A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die
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A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die
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Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die
#2I'm not totally certain that K-2 spending less time in front of a screen while at school would be a bad thing. I'm sure they get plenty of touchscreen time at home.
Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die
#3This post doesn’t really explain what is so great about iPads for small children, and as far as I can tell doesn’t link to much external explanation about it. Maybe the author had some previous posts explaining this that regular blog readers know about as context?
Is there some report [anecdotal, peer-reviewed, whatever] comparing kids’ trying to learn using an iPad vs. physical materials? What specific ideas or subjects are effectively learned on the iPad?
Is the iPad being used as a substitute for television? As a way to scale teacher time better when there are many students per teacher? As a tool which a teacher and student will use together? ...
My personal bias would be to generally occupy small children with something tangible (sand toys, climbing equipment, blocks, balls, toy cars, marbles, chalk, scissors and paper, pattern blocks, dice, index cards, yarn, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, gears, pulleys, springs, ..., and lots of paper books) until they are a bit older.
If there are many students per teacher and the teacher’s attention is limited, students can often entertain themselves while learning a great deal by working/playing in groups using physical materials.
Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die
#4I'm not totally certain that K-2 spending less time in front of a screen while at school would be a bad thing. I'm sure they get plenty of touchscreen time at home.
I cover this a bit in my reply to Eli. https://www.kickscondor.com/2018/08/28/caution-chromebooks/
I agree that there should be a limit (and have practiced this in my classes) but there are some incredible uses of touchscreens that I can't ignore.
Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die
#5This post doesn’t really explain what is so great about iPads for small children, and as far as I can tell doesn’t link to much external explanation about it. Maybe the author had some previous posts explaining this that regular blog readers know about as context? Is there some report [anecdotal, peer-reviewed, whatever] comparing kids’ trying to learn using an iPad vs. physical materials? What specific ideas or subj…
I do cite one paper (and there are more) - I will flesh these ideas out in the blog over the next little while. You are understandably skeptical.
Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die
#6This post doesn’t really explain what is so great about iPads for small children, and as far as I can tell doesn’t link to much external explanation about it. Maybe the author had some previous posts explaining this that regular blog readers know about as context? Is there some report [anecdotal, peer-reviewed, whatever] comparing kids’ trying to learn using an iPad vs. physical materials? What specific ideas or subj…
I do cite one paper (and there are more) - I will flesh these ideas out in the blog over the next little while. You are understandably skeptical.
Okay. I guess the quotation wasn’t that exciting to me.
> Children as young as 24 months can complete items requiring cognitive engagement on a touch screen device, with no verbal instruction and minimal child–administrator interaction. This paves the way for using touch screen technology for language and administrator independent developmental assessment in toddlers.
This sounds like a way of handing a child off to a device so that adults can otherwise ignore them. (Which, to be fair, will unfortunately happen a lot anyway in schools.) And the focus is on “assessment” rather than teaching/learning.
Did you find that there were ideas or subjects that could be taught better on an iPad than using alternative materials (with a teacher standing by to explain in either case)?
Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die
#7[deleted]
Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die
#8Since OP seems to be keeping an eye on this thread, I'll ask here: have you considered using other tablets (Samsung etc.)?
In case you did, and it didn't work as well as the iPad: what makes the iPad the ideal device in kindergarten? Construction quality? Software/Apps?
Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die
#9What about plugging a mouse into the Chromebooks? I distinctly remember being in kindergarten and using a mouse as my pointer input. I played Treasure Mountain! and some other educational games.
Kids are pretty capable and adept at picking up new things. We should be pushing forward with tech literacy while they're still young and not afraid of breaking technology. Touch screens are great because they provided a very directed experience, but I believe that has more to do with the software itself being designed more intuitively when you're limiting the user to app-style software. I think software engineers should be focused on making accessible software for these target demographics. I think getting kids used to keyboard/mice/touchpads will get them more comfortable and prepare them for more complicated things down the line, like coding and word processing where keyboards are objectively a the best input.
Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die
#10[Chromebooks are the new fashion in elementary school. They are cheap; they are everywhere. And they are unusable by kids in kindergarten through, in some case, third grade.]
iPad's are consumer devices and will not prepare our kids to be producers. I am surprised every time I see iPad's being used in schools. Chromebooks at least put kids in path of being producers rather than mere consumers of content.