Anonymous
12/24/2025 20:08
Subject: Re:Refusing technology in elementary
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Neuroscience shows that reading and writing on paper is vastly better for your brain than reading/writing on the computer. First, your eyes move differently on the computer. On paper, your eye moves left to right horizontally. On the computer, your eye moves up and down. If you learn to read by training your eye to read up and down, it is much harder to read long text (like a novel) on paper. In addition, you absorb less information when your eye moves up and down and you remember up to 30 percent less. Reading on a computer - an inherently "noisy" environment - also takes more cognitive effort than reading in a quieter space (like in bed with a book.)
Second, there is well documented evidence for the hand-brain connection. If you want to remember something, writing it out by hand is much better than typing it. The simple act of physically forming the letters with a pencil "engraves" it in your brain. Typing notes basically does nothing to help you remember.
Your kids are undergoing a great "tech" experiment. Generations from now, people will wonder why we did this to our kids - much like smoking rooms in high school. This generation will be the least educated generation since public schools were created.
You are correct of course. The forward-thinkers are already homeschooling/private schooling no and low tech at least in the early grades.
Everyone else will get it when it becomes all too obvious and at that point the children will be grown and have trouble trying to rewire their brains, if they are even motivated enough to do so.
At the least, I hope some people are committing to no tech/low tech summers for their children with outdoor activities and hands on projects, books and board games, puzzles instead of screens. That would help.
It will be interesting to see how no-tech and high-tech kids compare twelve years from now. I’m not sure we’d see a difference in test scores, since they’ve modified the tests to reduce reading passage lengths and generally accommodate high-tech students. I bet there will be major differences in writing ability and reading comprehension at the university level.
Anonymous
12/24/2025 10:51
Subject: Re:Refusing technology in elementary
Anonymous wrote:Neuroscience shows that reading and writing on paper is vastly better for your brain than reading/writing on the computer. First, your eyes move differently on the computer. On paper, your eye moves left to right horizontally. On the computer, your eye moves up and down. If you learn to read by training your eye to read up and down, it is much harder to read long text (like a novel) on paper. In addition, you absorb less information when your eye moves up and down and you remember up to 30 percent less. Reading on a computer - an inherently "noisy" environment - also takes more cognitive effort than reading in a quieter space (like in bed with a book.)
Second, there is well documented evidence for the hand-brain connection. If you want to remember something, writing it out by hand is much better than typing it. The simple act of physically forming the letters with a pencil "engraves" it in your brain. Typing notes basically does nothing to help you remember.
Your kids are undergoing a great "tech" experiment. Generations from now, people will wonder why we did this to our kids - much like smoking rooms in high school. This generation will be the least educated generation since public schools were created.
You are correct of course. The forward-thinkers are already homeschooling/private schooling no and low tech at least in the early grades.
Everyone else will get it when it becomes all too obvious and at that point the children will be grown and have trouble trying to rewire their brains, if they are even motivated enough to do so.
At the least, I hope some people are committing to no tech/low tech summers for their children with outdoor activities and hands on projects, books and board games, puzzles instead of screens. That would help.
Anonymous
12/24/2025 09:42
Subject: Refusing technology in elementary
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it’s one thing to not want edtech ir YouTube… but especially in upper elementary, there are writing assignments, slide shows, research that are completed and turned in on computers.
Writing drafts should be done on paper.
Kids don't need to do slide shows.
Research should be via books.
Disagree on drafts - doing them on the computer is fine, preferable for the kid and teacher, and much more efficient.
Why can't research be done on the internet? Do you still go to the library to check out books for your own research?
Why is wikipedia considered unreliable?
Really??? You don't know this?
If one understands why, then they understand the issue with online resources and why doing research via books is better.
Anonymous
12/22/2025 15:22
Subject: Refusing technology in elementary
Sadly low-tech education is only available to families that can afford private education, and even among those only for those families who are comfortable with very conservative or very liberal options. I certainly wasn’t willing to subject my kids to EdTech and enrolled my child in a conservative parochial school.
Anonymous
12/22/2025 11:59
Subject: Refusing technology in elementary
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it’s one thing to not want edtech ir YouTube… but especially in upper elementary, there are writing assignments, slide shows, research that are completed and turned in on computers.
Writing drafts should be done on paper.
Kids don't need to do slide shows.
Research should be via books.
Disagree on drafts - doing them on the computer is fine, preferable for the kid and teacher, and much more efficient.
Why can't research be done on the internet? Do you still go to the library to check out books for your own research?
Really important for kids to practice handwriting and editing by hand.
Why? Those skills are outdated.
There is loads of research showing a direct connection between learning information and handwriting it. No research showing any connection between reading on a screen and typing and learning the information.
Anonymous
12/22/2025 11:12
Subject: Re:Refusing technology in elementary
Neuroscience shows that reading and writing on paper is vastly better for your brain than reading/writing on the computer. First, your eyes move differently on the computer. On paper, your eye moves left to right horizontally. On the computer, your eye moves up and down. If you learn to read by training your eye to read up and down, it is much harder to read long text (like a novel) on paper. In addition, you absorb less information when your eye moves up and down and you remember up to 30 percent less. Reading on a computer - an inherently "noisy" environment - also takes more cognitive effort than reading in a quieter space (like in bed with a book.)
Second, there is well documented evidence for the hand-brain connection. If you want to remember something, writing it out by hand is much better than typing it. The simple act of physically forming the letters with a pencil "engraves" it in your brain. Typing notes basically does nothing to help you remember.
Your kids are undergoing a great "tech" experiment. Generations from now, people will wonder why we did this to our kids - much like smoking rooms in high school. This generation will be the least educated generation since public schools were created.
Second, there is well documented evidence for the hand-brain connection. If you want to remember something, writing it out by hand is much better than typing it. The simple act of physically forming the letters with a pencil "engraves" it in your brain. Typing notes basically does nothing to help you remember.
Your kids are undergoing a great "tech" experiment. Generations from now, people will wonder why we did this to our kids - much like smoking rooms in high school. This generation will be the least educated generation since public schools were created.
Anonymous
12/22/2025 10:36
Subject: Re:Refusing technology in elementary
Anonymous wrote:So everyone who is anti-tech, do you not care about test scores that your child takes on computers?
I care a lot about test scores, and understand that what underlies those test scores is a strong fundamental understanding of the subject matter. It is possible (and preferable) to learn to read using paper-based materials that require the student to develop an attention span and motivation to push himself or herself through a passage without the aid of a computer program to “cheerlead.” It is possible (and preferable) to learn to do math using physical materials and pencil and paper instead of a computer program artificially setting up all the steps of a problem instead of requiring the child to reason through the problem completely on his or her own. Yes, it’s worth practicing doing exams on a computer, but computer knowledge will not make up for a lack of basic knowledge.
Thought experiment: would William Faulkner and Charles Dickens have become great writers had they not had access to Reading Eggs? Could Terrence Tao have won the Fielda Medal without learning arithmetic using an app?
Anonymous
12/18/2025 11:57
Subject: Refusing technology in elementary
One would think that on a site like DCUM, more parents would be aware of the issues and concerns around tech use at elementary ages. It may take a bit longer, but a critical mass will eventually get it. Hopefully, soon, more will look into it and save their children unnecessary hindrance of their mental and social abilities.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yes you can refuse. But that will be a huge burden on the teacher to offer alternate work.
Oh, like they have to really teach like they use to?
I'm waiting for parents to rise up as a whole and protest all this horrible tech in schools. We might have to wait until test scores really hit rock bottom but I'm sure it's coming.
FCPS may adjust when they see more elementary parents opting for private and homeschooling.
Anonymous
12/17/2025 19:41
Subject: Refusing technology in elementary
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it’s one thing to not want edtech ir YouTube… but especially in upper elementary, there are writing assignments, slide shows, research that are completed and turned in on computers.
Writing drafts should be done on paper.
Kids don't need to do slide shows.
Research should be via books.
Disagree on drafts - doing them on the computer is fine, preferable for the kid and teacher, and much more efficient.
Why can't research be done on the internet? Do you still go to the library to check out books for your own research?
Why is wikipedia considered unreliable?
Really??? You don't know this?
Anonymous
12/17/2025 17:22
Subject: Refusing technology in elementary
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it’s one thing to not want edtech ir YouTube… but especially in upper elementary, there are writing assignments, slide shows, research that are completed and turned in on computers.
Writing drafts should be done on paper.
Kids don't need to do slide shows.
Research should be via books.
Disagree on drafts - doing them on the computer is fine, preferable for the kid and teacher, and much more efficient.
Why can't research be done on the internet? Do you still go to the library to check out books for your own research?
Really important for kids to practice handwriting and editing by hand.
Try learning a non roman character set language.
Why? Those skills are outdated.
Anonymous
12/17/2025 16:17
Subject: Refusing technology in elementary
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it’s one thing to not want edtech ir YouTube… but especially in upper elementary, there are writing assignments, slide shows, research that are completed and turned in on computers.
Writing drafts should be done on paper.
Kids don't need to do slide shows.
Research should be via books.
Disagree on drafts - doing them on the computer is fine, preferable for the kid and teacher, and much more efficient.
Why can't research be done on the internet? Do you still go to the library to check out books for your own research?
Really important for kids to practice handwriting and editing by hand.
Why? Those skills are outdated.
Anonymous
12/17/2025 15:36
Subject: Refusing technology in elementary
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yes you can refuse. But that will be a huge burden on the teacher to offer alternate work.
Oh, like they have to really teach like they use to?
Please go back to school maga moron
I didn't really think MAGA was about high quality education
Anonymous
12/16/2025 18:13
Subject: Refusing technology in elementary
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it’s one thing to not want edtech ir YouTube… but especially in upper elementary, there are writing assignments, slide shows, research that are completed and turned in on computers.
Writing drafts should be done on paper.
Kids don't need to do slide shows.
Research should be via books.
Disagree on drafts - doing them on the computer is fine, preferable for the kid and teacher, and much more efficient.
Why can't research be done on the internet? Do you still go to the library to check out books for your own research?
Why is wikipedia considered unreliable?
Anonymous
12/16/2025 16:06
Subject: Refusing technology in elementary
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yes you can refuse. But that will be a huge burden on the teacher to offer alternate work.
Oh, like they have to really teach like they use to?
Please go back to school maga moron
Anonymous
12/16/2025 16:04
Subject: Refusing technology in elementary
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it’s one thing to not want edtech ir YouTube… but especially in upper elementary, there are writing assignments, slide shows, research that are completed and turned in on computers.
Writing drafts should be done on paper.
Kids don't need to do slide shows.
Research should be via books.
Disagree on drafts - doing them on the computer is fine, preferable for the kid and teacher, and much more efficient.
Why can't research be done on the internet? Do you still go to the library to check out books for your own research?
Really important for kids to practice handwriting and editing by hand.