Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is the technology that children have to learn and get comfortable with. I wouldn't want it to the exclusion of pens and paper but it has to be included in the curriculum. This is the age we live in.

they can pick it up in 5 minutes. no need to TEACH it.

No kidding. They are not learning programming, for Lord's sake.

My kids picked it up in a home they were never allowed to use a computer and we have no TV. They can do more than we can now. Earlier is simply not necessary. Plus with all this talk about wifi it seems silly to have routers and ipads. By the time teachers understand what to do they will be outdated.

Paper and pencil and real books.
Einstein did it.

The money should be spent on more arts and fixing the floors and walls.

Anonymous wrote:It is the technology that children have to learn and get comfortable with. I wouldn't want it to the exclusion of pens and paper but it has to be included in the curriculum. This is the age we live in.

they can pick it up in 5 minutes. no need to TEACH it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Falls Church City schools where the superintendent is totally going for it. Too much in my opinion, there is no need, and I feel it is in detriment of other things.
They have lots of iPads in K and 1st grade, and we have been told that they use even more technology in 2nd grade.
I am kind of against it because I feel that having iPads or even laptops at this age does not really teach kids about technology, they just use technology to learn things that I feel are better learnt in other ways.

Exactly.

And the vast, vast majority of kids could use less time in front of screens, not more.
I do not want this for my children.
There is so much that can be learned without these devices.
I might be more extreme than PP, but I would prefer that my children did not have any of this kind of technology at all in elementary school. Learning to type in the older grades, maybe.

I deleted the line about homeschooling because I'm not going to do that. But I think all the talk about kids needing to get comfortable with technology is wrong for two reasons:
1) It's projection. Parents may have difficulty with technology, but kids do not, especially the kind of technology that is consumption-focused, like iPads.
2) Technology is becoming ever more user-friendly. To the extent that someone needs to learn to use it now, s/he is expending effort that will be irrelevant in five years because technology will have changed so much.

bump

Anonymous wrote:
Basically, I think technology can be useful and interesting for certain lessons and projects but I think FCC is going overboard with it. (And then the school participates in "screen-free week," which is bizarre given how much screen time there is in each classroom every other week). Technology is not a cure-all and can create its own problems.

PP, the screen free week in FCCPS is for the home time, not for the school. My kids were still using iPads and watching movies at school during that week. I was outraged! Basically, it was a commercial. You got a flyer telling you what restaurants you could go to instead of 'stay home and watch TV'. Bizarre!

This site has been touted around town but it is certainly something and very informative.....but did you know it has an ipads page? They emit radiation as well- every few seconds, yet another reason to stop the rediculous costly idea.
http://www.nacst.org/ipads.html

plus did you see repairs not ipads? all that fuss as teachers say the money should go for school repairs not technology that will be outdated the minute it is installed.

I think the important thing is to teach children how to use technology as a tool for learning, and not just a toy.

Anonymous wrote:Especially in younger grades, they need to manipulate objects in space (ex: blocks), develop manual dexterity (ex: using a writing implement, learning cursive), and so on.

They have their whole school careers to learn technology. It absolutely does not need to be done in elementary school, at the very least.

I was talking to a third grade teacher and she mentioned that she'd had so many issues this year with her students using scissors. She finally had to teach a mini lesson on how to use scissors. It occurred to her that her students were lacking fine motor control because they were spending less time developing manual dexterity.

We are in FCC and I have mixed feelings about the increasing use of iPads in the classroom. I have seen them used for a few good purposes but also a lot of game playing that IMO is not educational. As an example of a positive use, the kids did a video book report where they wrote a summary of a book with their reading group, then filmed themselves narrating the summary, added music, etc. This was a good learning experience and the kids were really excited about it. But I have also had my kids tell me that they have used the iPads to play games and for reading stories. I would rather have kids reading actual books than doing their reading on an iPad, especially because I don't think we know what the cumulative effect is going to be on these kids if they are spending lots of time as 5-8 yr olds reading screens. Not to mention that if you're working on a screen you're not interacting with classmates or a teacher.

Basically, I think technology can be useful and interesting for certain lessons and projects but I think FCC is going overboard with it. (And then the school participates in "screen-free week," which is bizarre given how much screen time there is in each classroom every other week). Technology is not a cure-all and can create its own problems.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:iPads are great educational aids. Who is providing them though? They are not cheap. Is it BYOD? I know they have some really great apps to use collaboratively, but if it's BYOD, every parent would need to buy the apps which can get expensive. If done right, iPads could be a great thing to use in the classrooms. I love this idea!

FCCPS is providing them, no BYOD at all!!!

Well, the tax payers are providing them then. That's expensive. I hope the kids are careful with them...

I think it is a total waste of money. the problem with technology is that it gets old and you're always trying to keep up. It is a never ending cycle of trying to keep up. I don't think it is necessary for young children to use technology. I think you are more creative if you didn't have it.

I agree with OP to a certain extent. Our kids' private school instituted a laptop program about 6-7 years ago when my DD was in 4th grade. It was a disaster for her. She is easily distracted and having technology available 24-7 just made it all the more difficult for her to concentrate in the classroom. I really wish they would have at least waited until late middle school to start with the personal technology. This might have made it easier for her to learn effective study habits.

Anonymous wrote:We are in Falls Church City schools where the superintendent is totally going for it. Too much in my opinion, there is no need, and I feel it is in detriment of other things.
They have lots of iPads in K and 1st grade, and we have been told that they use even more technology in 2nd grade.
I am kind of against it because I feel that having iPads or even laptops at this age does not really teach kids about technology, they just use technology to learn things that I feel are better learnt in other ways.

Exactly.

And the vast, vast majority of kids could use less time in front of screens, not more.
I do not want this for my children.
There is so much that can be learned without these devices.
I might be more extreme than PP, but I would prefer that my children did not have any of this kind of technology at all in elementary school. Learning to type in the older grades, maybe.
This is one of the things that leads me to consider homeschooling (if I don't find a job)

Anonymous wrote:iPads are great educational aids. Who is providing them though? They are not cheap. Is it BYOD? I know they have some really great apps to use collaboratively, but if it's BYOD, every parent would need to buy the apps which can get expensive. If done right, iPads could be a great thing to use in the classrooms. I love this idea!

FCCPS is providing them, no BYOD at all!!!