quarter, notes, promethean board notes, articles and assigned readings, etc to edline. |
Anonymous
I'm a Deal parent with a 7th grader and I'm not sure it's a reasonable expectation that all three methods should be aligned at all times. The single reliable source is what's happening in the classroom and the information your child gets directly from the teacher. The responsibility really lies with your child to get the assignments in class and write that in their planner and complete the assignment on time. Edline is more of a backup resource for tracking homework or getting assignments. |
Anonymous
| A lot of modern work places have systems of this sort where work has to be electronically tracked and or posted This more like the reality our kids will be facing in the future. Maybe it just is real-life and kids need to learn to managed print and electronic information. |
Anonymous
There are some things computers are very good at. That probably is why they're used at your workplace. There are other things that computers can assist with, but aren't really necessary Then there are things computers cannot do at all. Elementary education is one area where computers, in my opinion, can assist in only very limited ways. Think about it. When we all went to school ourselves, there was probably one classroom teacher (no aides), 25+ students, and no computers or electronic means of communicating with students. Yet somehow ... everyone - parents, kids, teachers, everyone - knew what the homework was, IF they cared to. Show my mom a big report I spent a long time and effort working on and got an "A" on? You betcha. Tell my mom about the spelling words I was supposed to learn but didn't? Probably not. Even the biggest supercomputer in the world cannot motivate nor teach. Great teachers and involved parents are what schools need, not great computers. |
Anonymous
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No, of course computers are not motivators but that's not the point. Point was simply this: if there's confusion among the parties about what tonight's homework is, "checking the wiki" is not going to solve it unless that is the ONLY way to get the info. Otherwise, Wikis are imperfectly correlated with what the teacher has assigned in class.
Certain kids will exploit that imperfect wiki to say "I have no homework." Of course, many kids will just do their work ontime and turn it in, all very nice. My kid seeks loopholes and the existence of an imperfect wiki provided many. If he finished his homework he got screentime. He was motivated to not have much homework that day. |
Anonymous
I don't think that is the point. OP and many parents are trying to figure out how to use these tools to augment their child's education and make things easier. Edline makes things easier for us becuase we can see as parents how are kid is doing. But as far as tracking homework, it's a bit of a crapshoot. What happens in the classroom still trumps what is online. |
Anonymous
I have to say that I think it's best for such students to face the consequences of having missed their homework. Ultimately, you want your son to assume responsibility. Sure, in the short term, removing assignment confusion would yield better results, but I think OP is not focused on the more important issue of personal responsibility. As an aside, I'm so discouraged by what seems like a lot of posts from mothers of boys seeking to excuse irresponsibility or minor misbehaviors. Schools expect "too much" of them, you see, and "boys will be boys-- whadd're you gonna' do?". This must be how sweet young boys morph into slacker DHs who fake incompetence to be excused from household chores and cheat on their wives because they "exploit loopholes". For the sake of all of our daughters, please raise the bar now, while they're still young!! |
Anonymous
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PP, excellent point. As the OP, I was (rather inefffectively) trying to zero in on how to get DS to step up, and wishing for the school to eliminate the source of excuses. But exactly as you say, I am only validating his shifting responsibility to others (me, the school, his personal challenges he was born with, etc.)
Your wisdom and others that pointed out that Edline/wiki/PowerSchool is not the problem. My allowing them to be excuses IS. |