Anonymous
Post 06/23/2016 22:23     Subject: some general questions about MoCo curriculum
Anonymous wrote:We are looking to move from out of state and I'm wondering how much tech is part of MoCo curriculum - does the district give kids ipads, is the work all digital and if so, what grades (this is what is happening where we are, starting in 2nd grade, and I'm not sure how I feel about it, curious if things are the same there yet)? Also, does MoCo still use PARCC and if so are they planning to continue (I know lots of states are transitioning away from that particular test and just wondering where MD is on this). Thanks!


You should be more concerned about the powerful teachers union, incessantly rising taxes and Focus On the bottom curriculum.
Anonymous
Post 06/23/2016 11:09     Subject: Re:some general questions about MoCo curriculum
My child has had several fantastic research projects this year using library databases on Chromebooks. It's not like teachers are passing them out and giving kids free time to Google stuff. Yes there are filters in place, but parents should really not be blaming the school if their children are looking up porn. I work in a library, and I see lots of kids try to search the library catalog for poop, butt, etc. We call them out on it but we don't shut down access to the library catalog.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 21:05     Subject: some general questions about MoCo curriculum
Why? Because Google is giving the Chromebooks to schools at deeply discounted rates. They are promoting their education platform and mining aggregated data about how the devices are used and so forth.


Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 20:19     Subject: some general questions about MoCo curriculum
Anonymous wrote:They are Chromebooks - they ONLY work when online (unlike a laptop).

Filtering is an unending challenge


Seems like a bad idea to have the kids on these! What are the upsides?

My 2nd grader had computer lab time once a week, where they did research, wrote poems, etc. Why not just let the kids continue to do this?
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 20:18     Subject: some general questions about MoCo curriculum
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Inappropriate search terms send a ping to the principal, who gets a message about the search term and who did it. Search is blocked and Principal can then take corrective action.


CAN take a corrective action. But DO they?

Our ES had more than 900 kids.
Our MS has about 1300.

That's a lot of possibility for inappropriate search terms.


This. We're at a very large ES also. It's truly impossible for the principal to be monitoring kids' internet access, along with all his other responsibilities.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 19:04     Subject: some general questions about MoCo curriculum
They are Chromebooks - they ONLY work when online (unlike a laptop).

Filtering is an unending challenge
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 18:31     Subject: some general questions about MoCo curriculum
Anonymous wrote:Inappropriate search terms send a ping to the principal, who gets a message about the search term and who did it. Search is blocked and Principal can then take corrective action.


CAN take a corrective action. But DO they?

Our ES had more than 900 kids.
Our MS has about 1300.

That's a lot of possibility for inappropriate search terms.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 18:22     Subject: some general questions about MoCo curriculum
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote: My teacher friend told me that kids can go to improper sites on chrome books. She had a boy who was looking at inappropriate sites. I was extremely surprised to learn that. I'm sure most parents, like myself, thought that Internet access is restricted. I'm passing on the word because I personally think it should be and I'm surprised the county hasn't mandated that.


I posted earlier about my son's use in 3rd grade. He did confirm that students didn't have any restrictions on the web. He told me that his teacher talked about appropriate searching and viewing and does keep an eye on what they look at online. That said, he did tell me that a kid got caught using violent games while he was supposed to be doing research. The teacher said that MCPS needs to address this issue at the admin level.


You see, I had no idea. I thought, like I'm sure most parents do, that these things were restricted and safe. I'm sure if parents got wind of this there would be a huge uproar. I don't even let my child use the Internet at home so I am really upset about them having unrestricted Internet at school.


I do let my 3rd and 4th grader use the internet at home, but either it's WITH me, or I'm in the room with them. If we come across something inappropriate, I can discuss it with them. It's impossible for a teacher (with 28 other kids in the class) to monitor what each student is looking at on his/her Chromebook.

I'm all for technology in the classrooms, but the Chromebooks have been a pretty useless experiment, IME. Someone must have been making money off the project, or getting kickbacks, etc.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 18:17     Subject: some general questions about MoCo curriculum
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote: My teacher friend told me that kids can go to improper sites on chrome books. She had a boy who was looking at inappropriate sites. I was extremely surprised to learn that. I'm sure most parents, like myself, thought that Internet access is restricted. I'm passing on the word because I personally think it should be and I'm surprised the county hasn't mandated that.


I posted earlier about my son's use in 3rd grade. He did confirm that students didn't have any restrictions on the web. He told me that his teacher talked about appropriate searching and viewing and does keep an eye on what they look at online. That said, he did tell me that a kid got caught using violent games while he was supposed to be doing research. The teacher said that MCPS needs to address this issue at the admin level.


My 2nd grader did not get a Chromebook this year, but I have spoken to a few 3rd grade parents who said the same thing. The kids are able to access inappropriate sites.

I do agree that MS is different, but really think that they need some restrictions for ES kids!
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 18:17     Subject: some general questions about MoCo curriculum
Anonymous wrote:Inappropriate search terms send a ping to the principal, who gets a message about the search term and who did it. Search is blocked and Principal can then take corrective action.


Searches for guns, rifles, weapons and porn should automatically be blocked and they were not.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 18:09     Subject: some general questions about MoCo curriculum
Inappropriate search terms send a ping to the principal, who gets a message about the search term and who did it. Search is blocked and Principal can then take corrective action.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 17:14     Subject: some general questions about MoCo curriculum
Anonymous wrote: My teacher friend told me that kids can go to improper sites on chrome books. She had a boy who was looking at inappropriate sites. I was extremely surprised to learn that. I'm sure most parents, like myself, thought that Internet access is restricted. I'm passing on the word because I personally think it should be and I'm surprised the county hasn't mandated that.

Yep, and it is total mess. My child with ADHD try to play on Chrome book everywhere, including TEST time (technology assistance required for typing), and school is not interested in blocking anything! Kids are given chrome books as babysitters when job is done, at recess, everywhere! It is not education; it is disaster!