What does Chromebook use look like in your kid's elementary class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chromebooks creating future consumers: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/13/technology/google-education-chromebooks-schools.html

"Google is helping to drive a philosophical change in public education — prioritizing training children in skills like teamwork and problem-solving while de-emphasizing the teaching of traditional academic knowledge, like math formulas. It puts Google, and the tech economy, at the center of one of the great debates that has raged in American education for more than a century: whether the purpose of public schools is to turn out knowledgeable citizens or skilled workers."

"The director of Google’s education apps group, Jonathan Rochelle, touched on that idea in a speech at an industry conference last year. Referring to his own children, he said: “I cannot answer for them what they are going to do with the quadratic equation. I don’t know why they are learning it.” He added, “And I don’t know why they can’t ask Google for the answer if the answer is right there.”

"Google makes $30 per device by selling management services for the millions of Chromebooks that ship to schools. But by habituating students to its offerings at a young age, Google obtains something much more valuable."

It's only a matter of time before other public school systems in the area embrace this too. The only option is to push back with BOE.

Now that's terrifying. I'm not giving my kid's brain up to a company seemingly bent on turning people into robots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chromebooks creating future consumers: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/13/technology/google-education-chromebooks-schools.html

"Google is helping to drive a philosophical change in public education — prioritizing training children in skills like teamwork and problem-solving while de-emphasizing the teaching of traditional academic knowledge, like math formulas. It puts Google, and the tech economy, at the center of one of the great debates that has raged in American education for more than a century: whether the purpose of public schools is to turn out knowledgeable citizens or skilled workers."

"The director of Google’s education apps group, Jonathan Rochelle, touched on that idea in a speech at an industry conference last year. Referring to his own children, he said: “I cannot answer for them what they are going to do with the quadratic equation. I don’t know why they are learning it.” He added, “And I don’t know why they can’t ask Google for the answer if the answer is right there.”

"Google makes $30 per device by selling management services for the millions of Chromebooks that ship to schools. But by habituating students to its offerings at a young age, Google obtains something much more valuable."

It's only a matter of time before other public school systems in the area embrace this too. The only option is to push back with BOE.

Thank you for this. And that false dichotomy is at the root of all the classist problems we deal with in our society, when we assume that most people cannot successfully be both. How to push back with BOE? Letters? Pressure on candidates? A calm conversation with one candidate that is sympathetic? Does anyone have a view into how some kind of limiting criteria could be implemented into Chrome Book use at the schools?

[Anonymous]

Moreover, where do a lot of these Silicon Valley execs send their kids? To the virtually technology-free Waldorf School.

Tells me 2 things:

1. They know too much technology is bad for kids' learning.

2. They're pushing all that technology onto public school kids instead. What assholes.

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html

[Anonymous]

I also would love some thoughts on how to push back. And I don't want to feed the VA troll, but again, no public school system is safe from this. That NYT article specifically discusses Fairfax. VA people will also need information on how to prevent this.

[Anonymous]

And here's an article from this year talking more generally about how people working in the tech industry are increasingly raising their kids with significant limits on technology use.

http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-parents-raising-their-kids-tech-free-red-flag-2018-2

[Anonymous]

I develop apps. I can tell you, with total certainty, that companies can harvest an astonishing amount of information from them. It is so easy to track all users and everything they do... and there is absolutely no oversight. It is the digital wild west and Silicon Valley execs are only too well aware.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I develop apps. I can tell you, with total certainty, that companies can harvest an astonishing amount of information from them. It is so easy to track all users and everything they do... and there is absolutely no oversight. It is the digital wild west and Silicon Valley execs are only too well aware.

Makes sense. I was struck by the number of Silicon Valley execs who have gone to what I would consider extremes to keep their kids away from this type of technology.

I see it in my young child -- when she's playing with her regular toys (almost all of which have no electronic component, except for maybe something like a button you press to make a train go "choo choo, all aboard") she is generally happy, active, and engaged. If she gets hold of my phone (which I try to put on a high shelf when I get home), she turns into a little zombie who sits there staring at videos and freaks out when I take the phone away. I don't like what it does to her personality, which is why we do everything we can to strictly limit her interaction with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I develop apps. I can tell you, with total certainty, that companies can harvest an astonishing amount of information from them. It is so easy to track all users and everything they do... and there is absolutely no oversight. It is the digital wild west and Silicon Valley execs are only too well aware.

Makes sense. I was struck by the number of Silicon Valley execs who have gone to what I would consider extremes to keep their kids away from this type of technology.

I see it in my young child -- when she's playing with her regular toys (almost all of which have no electronic component, except for maybe something like a button you press to make a train go "choo choo, all aboard") she is generally happy, active, and engaged. If she gets hold of my phone (which I try to put on a high shelf when I get home), she turns into a little zombie who sits there staring at videos and freaks out when I take the phone away. I don't like what it does to her personality, which is why we do everything we can to strictly limit her interaction with it.

Please don’t give up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I develop apps. I can tell you, with total certainty, that companies can harvest an astonishing amount of information from them. It is so easy to track all users and everything they do... and there is absolutely no oversight. It is the digital wild west and Silicon Valley execs are only too well aware.

Makes sense. I was struck by the number of Silicon Valley execs who have gone to what I would consider extremes to keep their kids away from this type of technology.

I see it in my young child -- when she's playing with her regular toys (almost all of which have no electronic component, except for maybe something like a button you press to make a train go "choo choo, all aboard") she is generally happy, active, and engaged. If she gets hold of my phone (which I try to put on a high shelf when I get home), she turns into a little zombie who sits there staring at videos and freaks out when I take the phone away. I don't like what it does to her personality, which is why we do everything we can to strictly limit her interaction with it.

Please don’t give up!

Thanks, we're really trying! At the same time, though, we don't want her to miss out on things we know she loves, like Mickey Mouse. We're trying really hard to establish limits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Moreover, where do a lot of these Silicon Valley execs send their kids? To the virtually technology-free Waldorf School.

Tells me 2 things:

1. They know too much technology is bad for kids' learning.

2. They're pushing all that technology onto public school kids instead. What assholes.

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html

True, True, True.
MCPS is a bad commoditized product built for masses of low level workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Moreover, where do a lot of these Silicon Valley execs send their kids? To the virtually technology-free Waldorf School.

Tells me 2 things:

1. They know too much technology is bad for kids' learning.

2. They're pushing all that technology onto public school kids instead. What assholes.

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html

great article. so true.

“Teaching is a human experience,” he said. “Technology is a distraction when we need literacy, numeracy and critical thinking.”

And Waldorf parents argue that real engagement comes from great teachers with interesting lesson plans.

“Engagement is about human contact, the contact with the teacher, the contact with their peers,” said Pierre Laurent, 50, who works at a high-tech start-up and formerly worked at Intel and Microsoft.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so everyone has all the facts...

Go Guardian not only allows teachers to monitor/track student Chromebook use-it also allows them to block certain sites at certain times (or always if needed) and customize by student, if needed. Additionally you can limit the number of tabs students can open up. I am a media specialist and we use the Chromebooks with the older grades for one research project a quarter. Occasionally we also use them in order to incorporate interactive tools such as Kahoot, padlet, and Nearpod into classroom lessons. We are reading and discussing books the majority of the time.

There are plenty of teachers who know how to effectively implement instructional technology and ration independent use of computers to a reasonable degree. We go by the philosophy that technology is yet another tool in our teacher toolbox not a replacement for books and other instructional tools. Feel free to ask your child's teacher about their philosophy regarding Chromebooks and instructional technology in general. Hopefully it will be a productive conversation and you will find that they are being used very purposefully--if not feel free to discuss it with them or go to the principal if that avenue doesn't yield good results. But just complaining here in a blanket fashion, making sweeping generalizations about Chromebook use in MCPS schools, is not very productive. Both my ES children are in schools where they are used to good effect and truly boost classroom instruction.

This sounds so reasonable and I bought this line when our school announced it had gotten Chromebooks for even the second graders. Kids need to learn how to use technology, so I was in.

Then reality.

*Teachers use the time as a reward for finishing seat work, so kids anxiously rush and don’t pay attention to their work.
*We got all these Chromebooks so we might as well use them, right? So now kids spend their “reading” time on myOn, which is mediocrity personified, but hey, it provides the administration with “data” so let’s love it no matter what.
*Speed math programs like Xtra Math and Fast Math have become teacher tools for assessment in our school, despite the lack of any research that they benefit kids’ math skills and ignoring the profound performance anxiety fully 1/4 of my child’s class exhibits about these high pressure programs. But they provide such enticing data and analysis performance charts!
*Instead of using their time to write or imagine, students spend their device time fooling with avatars, fancy fonts, lame clip art, and other things on which no lower-grader should be wasting their school time.
*Since you are a media specialist, I’ll throw in this one - when my kids go to media, they often have a book “read” to them by a computer. Happens in class, too, to keep the kids occupied for a few minutes while the teacher catches a break. Don’t love it, but I understand. But in the school library?! I’m speechless (well... not really!).

Discussions about this at our MCPS school, with teachers and principal, are like speaking to an uncomprehending brick wall. Clearly, I am stupid and troublesome for not understanding how critical and amazing data and persistent technology access are for my young kids (btw, I develop apps for a living). Most other parents think screens are fine, don’t have the interest or genuinely don’t have the time to care about it. (thank you, DCUM, for letting me know I am not entirely alone in thinking this is all insane). And these are generally great and experienced teachers. The principal is “embracing technology” and our school has lost several excellent staff members who couldn’t stand the assessment and data obsessed environment. Remaining teachers are forced to use the above programs whether they like them or not. Staff development time seems to be focused on analyzing performance data and learning how to use yet more digital programs (and then analyzing yet more data charts).

I am with you on the overuse of Chromebooks in some schools for math practice and the like. Data gathering is super important but we take it to a crazy level. I also feel that we need to be careful with giving free time on Chromebooks as a reward. It's a slippery slope. Hopefully these are some of the kinks/issues of the early phases of Chromebook use and teachers, admins, and parents can pull back, reflect, and improve upon our current use. It is a learning curve and I truly believe most teachers and media specialists have good intentions for the use of these devices.

As for students having books read to them via computer vs. a teacher I am not a fan of this at all. I became a media specialist partly because of my interest in instructional technology but mainly because of my passion for reading books to children and matching books to readers. There is no greater joy than sharing good books with children and discussing these texts with them. I even like to go old school and use songs, felt boards, and puppets to supplement these stories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so everyone has all the facts...

Go Guardian not only allows teachers to monitor/track student Chromebook use-it also allows them to block certain sites at certain times (or always if needed) and customize by student, if needed. Additionally you can limit the number of tabs students can open up. I am a media specialist and we use the Chromebooks with the older grades for one research project a quarter. Occasionally we also use them in order to incorporate interactive tools such as Kahoot, padlet, and Nearpod into classroom lessons. We are reading and discussing books the majority of the time.

There are plenty of teachers who know how to effectively implement instructional technology and ration independent use of computers to a reasonable degree. We go by the philosophy that technology is yet another tool in our teacher toolbox not a replacement for books and other instructional tools. Feel free to ask your child's teacher about their philosophy regarding Chromebooks and instructional technology in general. Hopefully it will be a productive conversation and you will find that they are being used very purposefully--if not feel free to discuss it with them or go to the principal if that avenue doesn't yield good results. But just complaining here in a blanket fashion, making sweeping generalizations about Chromebook use in MCPS schools, is not very productive. Both my ES children are in schools where they are used to good effect and truly boost classroom instruction.

This sounds so reasonable and I bought this line when our school announced it had gotten Chromebooks for even the second graders. Kids need to learn how to use technology, so I was in.

Then reality.

*Teachers use the time as a reward for finishing seat work, so kids anxiously rush and don’t pay attention to their work.
*We got all these Chromebooks so we might as well use them, right? So now kids spend their “reading” time on myOn, which is mediocrity personified, but hey, it provides the administration with “data” so let’s love it no matter what.
*Speed math programs like Xtra Math and Fast Math have become teacher tools for assessment in our school, despite the lack of any research that they benefit kids’ math skills and ignoring the profound performance anxiety fully 1/4 of my child’s class exhibits about these high pressure programs. But they provide such enticing data and analysis performance charts!
*Instead of using their time to write or imagine, students spend their device time fooling with avatars, fancy fonts, lame clip art, and other things on which no lower-grader should be wasting their school time.
*Since you are a media specialist, I’ll throw in this one - when my kids go to media, they often have a book “read” to them by a computer. Happens in class, too, to keep the kids occupied for a few minutes while the teacher catches a break. Don’t love it, but I understand. But in the school library?! I’m speechless (well... not really!).

Discussions about this at our MCPS school, with teachers and principal, are like speaking to an uncomprehending brick wall. Clearly, I am stupid and troublesome for not understanding how critical and amazing data and persistent technology access are for my young kids (btw, I develop apps for a living). Most other parents think screens are fine, don’t have the interest or genuinely don’t have the time to care about it. (thank you, DCUM, for letting me know I am not entirely alone in thinking this is all insane). And these are generally great and experienced teachers. The principal is “embracing technology” and our school has lost several excellent staff members who couldn’t stand the assessment and data obsessed environment. Remaining teachers are forced to use the above programs whether they like them or not. Staff development time seems to be focused on analyzing performance data and learning how to use yet more digital programs (and then analyzing yet more data charts).

I am with you on the overuse of Chromebooks in some schools for math practice and the like. Data gathering is super important but we take it to a crazy level. I also feel that we need to be careful with giving free time on Chromebooks as a reward. It's a slippery slope. Hopefully these are some of the kinks/issues of the early phases of Chromebook use and teachers, admins, and parents can pull back, reflect, and improve upon our current use. It is a learning curve and I truly believe most teachers and media specialists have good intentions for the use of these devices.

As for students having books read to them via computer vs. a teacher I am not a fan of this at all. I became a media specialist partly because of my interest in instructional technology but mainly because of my passion for reading books to children and matching books to readers. There is no greater joy than sharing good books with children and discussing these texts with them. I even like to go old school and use songs, felt boards, and puppets to supplement these stories.

PP here. My kids love it when someone uses puppets! I am so glad to hear that you do this. What do you think would work best if a parent at your school wanted to broach the subject of Chromebooks overuse? Who in your school would be most likely to take that seriously or have impact on the way staff uses it? I really respect my kids’ teachers and want to support them, but it is really hard to discuss this without sounding super-critical instead of constructive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chromebooks creating future consumers: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/13/technology/google-education-chromebooks-schools.html

"Google is helping to drive a philosophical change in public education — prioritizing training children in skills like teamwork and problem-solving while de-emphasizing the teaching of traditional academic knowledge, like math formulas. It puts Google, and the tech economy, at the center of one of the great debates that has raged in American education for more than a century: whether the purpose of public schools is to turn out knowledgeable citizens or skilled workers."

"The director of Google’s education apps group, Jonathan Rochelle, touched on that idea in a speech at an industry conference last year. Referring to his own children, he said: “I cannot answer for them what they are going to do with the quadratic equation. I don’t know why they are learning it.” He added, “And I don’t know why they can’t ask Google for the answer if the answer is right there.”

"Google makes $30 per device by selling management services for the millions of Chromebooks that ship to schools. But by habituating students to its offerings at a young age, Google obtains something much more valuable."

It's only a matter of time before other public school systems in the area embrace this too. The only option is to push back with BOE.

Thanks for posting.

I think it’s very hard to make changes in MCPS. It’s a huge school system!

[Anonymous]

If this is true how 5 yo-10yo are using chromebooks - frequency and duration each day - this will be a dealbreaker for my husband and I. Way too distracting for young kids.

Just look how bad dcum is during the day with adults! then multiple it times 10000s of ES kids who actually need to learn the basics!