APS parents -- are you happy about the MacBooks and iPads? Unhappy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

At least in the case of the 6th grade iPads, they piloted this last year in one class in every APS middle school. The results were obviously - from their perspective

And the analysis of the data collected is available where?

- good enough to justify giving every 6th grader an iPad. As the parent of one such 6th grader this year in an APS middle school, I think that this can be very useful - especially for kids whose families cannot afford such technology themselves. A lot of content supposedly is going to be pushed to the iPads for the kids to work on at home (WiFi won't be necessary). It also supposedly will help with differentiation. I was surprised myself to hear that this was moving forward but I'm really not upset -- it won't be perfect (we've heard rollout at our son's middle school may take a bit longer than planned) but kids today use technology and this has the potential to be helpful to student learning. The level of vitriol from some people over this seems a bit much.

We can agree at least that we have different standards when it comes to rigor and cost-benefit analysis.


And transparency.

The data comes from the classes in which they piloted classes last year. The data is probably experiential data, rather than a lot of numbers and figures. In the greater scheme of things, I don't think that this is worth a lot of parental energy. The complaints about this remind me of a story conveyed by neighbors about our neighborhood school's extended day program: Some parents one year were up in arms because the apples being served in Extended Day were not organic and the staff had not removed the stickers from them.

Maybe this is a boondoggle but unless you teach, have educational administration expertise, and/or want to run for school board, I think the negative reaction is overblown.

+1 this is one very sensible post. technology is here to stay, and there were similar initial complaints about smart boards too. so the question is how best to utilize the technology to achieve better student learning outcomes, not should technology be used or not.

but then again, almost every one on DCUM is an arm chair quarterback when it comes to education policy

[Anonymous]

The data comes from the classes in which they piloted classes last year. The data is probably experiential data, rather than a lot of numbers and figures. In the greater scheme of things, I don't think that this is worth a lot of parental energy. The complaints about this remind me of a story conveyed by neighbors about our neighborhood school's extended day program: Some parents one year were up in arms because the apples being served in Extended Day were not organic and the staff had not removed the stickers from them.

Maybe this is a boondoggle but unless you teach, have educational administration expertise, and/or want to run for school board, I think the negative reaction is overblown.


+1 this is one very sensible post. technology is here to stay, and there were similar initial complaints about smart boards too. so the question is how best to utilize the technology to achieve better student learning outcomes, not should technology be used or not.

but then again, almost every one on DCUM is an arm chair quarterback when it comes to education policy

The comparison of screens that can be used by a student anytime for entertainment and to access inappropriate material and Smartboards, which are bolted to the wall of a teacher's classroom and used by a teacher, is not an appropriate analogy.

Also, a second issue raised on this thread concerns the appropriate use of technology funds and whether they are being used with transparency, not whether technology should be used at all.

For the record, I am not an armchair quarterback. I am a retired teacher.

[Anonymous]

I am a teacher - in a school with smart boards. I see them being everyday as a place to stick anchor charts. Smart boards are another waste of money unless you have someone full time on staff to deal with tech issues that come up. We have someone come to our school once a week. Clearly, it's not enough. Will APS have a full time IT person on staff at each school?

[Anonymous]

I see them being everyday as a place to stick anchor charts.

A teacher wrote this sentence? I sure hope you're not an English teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I see them being everyday as a place to stick anchor charts.

A teacher wrote this sentence? I sure hope you're not an English teacher.

This sentence? Try the entire paragraph.

[Anonymous]

What is an anchor chart?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I see them being everyday as a place to stick anchor charts.

A teacher wrote this sentence? I sure hope you're not an English teacher.

This sentence? Try the entire paragraph.

Okay, so she left out the word "used" and the wording is awkward. It was a a short response on an anonymous forum, not an essay. Like must of us she probably typed on her phone while drinking a cup of coffee . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you were a child free taxpayer, would you feel the same way?

If you are a child-free taxpayer, don't you have better things to do than hang out here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

At least in the case of the 6th grade iPads, they piloted this last year in one class in every APS middle school.

Who on earth told you this? They certainly didn't do this at my child's middle school last year.

Nor mine.

We were told (at the Gunston parents middle school orientation) that one sixth grade class in each middle school was piloted with iPads last year. Had no reason to doubt this.

[Anonymous]

We were told (at the Gunston parents middle school orientation) that one sixth grade class in each middle school was piloted with iPads last year. Had no reason to doubt this.

I had heard it was just Swanson, but maybe Gunston, too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We were told (at the Gunston parents middle school orientation) that one sixth grade class in each middle school was piloted with iPads last year. Had no reason to doubt this.

I had heard it was just Swanson, but maybe Gunston, too?

I don't see how this works as a pilot. When they say "one class," do they mean "one homeroom class"? (STAR class, whatever.)

So 20 kids have access to an iPad, and this affects instruction how, exactly? They go to their core classes, where their classmates won't have iPads, so it can't be an essential, or even important, part of instruction. What does it prove?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you were a child free taxpayer, would you feel the same way?

If you are a child-free taxpayer, don't you have better things to do than hang out here?

I'm not childfree, but it's not as though this expenditure is something the rest of Arlington will never learn about. And the entitlement of some Arlington parents has to grate: We need your green and open space so our kids can have a certain kind of school. We need your tax dollars so our 14 year olds can have a nicer computer than your do. WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!

More than 80% of Arlington adults have no children. How much do you expect them to sacrifice for someone else's snowflakes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We were told (at the Gunston parents middle school orientation) that one sixth grade class in each middle school was piloted with iPads last year. Had no reason to doubt this.

I had heard it was just Swanson, but maybe Gunston, too?

I don't see how this works as a pilot. When they say "one class," do they mean "one homeroom class"? (STAR class, whatever.)

So 20 kids have access to an iPad, and this affects instruction how, exactly? They go to their core classes, where their classmates won't have iPads, so it can't be an essential, or even important, part of instruction. What does it prove?

I assume (and I was just at a middle school orientation) that one homeroom class took the iPads to all their classes, and teachers tailored content accordingly and used the devices for instructional purposes. I think it's great that they gave the kids the iPads and the posts on this thread sound like they come from a bunch of anti-Money Laundering prosecutors or military police interrogators. They're good questions, but I assume (and I'm not naive and don't think school administrators never make mistakes) that they had enough information about how kids and teachers used them to make an informed decision. From what I understand (for those concerned about porn etc), the iPads are in fact locked down in various respects (filters etc).

[Anonymous]

my 4th grader is getting an IPad. i'm pleasantly surprised. hopefully he'll learn to use it as a learning tool not just a device for playing jetpack joyride or doing facetime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: They're good questions, but I assume (and I'm not naive and don't think school administrators never make mistakes) that they had enough information about how kids and teachers used them to make an informed decision.

I think you are not as familiar as you need to be with Murphy's way of operating.