DCI: Too much focus on tablets/devices?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in the DC area, but its funny reading this thread. DC is way behind the times if you guys are discussing this. Major (and excellent) school systems around the US are using student-issued laptops and no longer have textbooks. And as an aside - because there are no textbooks, they fewer need for lockers. My high school kid doesn't use a locker and hardly any kid in the school does (except gym lockers).

No paper assignments are completed anymore - all assignments are uploaded to the teacher via google docs. Everything is posted online; students can choose to print study guides, worksheets, etc but it is not required.

Wow, I can't believe this is a new thing in DC.

And you just happen to be reading this forum... why?

Because nobody else that isn't from DC posts on DCUM? The thread came up in Recent Topics. Geez.

It just seemed a little too convenient that's all. Still not buying it, but carry on. I'm just so busy in my days with family and work and life, never in my life have I had time/wanted time to randomly read a location - specific message board about schools somewhere else. Some people have a LOT of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCI feeder parent here. I'm very disappointed with what's happened and will try for a Basis or Latin slot.

This will be us if this doesn't change. I see some major business opportunities for language intensive after school programs the rate this is going at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in the DC area, but its funny reading this thread. DC is way behind the times if you guys are discussing this. Major (and excellent) school systems around the US are using student-issued laptops and no longer have textbooks. And as an aside - because there are no textbooks, they fewer need for lockers. My high school kid doesn't use a locker and hardly any kid in the school does (except gym lockers).

No paper assignments are completed anymore - all assignments are uploaded to the teacher via google docs. Everything is posted online; students can choose to print study guides, worksheets, etc but it is not required.

Wow, I can't believe this is a new thing in DC.

Yes it is happening all over the country. Doesn't mean it is a good thing. Waldorf high school, here I come.

[Anonymous]

At least I can stress a lot less about getting a spot at a DCI feeder! But yeah, the people I know IRL who are already at feeders are not happy about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCI feeder parent here. I'm very disappointed with what's happened and will try for a Basis or Latin slot.

Is there any tech time at Basis or Latin? Just wondering?

[Anonymous]

Does the admin care that a lot of feeder parents for the incoming year are now looking elsewhere? I would think it would really impact the goal/mission of their second language program/agenda. They'd have to rely on lottery to fill the slots and those spots would likely be filled w/out having a second language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With 166 eligible rising 6th graders from the feeders - well more than they need to keep their projections on track - I don't think the Administration sees the parents from the feeders as a group they need to cultivate or listen to either. We were on the fence re DCI but now planning on our 5th grader heading to Basis next year and supplementing foreign language outside of school.

where would you do this supplementing at?

[Anonymous]

I thought DCI was adding space bc they were going to be over enrolled by feeder families?

I feel languages is a huge priority, but would not go to DCI due to the technology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does the admin care that a lot of feeder parents for the incoming year are now looking elsewhere? I would think it would really impact the goal/mission of their second language program/agenda. They'd have to rely on lottery to fill the slots and those spots would likely be filled w/out having a second language.

This is an excellent point. Yu Ying in particular is up there in the top 2 highest average SES of the feeder schools, and those wealthier families DO have choices. I've seen on here several people post that YY or LAMB were the only public school they applied to. Very few people who are middle or upper class are worried about whether their kids will get enough exposure and experience with technology. They just want them to be as smart as possible.

Do YY and LAMB and DCI and all the other feeder schools want their wealthiest parents doing a major exodus? For families who can choose private, this is a major question. NOT saying somehow those families are more important than other families, but I don't see how it won't be a big deal if there is a measurable exodus from feeder schools to private whereas before there was all this energy and excitement about DCI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought DCI was adding space bc they were going to be over enrolled by feeder families?

I feel languages is a huge priority, but would not go to DCI due to the technology.

They have to expand because they're adding grades each year. It's just like most other charters when they start. And yes, so far they are almost full with feeder families (I'm pretty sure there were some common lottery slots last year though).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI feeder parent here. I'm very disappointed with what's happened and will try for a Basis or Latin slot.

Is there any tech time at Basis or Latin? Just wondering?

There's a very small amount of tech time at some of the most prestigious and famous private middle and high schools. Not just Waldorf, but others too. Families with choices aren't worried about their kids' tech savvy - it comes with the territory or they can put their kids in tech programs if they're really worried. There's a reason tech moguls like Steve Jobs and others had their kids in low-tech or no-tech schools.

I was so excited about the language and IB aspects of DCI, both of which I'm pretty sure are missing at Latin and Basis (or not emphasized in the same way), but this tech thing would be a deal-breaker for me. I can't do private with 2 kids, but I would absolutely jump on a Latin or Basis spot in 2 years if this doesn't change at DCI.

[Anonymous]

14:12 -- supplement via a summer residential language immersion camps; spanish language theatre weekend/summer programs. whatever i can find basically.

[Anonymous]

Re tech time at Basis -- the kids do not have unfettered access to wifi during the day and are not issued individual computers. They do use computers for some research and writing assignments but those are already online and the kids don't know the password (and they do try to figure it out). There is one class (about 22 kids) of 8th graders that are piloting use of laptops for some of the classes but those do not leave school and kids only use them for certain assignments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in the DC area, but its funny reading this thread. DC is way behind the times if you guys are discussing this. Major (and excellent) school systems around the US are using student-issued laptops and no longer have textbooks. And as an aside - because there are no textbooks, they fewer need for lockers. My high school kid doesn't use a locker and hardly any kid in the school does (except gym lockers).

No paper assignments are completed anymore - all assignments are uploaded to the teacher via google docs. Everything is posted online; students can choose to print study guides, worksheets, etc but it is not required.

Wow, I can't believe this is a new thing in DC.

Hmmm. Could this be why American kids are so stupid in comparison to their peers internationally? "Excellent school system" is relative.

[Anonymous]

Is there any one of us out here who can say that they must write out all of their work by hand without the use of a computer while at their job? Only unskilled, low-tech workers do that. Even plumbers show up at the house with their appointments and invoices on iPads. Hell, even McDonalds employees input orders on computers. The point is that we all work and learn on computers now.

The principal, founder, and some students at the school info meeting said that they use the computers about 50% or less of the time. Interestingly, as a high school teacher (at a completely unrelated school in another district) I use technology about the same amount of time in the classroom and for student assignments.

You all will not listen, but I will continue anyhow. There are lots of options for tech integration, from zero to 100%. The absolute worst is when tech is included with trepidation. That is when the use of it becomes a time-suck because it is not normalized into either the pedagogy or the receptive learning. When teachers need to re-scaffold the structure of the lessons because they are faced with delivery novelty then learning problems happen. The next worst is when you use technology with the assumption that all students will have reasonably equal access so you have partial classroom use and kids follow up (in the computer lab or at home). Students then suffer big divides in achievement because of all of the factors you can imagine when kids of different backgrounds need to go out of their way to organize their own time. The best option is using technology with a well-trained staff and well-trained student body that has equal access to the equipment.