Jamestown elementary school - they use iPads for 40 min a day at kindergarten classes.

[Anonymous]

Apple Distinguished School requirements
Following are the requirements for becoming an Apple Distinguished School:
• A one-to-one Mac or iPad program for students and faculty has been in place for more than two
academic years.
• Faculty and students can demonstrate how best practices in learning and teaching are continuously
evolving with Apple technology.
• Teachers are highly proficient in the use of Apple products. For K–12 schools in the United States,
75 percent of teachers in a school must be recognized as Apple Teachers before the Apple Distinguished
School application deadline. To learn more about becoming an Apple Teacher, visit www.apple.com/
education/apple-teacher.
• Faculty deeply integrates Apple creation apps (Photos, iMovie, GarageBand, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and
iBooks Author), educational apps in the App Store, books in the iBooks Store, and learning materials in
iTunes U into the curriculum.
• Evidence of student success is documented through school-based research practices that measure
year-to-year improvement and program sustainability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
For all of pp's cynicism about marketing, just 400 schools nationwide have this distinction. Jamestown is the only one in Arlington with the distinction. Falls Church City Schools have the distinction. In Oakton, Flint Hill School has it. That's it for the entire NOVA region.

Prince George's Title 1 Office is the only close-in Maryland entity with the distinction.

No DC schools have it.

This is not something Apple hands out willy-nilly.

And all those school districts have 1:1 iPads in their elementary schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apple Distinguished School requirements
Following are the requirements for becoming an Apple Distinguished School:
• A one-to-one Mac or iPad program for students and faculty has been in place for more than two
academic years.
• Faculty and students can demonstrate how best practices in learning and teaching are continuously
evolving with Apple technology.
• Teachers are highly proficient in the use of Apple products. For K–12 schools in the United States,
75 percent of teachers in a school must be recognized as Apple Teachers before the Apple Distinguished
School application deadline. To learn more about becoming an Apple Teacher, visit www.apple.com/
education/apple-teacher.
• Faculty deeply integrates Apple creation apps (Photos, iMovie, GarageBand, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and
iBooks Author), educational apps in the App Store, books in the iBooks Store, and learning materials in
iTunes U into the curriculum.
• Evidence of student success is documented through school-based research practices that measure
year-to-year improvement and program sustainability.

This is such garbage, and a perfect example of the privatization of public education. An Apple "Distinguished" school is a K-12 billboard for Apple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apple Distinguished School requirements
Following are the requirements for becoming an Apple Distinguished School:
• A one-to-one Mac or iPad program for students and faculty has been in place for more than two
academic years.
• Faculty and students can demonstrate how best practices in learning and teaching are continuously
evolving with Apple technology.
• Teachers are highly proficient in the use of Apple products. For K–12 schools in the United States,
75 percent of teachers in a school must be recognized as Apple Teachers before the Apple Distinguished
School application deadline. To learn more about becoming an Apple Teacher, visit www.apple.com/
education/apple-teacher.
• Faculty deeply integrates Apple creation apps (Photos, iMovie, GarageBand, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and
iBooks Author), educational apps in the App Store, books in the iBooks Store, and learning materials in
iTunes U into the curriculum.
• Evidence of student success is documented through school-based research practices that measure
year-to-year improvement and program sustainability.

Buy and use a lot of Apple products and get a lot of Apple training and get an award? Wow! Pedagogy at its finest!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jamestown is our assigned school and I think it's terrible and sad to have kindergartners on Ipads during school hours. They can do that at home. There are so many better uses of time at school in my opinion.

Unless you have some degree in educational pedagogy, your opinion isn't valid.

Sorry, that's not how opinions work.

+1. As an aside, I'm a teacher with a pair of master's degrees and fully agree with PP.

You may need some continuing education. Screens are an integral part of our lives and knowledge and learning. Understanding how to use an iPad as a tool is critical -- if you're so afraid of the technology, you may be out-dated in your efficacy.

In second grade, my child was wrote books and produced movies with her peers using an iPad. They certainly had interaction. They learned coding and wrote games that they took turns testing for each other. It was very collaborative. They did multimedia projects in science that involved writing, video, pictures, and graphics.

All of this at Jamestown, btw.

LOL. iPads and associated apps are designed to require zero tech savvy. I think there is a place for them in schools in limited, well thought-out applications, but certainly no one will be falling behind if they don't use an iPad in Kindergarten.

-STEM person

You're a STEM person, so I guess I'm not surprised by your binary thinking. I will let that go.

I didn't say they made her tech savvy, did I? Show me where I said that. I said the iPad was an incredible tool that enhanced other learning experiences. She made a film. She wrote a book. She did multimedia projects. Yeah, she did some coding, but I realize that's rudimentary.

Could she have written the book by hand? Sure. But, it's not like that's inherently virtuous. In this case, writing the book on the screen then turned into presenting the book to parents and peers at book fair. The stream project involved photographs and video of flora that augmented her written descriptions.

It's a TOOL. I use my device all the time at work -- presentations, photographs of white boards, animated videos (I'm in marketing and communications).

This isn't about being "tech savvy" in a STEM sense. Sheesh.

Binary thinker. Did that pop up recently on your word-of-the-day calendar? Seems like you really like that expression.

As I said in my post, I agree that it can be a useful tool in the right circumstances, but I disagree that it's "critical" for Kindergarteners to understand how to use an iPad. Referring to your comment bolded above. There is plenty of time to learn how to use it as a tool (plus, frankly, it's really not that hard to pick up). In Kindergarten, there are many, many other more valuable skills that the children should be learning.

Even Steve Jobs agreed:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/fashion/steve-jobs-apple-was-a-low-tech-parent.html

And yet, Apple keeps giving Jamestown awards for its integration of technology into the classroom. How about that?

And, yes, you seem very binary. That's OK -- kind of goes with the territory for coders/STEM people. You stick to creating the devices and we creative types will create the content with them.

That's the new world we live in.

Binary is thinking that iPads are all good, all of the time. For those of us who haven't bought into the Apple sales pitch, we know that they can be a useful tool, but there is a time and a place. And it certainly is not "critical" that Kindergarteners use them. And certainly not every day for 40 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This gives me a pause. Is this common in public schools? Teachers also said that they let kids play games in iPads "sometimes". I mean, is this really necessary to expose kids to screen time? We try to limit it at home.

Jamestown has a tech focus and has won many awards from Apple for its use of technology in the classroom. The games they play are educational in nature, and Jamestown is a leader in terms of using iPads as an educational tool.

In my view, yes, it's necessary to integrate these devices in our 21st Century education.

I'm not sure why you try to limit it at home -- is it a problem for you? What issue do you have with screens? They're a central part of our lives now and a critical learning tool.

I'll second your focus on truly considering the type of use as the important question to ask.

Also, let's give the OP some leeway here, OP just said "it give me pause," which is exactly the time to ask "how" it is being use.

Separately, I wanted to point out that getting an award from Apple for the fact that the kids use their product is not necessarily a meaningful award.

You're literally talking out of your ass. You have no clue what you're talking about whatsoever. See my previous post.

Actually, no, I'm literally typing this on a computer.

While I won't defend the OP's views on limiting screen time, I will defend OP's curiosity for why and how it's being used at the child's school. All you've offered as evidence that it is a critical learning tool is an award from Apple. Did Apple donate the ipads? If not, then the complaint (consistently lodged in this thread) seems pretty valid to me.

What if instead, the defense was "Jamestown is working with a curriculum developed by MIT or Columbia Teaching College (or some such place with expertise in curriculum) that has been shown to integrate technology in the classroom in a way that enhances critical thinking, collaboration, etc." Do you see the difference between how a parent might be more comforted by this second response (if it were true) rather than some Apple award?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apple Distinguished School requirements
Following are the requirements for becoming an Apple Distinguished School:
• A one-to-one Mac or iPad program for students and faculty has been in place for more than two
academic years.
• Faculty and students can demonstrate how best practices in learning and teaching are continuously
evolving with Apple technology.
• Teachers are highly proficient in the use of Apple products. For K–12 schools in the United States,
75 percent of teachers in a school must be recognized as Apple Teachers before the Apple Distinguished
School application deadline. To learn more about becoming an Apple Teacher, visit www.apple.com/
education/apple-teacher.
• Faculty deeply integrates Apple creation apps (Photos, iMovie, GarageBand, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and
iBooks Author), educational apps in the App Store, books in the iBooks Store, and learning materials in
iTunes U into the curriculum.
• Evidence of student success is documented through school-based research practices that measure
year-to-year improvement and program sustainability.

This is such garbage, and a perfect example of the privatization of public education. An Apple "Distinguished" school is a K-12 billboard for Apple.

+1

Buy more Apple products and use them more and you get an award for it. Sounds like a well thought out plan from the marketing department, much more so than a well thought plan from a respected educational institution.

I love Apple products, own several and own a decent amount of Apple stock in my portfolio. As a shareholder, it sounds like a fantastic way to increase market presence, and increase sales (which Apple is GREAT at doing). But, as a parent, it doesn't excite me in the least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+1

Buy more Apple products and use them more and you get an award for it. Sounds like a well thought out plan from the marketing department, much more so than a well thought plan from a respected educational institution.

I love Apple products, own several and own a decent amount of Apple stock in my portfolio. As a shareholder, it sounds like a fantastic way to increase market presence, and increase sales (which Apple is GREAT at doing). But, as a parent, it doesn't excite me in the least.

+1 We, too, love Apple products; but they are a tool, not an outcome. A pencil also is a tool and requires some ability to manipulate it so that the user achieves the full potential of its use. We're hoping that eventually the education pendulum will start to swing back. Right now there is a huge kick that everything must be on an iPad or Chrome Book. Unfortunately, there is little recognition by the administrations of our school systems that these items are just tools and that the quality of instruction matters more. And, of course, there is the fact that the children are being allowed to do whatever they want on the things regardless of the age-inappropriateness of those things. Sigh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jamestown is our assigned school and I think it's terrible and sad to have kindergartners on Ipads during school hours. They can do that at home. There are so many better uses of time at school in my opinion.

Unless you have some degree in educational pedagogy, your opinion isn't valid.

Sorry, that's not how opinions work.

+1. As an aside, I'm a teacher with a pair of master's degrees and fully agree with PP.

You may need some continuing education. Screens are an integral part of our lives and knowledge and learning. Understanding how to use an iPad as a tool is critical -- if you're so afraid of the technology, you may be out-dated in your efficacy.

In second grade, my child was wrote books and produced movies with her peers using an iPad. They certainly had interaction. They learned coding and wrote games that they took turns testing for each other. It was very collaborative. They did multimedia projects in science that involved writing, video, pictures, and graphics.

All of this at Jamestown, btw.

LOL. iPads and associated apps are designed to require zero tech savvy. I think there is a place for them in schools in limited, well thought-out applications, but certainly no one will be falling behind if they don't use an iPad in Kindergarten.

-STEM person

You're a STEM person, so I guess I'm not surprised by your binary thinking. I will let that go.

I didn't say they made her tech savvy, did I? Show me where I said that. I said the iPad was an incredible tool that enhanced other learning experiences. She made a film. She wrote a book. She did multimedia projects. Yeah, she did some coding, but I realize that's rudimentary.

Could she have written the book by hand? Sure. But, it's not like that's inherently virtuous. In this case, writing the book on the screen then turned into presenting the book to parents and peers at book fair. The stream project involved photographs and video of flora that augmented her written descriptions.

It's a TOOL. I use my device all the time at work -- presentations, photographs of white boards, animated videos (I'm in marketing and communications).

This isn't about being "tech savvy" in a STEM sense. Sheesh.

Binary thinker. Did that pop up recently on your word-of-the-day calendar? Seems like you really like that expression.

As I said in my post, I agree that it can be a useful tool in the right circumstances, but I disagree that it's "critical" for Kindergarteners to understand how to use an iPad. Referring to your comment bolded above. There is plenty of time to learn how to use it as a tool (plus, frankly, it's really not that hard to pick up). In Kindergarten, there are many, many other more valuable skills that the children should be learning.

Even Steve Jobs agreed:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/fashion/steve-jobs-apple-was-a-low-tech-parent.html

And yet, Apple keeps giving Jamestown awards for its integration of technology into the classroom. How about that?

And, yes, you seem very binary. That's OK -- kind of goes with the territory for coders/STEM people. You stick to creating the devices and we creative types will create the content with them.

That's the new world we live in.

Binary is thinking that iPads are all good, all of the time. For those of us who haven't bought into the Apple sales pitch, we know that they can be a useful tool, but there is a time and a place. And it certainly is not "critical" that Kindergarteners use them. And certainly not every day for 40 minutes.

Jamestown doesn't use iPads all the time. Again, you with the binary thinking. Everything is black and white with you.

You people are astonishing. First you bitch and moan about how the schools are giving kids iPads without training teachers how to use them effectively. A school goes and gives that a think/gets training and deploys them effectively and you bitch and moan that it's a sales pitch.

This is known as "moving the goal posts" and is a fallacy.

Some of you probably would have protested the printing press. Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jamestown is our assigned school and I think it's terrible and sad to have kindergartners on Ipads during school hours. They can do that at home. There are so many better uses of time at school in my opinion.

Unless you have some degree in educational pedagogy, your opinion isn't valid.

Sorry, that's not how opinions work.

+1. As an aside, I'm a teacher with a pair of master's degrees and fully agree with PP.

You may need some continuing education. Screens are an integral part of our lives and knowledge and learning. Understanding how to use an iPad as a tool is critical -- if you're so afraid of the technology, you may be out-dated in your efficacy.

In second grade, my child was wrote books and produced movies with her peers using an iPad. They certainly had interaction. They learned coding and wrote games that they took turns testing for each other. It was very collaborative. They did multimedia projects in science that involved writing, video, pictures, and graphics.

All of this at Jamestown, btw.

LOL. iPads and associated apps are designed to require zero tech savvy. I think there is a place for them in schools in limited, well thought-out applications, but certainly no one will be falling behind if they don't use an iPad in Kindergarten.

-STEM person

You're a STEM person, so I guess I'm not surprised by your binary thinking. I will let that go.

I didn't say they made her tech savvy, did I? Show me where I said that. I said the iPad was an incredible tool that enhanced other learning experiences. She made a film. She wrote a book. She did multimedia projects. Yeah, she did some coding, but I realize that's rudimentary.

Could she have written the book by hand? Sure. But, it's not like that's inherently virtuous. In this case, writing the book on the screen then turned into presenting the book to parents and peers at book fair. The stream project involved photographs and video of flora that augmented her written descriptions.

It's a TOOL. I use my device all the time at work -- presentations, photographs of white boards, animated videos (I'm in marketing and communications).

This isn't about being "tech savvy" in a STEM sense. Sheesh.

Binary thinker. Did that pop up recently on your word-of-the-day calendar? Seems like you really like that expression.

As I said in my post, I agree that it can be a useful tool in the right circumstances, but I disagree that it's "critical" for Kindergarteners to understand how to use an iPad. Referring to your comment bolded above. There is plenty of time to learn how to use it as a tool (plus, frankly, it's really not that hard to pick up). In Kindergarten, there are many, many other more valuable skills that the children should be learning.

Even Steve Jobs agreed:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/fashion/steve-jobs-apple-was-a-low-tech-parent.html

And yet, Apple keeps giving Jamestown awards for its integration of technology into the classroom. How about that?

And, yes, you seem very binary. That's OK -- kind of goes with the territory for coders/STEM people. You stick to creating the devices and we creative types will create the content with them.

That's the new world we live in.

Binary is thinking that iPads are all good, all of the time. For those of us who haven't bought into the Apple sales pitch, we know that they can be a useful tool, but there is a time and a place. And it certainly is not "critical" that Kindergarteners use them. And certainly not every day for 40 minutes.

Jamestown doesn't use iPads all the time. Again, you with the binary thinking. Everything is black and white with you.

You people are astonishing. First you bitch and moan about how the schools are giving kids iPads without training teachers how to use them effectively. A school goes and gives that a think/gets training and deploys them effectively and you bitch and moan that it's a sales pitch.

This is known as "moving the goal posts" and is a fallacy.

Some of you probably would have protested the printing press. Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jamestown is our assigned school and I think it's terrible and sad to have kindergartners on Ipads during school hours. They can do that at home. There are so many better uses of time at school in my opinion.

Unless you have some degree in educational pedagogy, your opinion isn't valid.

Sorry, that's not how opinions work.

+1. As an aside, I'm a teacher with a pair of master's degrees and fully agree with PP.

You may need some continuing education. Screens are an integral part of our lives and knowledge and learning. Understanding how to use an iPad as a tool is critical -- if you're so afraid of the technology, you may be out-dated in your efficacy.

In second grade, my child was wrote books and produced movies with her peers using an iPad. They certainly had interaction. They learned coding and wrote games that they took turns testing for each other. It was very collaborative. They did multimedia projects in science that involved writing, video, pictures, and graphics.

All of this at Jamestown, btw.

LOL. iPads and associated apps are designed to require zero tech savvy. I think there is a place for them in schools in limited, well thought-out applications, but certainly no one will be falling behind if they don't use an iPad in Kindergarten.

-STEM person

You're a STEM person, so I guess I'm not surprised by your binary thinking. I will let that go.

I didn't say they made her tech savvy, did I? Show me where I said that. I said the iPad was an incredible tool that enhanced other learning experiences. She made a film. She wrote a book. She did multimedia projects. Yeah, she did some coding, but I realize that's rudimentary.

Could she have written the book by hand? Sure. But, it's not like that's inherently virtuous. In this case, writing the book on the screen then turned into presenting the book to parents and peers at book fair. The stream project involved photographs and video of flora that augmented her written descriptions.

It's a TOOL. I use my device all the time at work -- presentations, photographs of white boards, animated videos (I'm in marketing and communications).

This isn't about being "tech savvy" in a STEM sense. Sheesh.

Binary thinker. Did that pop up recently on your word-of-the-day calendar? Seems like you really like that expression.

As I said in my post, I agree that it can be a useful tool in the right circumstances, but I disagree that it's "critical" for Kindergarteners to understand how to use an iPad. Referring to your comment bolded above. There is plenty of time to learn how to use it as a tool (plus, frankly, it's really not that hard to pick up). In Kindergarten, there are many, many other more valuable skills that the children should be learning.

Even Steve Jobs agreed:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/fashion/steve-jobs-apple-was-a-low-tech-parent.html

And yet, Apple keeps giving Jamestown awards for its integration of technology into the classroom. How about that?

And, yes, you seem very binary. That's OK -- kind of goes with the territory for coders/STEM people. You stick to creating the devices and we creative types will create the content with them.

That's the new world we live in.

Binary is thinking that iPads are all good, all of the time. For those of us who haven't bought into the Apple sales pitch, we know that they can be a useful tool, but there is a time and a place. And it certainly is not "critical" that Kindergarteners use them. And certainly not every day for 40 minutes.

Jamestown doesn't use iPads all the time. Again, you with the binary thinking. Everything is black and white with you.

You people are astonishing. First you bitch and moan about how the schools are giving kids iPads without training teachers how to use them effectively. A school goes and gives that a think/gets training and deploys them effectively and you bitch and moan that it's a sales pitch.

This is known as "moving the goal posts" and is a fallacy.

Some of you probably would have protested the printing press. Sheesh.

The OP is concerned about 40 min/day in K. Please try to stay on topic. Either address that or shut your pie hole.

Next thing you know you'll be blabbing on that Glebe isn't a busy road.