DCI: Too much focus on tablets/devices?

[Anonymous]

Thanks BASIS parent for answering my question. Sounds like a great school. I think using Chromebook for science class is great and a good use of the technology in the classroom, so I am not opposed to computer use. I am worried because I feel computer use in every class, especially middle schoolers, is too much and has no proven benefit at all in terms of learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:okay troll brigade,
can you finally let this rest? either pull out, don't attend, or storm the ramparts, but would you let this thread die? each time it goes off the main page you keep bringing it back. I love DCI, my child loves it, and a lot of us in the school community are really sick of the bashing and negativity.

No one has changed the title or done anything to disguise the thread, so my question to you is: if that's how you feel about the discussion, why do you keep coming back to it?

Your kids are at a tech-forward school and some parents can't figure out how to avoid a thread that makes them unhappy?

Meanwhile, I'm glad there are other DCI parents here who actually are sharing information and can appreciate that this is not a thread of bashing, but a thread of concerns and some good news and some further concerning news. But it's a far cry from bashing, especially bashing DCUM-style which can be particularly brutal.

Lastly, yeah, you're entitled to ask us to go or not go, but no, we are not going to stop discussing it just because you don't know how to stop reading it. Especially those of us hoping it succeeds and wanting to figure out how best to use our voices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the open house I attended, administration said all homework assignments needed to be done on the computer through google classroom.

Done on the computer, or submitted on the computer?

Is that a meaningful distinction unless you are scanning handwritten work?

Sure, you can read a book in a paper copy, and then just answer the questions on the computer. You can take your notes by hand, and then type up the paper on the computer (something you'd be doing anyway, whether it was a school with Chromebooks or not). You can solve your math problems on paper, and the type the solutions. You can create an art project by hand an upload a photo to a website.

For all of those, the student is spending far more time off the computer than on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:19:09. I think technology in the classroom can be a great tool and I hope that whatever school DC goes to, technology will be used. Just find it hard to believe that computer use in every class is a good or appropriate. As with most things, moderation is good, especially when there is no evidence suggesting clear benefits to computer use and some evidence suggesting possible negative outcomes.

ITA - this is what gets me the most. The more studies that are done, the more the indications are that exposure to a lot of screen time is overall a negative, and I've yet to read overall positives beyond the cool variety of ways that information can be presented and the speed of access (which are real positives). But even the effects of longterm viewing screens on eyes (both child eyes and adult eyes) is under review and early indications are not positive.

Moderation is the key here. I hope DCI will find a way to moderate/balance the tech with low-tech and no-tech.

I agree.

When I was an attorney supervising a very computer intensive case - all documents were scanned, paralegals were spending hours looking at the screen, we did the research and discovered that they needed breaks from the screen just because of potential vision problems......... and tune out problems.........

but really these college graduates were complaining about spending 8+ hours looking at screens, and as supervising attorneys we made rules about breaks, shifts, etc because it was the only fair and right thing to do for our staff (who were, in all fairness, our peers just a bit younger, working before law school or as a way to pay off student loans).

Top law firm, former employment lawyer, who was disturbed enough about what we discovered in terms of the potential detrimental effects of 8 (or 12 to be honest) shifts spent staring at a computer screen in terms of vision, and also the fact that they would eventually just because of the medium start to zone out and not do our discovery well....

I am not at a DCI feeder, but I would not send a child to DCI absent much more clarification about the entire system.

But this was 10 years ago, and we were talking about kids whose entire brains were already formed - developing vision problems and an ultimate inability to focus after a certain amount of time without breaks - the modern equivalent of limited screen time...............

[Anonymous]

These students are not doing document review. They are actually reading and not constantly. Not at a similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These students are not doing document review. They are actually reading and not constantly. Not at a similar.

Plus, the DCI kids spend 6 hours 15 minutes in class a day, so we aren't talking 8+ hours we're talking approximately 3 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These students are not doing document review. They are actually reading and not constantly. Not at a similar.

Plus, the DCI kids spend 6 hours 15 minutes in class a day, so we aren't talking 8+ hours we're talking approximately 3 hours.

Don't forget about homework time and leisure screen time. That's a lot of time each day to develop repetitive use injuries, circadian rhythm disturbances, and attention problems.

[Anonymous]

THEN DON'T SEND YOUR KID THERE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These students are not doing document review. They are actually reading and not constantly. Not at a similar.

Plus, the DCI kids spend 6 hours 15 minutes in class a day, so we aren't talking 8+ hours we're talking approximately 3 hours.

Don't forget about homework time and leisure screen time. That's a lot of time each day to develop repetitive use injuries, circadian rhythm disturbances, and attention problems.

Plays, fine, but absolutely, completely different from doc review.

[Anonymous]

Okay, not plays. I hate autocorrect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These students are not doing document review. They are actually reading and not constantly. Not at a similar.

Plus, the DCI kids spend 6 hours 15 minutes in class a day, so we aren't talking 8+ hours we're talking approximately 3 hours.

Don't forget about homework time and leisure screen time. That's a lot of time each day to develop repetitive use injuries, circadian rhythm disturbances, and attention problems.

It's a bit hypocritcal to be up in arms about academic computer use at school, and then allow large amounts of leisure screen time, don't you think? Especially given that the research about attention problems all comes from media such as movies and video games, and not from reading some teacher's powerpoint or taking notes in google docs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:okay troll brigade,
can you finally let this rest? either pull out, don't attend, or storm the ramparts, but would you let this thread die? each time it goes off the main page you keep bringing it back. I love DCI, my child loves it, and a lot of us in the school community are really sick of the bashing and negativity.

No one has changed the title or done anything to disguise the thread, so my question to you is: if that's how you feel about the discussion, why do you keep coming back to it?

Your kids are at a tech-forward school and some parents can't figure out how to avoid a thread that makes them unhappy?

Meanwhile, I'm glad there are other DCI parents here who actually are sharing information and can appreciate that this is not a thread of bashing, but a thread of concerns and some good news and some further concerning news. But it's a far cry from bashing, especially bashing DCUM-style which can be particularly brutal.

Lastly, yeah, you're entitled to ask us to go or not go, but no, we are not going to stop discussing it just because you don't know how to stop reading it. Especially those of us hoping it succeeds and wanting to figure out how best to use our voices.

Thank you. I hope all this talk does not encourage families. I'd love for them to come and help us current parents work together with the school for more balance. If you are worried about your kid accessing non-educational content you can request to have it blocked. I'm not sure why admin has not been forthcoming on this issue either with current parents or potential

You heard it correctly, GAMES CAN BE BLOCKED! Don't send your kid with a smartphone (or with G4). Kids are not staring at screens all day.

But there is work to be done. Remember, its a start up.

[Anonymous]

^^ oops, does not discourage

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These students are not doing document review. They are actually reading and not constantly. Not at a similar.

Plus, the DCI kids spend 6 hours 15 minutes in class a day, so we aren't talking 8+ hours we're talking approximately 3 hours.

Don't forget about homework time and leisure screen time. That's a lot of time each day to develop repetitive use injuries, circadian rhythm disturbances, and attention problems.

It's a bit hypocritcal to be up in arms about academic computer use at school, and then allow large amounts of leisure screen time, don't you think? Especially given that the research about attention problems all comes from media such as movies and video games, and not from reading some teacher's powerpoint or taking notes in google docs.

To your first point, I was thinking about the average middle school student's leisure screen time, which does not seem to be limited by DCI's policy, and may or may not be limited at home.

To your second point, there is an emerging body of evidence regarding "non-leisure/educational" screen time and its effect on attention and learning. Just a few examples are described here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/28/why-students-using-laptops-learn-less-in-class-even-when-they-really-are-taking-notes/
http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/Journal/Reviews/Pages/Research-In-Class-Devices.aspx#.VPRiHVZYXeI

I would also note that academic screen time at DCI does not seem to be limited to following powerpoint and taking notes in google docs.

There is also a large body of evidence re: the detrimental effects of multitasking on learning, concentration and memory. One can reasonably argue that many activities a middle schooler might do with a laptop/screen, even in the classroom, would involve a large degree of multitasking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These students are not doing document review. They are actually reading and not constantly. Not at a similar.

Plus, the DCI kids spend 6 hours 15 minutes in class a day, so we aren't talking 8+ hours we're talking approximately 3 hours.

Don't forget about homework time and leisure screen time. That's a lot of time each day to develop repetitive use injuries, circadian rhythm disturbances, and attention problems.

It's a bit hypocritcal to be up in arms about academic computer use at school, and then allow large amounts of leisure screen time, don't you think? Especially given that the research about attention problems all comes from media such as movies and video games, and not from reading some teacher's powerpoint or taking notes in google docs.

To your first point, I was thinking about the average middle school student's leisure screen time, which does not seem to be limited by DCI's policy, and may or may not be limited at home.

To your second point, there is an emerging body of evidence regarding "non-leisure/educational" screen time and its effect on attention and learning. Just a few examples are described here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/28/why-students-using-laptops-learn-less-in-class-even-when-they-really-are-taking-notes/
http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/Journal/Reviews/Pages/Research-In-Class-Devices.aspx#.VPRiHVZYXeI

I would also note that academic screen time at DCI does not seem to be limited to following powerpoint and taking notes in google docs.

There is also a large body of evidence re: the detrimental effects of multitasking on learning, concentration and memory. One can reasonably argue that many activities a middle schooler might do with a laptop/screen, even in the classroom, would involve a large degree of multitasking.

The second article you reached starts off the the following

WUSTL wrote:

Two classroom-based studies reveal that the use of laptops, in particular, can have a positive effect on student attention and learning—if these tools are used for course-related, instructional purposes. However, when in-class laptop-use was not a required part of the class, the students in these studies reported lower levels of engagement and learning. In addition, one of the two studies found—again, when in-class laptop-use was not a required part of the class—a negative correlation between use of laptops in class and course grade.

The second article references the same single study that has been referenced several times in this thread. A growing number of articles about the same study isn't quite the same thing as a growing body of evidence.

My response to the second article would be to ask the school what steps they are taking to help make sure that kids are synthesizing, simplifying and organizing information while taking notes. For example, are they:

Providing kids with note taking templates and formats that prevent the use of paragraph notes?

Allowing kids the option to or even requiring them to take notes by hand, and using the computer for other things?

Teaching kids strategies for note taking, and holding them responsible for using those strategies?

For people who are reading this and thinking about 1:1 schools, it's also important to note that a tablet and a note taking app that allows handwriting is one solution to this problem.