Tech in APS?
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Anonymous
| Im curious about how much “technology” (iPads, computers, etc) are used in APS especially in K end elementary. Obviously COVID and virtual relied on technology, but in a non-Covid year - do the kids use iPads at school? What for? I’ve read articles about tech companies donating hardware to school districts and I think APS rents some devices but we’re not clear what those are used for. We’re about to start and we’ve been so intent on keeping the kids away from screens that it seems odd to send them to school where they’re going to use screens. Are the privates any different about this? |
Anonymous
| Much less than this year. It varies by school. But all elementary students in APS do lexia and dreambox to practice and develop skills in math and reading. We also use google docs and slides a lot for publishing students writing and making presentations (in a normal non Covid year). |
Anonymous
| This is probably school specific, so ask your principal. In my experience, APS loves tech at the elementary level, but my kids are MS age or older now, and I think it may be swinging (ever so slightly) the other way. And schools are different. We went private this year and my sense is there is less reliance in private but we didn't do early grades there so I can't say 100%. |
Anonymous
| Our ES uses ipads for dreambox and lexia, but I don't think more than 20 mins/day in non-covid times. |
Anonymous
| What’s odd is wanting to avoid screens. |
Anonymous
No, it's not odd to avoid screens for early education. https://www.businessinsider.com/screen-time-limits-bill-gates-steve-jobs-red-flag-2017-10 - work in IT |
Anonymous
| I have a third grader. In K he used it for about 20 minutes 3x/week |
Anonymous
| I can't speak for all privates, but the parochial school I worked at did not use any tech. |
Anonymous
Limited versus avoid. Two different things, chief. |
Anonymous
| Guessing that after this all-screens year, APS will have a hard time limiting them. |
Anonymous
How many years ago? |
Anonymous
We avoid screens but we don’t abstain. Avoid = limited, bruh. |
Anonymous
Or after an all-screen year, everyone who missed in-person instruction and hands-on work will be determined to shift away of the inferior online versions of things. |
Anonymous
|
My big concern is that teachers did a lot of work to move materials to a virtual platform this year and that they're going to want to continue to use those materials.
In particular, I found second grade math by iPad to be terrible. Lots of little boxes to drag and manipulate. Clumsy typing of numbers and fractions. Really awkward. These materials may have been necessary this year, but I hope they never see the light of day again. I fear that they going to be reused next year because they're available and easily accessible to teachers. It's the same with science and socials studies, too. I'd rather have 2nd graders writing on paper than clicking and typing. I really hope we move back to worksheets over digital assignments. |
Anonymous
For the grades that were studied pre-pandemic (usually late ES at the earliest), 10-15% of the school day spent on screens was the maximum beneficial as shown in test scores. More time was detrimental. Using about 10% raised scores slightly over using none. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-gave-my-students-ipads--then-wished-i-could-take-them-back/2015/12/02/a1bc8272-818f-11e5-a7ca-6ab6ec20f839_story.html https://www.businessinsider.com/students-learning-education-print-textbooks-screens-study-2017-10 https://medium.com/@cshirky/why-i-just-asked-my-students-to-put-their-laptops-away-7f5f7c50f368 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mental-wealth/201402/gray-matters-too-much-screen-time-damages-the-brain - computer programmer |