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A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die

kickscondor.com

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Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die

#91

Post by throwawayjava »

vortico wrote: post #54
throwawayjava wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Conjecture: this is a tech-centric viewpoint. I have quite a few lawyer and doctor friends who use tablets first (usually with a BT keyboard) and only break out the computer when they need it for some very particular reason. If you don't need root on a beefy machine and/or Windows-specific software, then a modern tablet with a bluetooth keyboard gives you more than enough compute and all the applications you need to…

It's an every-field-centric viewpoint. Every field that creates something is more efficient with a keyboard. You even just supported this point yourself.

>> usually with a BT keyboard

> is more efficient with a keyboard

...?

Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die

#92

Post by vxNsr »

Krasnol wrote: post #85
vxNsr wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While all the points you mention do bear some credence, I think the biggest argument for iOS tablets over Android is the lack of first party tablet app support on Android. I;m not saying there are no tablet apps, just they're a lot less common vs iPad apps, which often are a lot more than just scaled up iphone apps.

Where is the exact problem there? I never came upon an app that would cause a problem on my Android tablet because it's not a "first party tablet app". Especially nothing that would justify the immense cost of an iPad.

I guess it's a question of convenience, if all you're getting is a big phone app, it's not always gonna work very well, I'm not sure what you mean by "would cause a problem" but I've often come upon apps that simply aren't nearly as easy to use on a tablet compared to a phone.

Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die

#93

Post by etatoby »

jacobolus wrote: post #74
kickscondor wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I still struggle with people as an adult, but I think I would be worse off had I spent that time in front of a screen. I will say that one of the things that makes a tablet so great is the potential for group activities. I do a ton of whole-class activities with lots of interaction - and it is possible on a tablet because it is small enough to be easy to look past. This is an issue with desktops (esp. in a lab) and…

> activity where all the kids 'drew' a visualization of a certain math problem What was different about their drawings vs. using paper?

I'm currently learning a foreign language in school. Apart from the occasional use of a TV screen to show pictures, everything is taught by voice, whiteboard, and paper handouts.

I personally use spiral-bound notebooks and erasable pens (friction) as my medium of choice. Yes, with some sort of technological device I could maybe type faster, sort things into lists, make indices, search and replace, have a builtin dictionary, and so on. But would I really be learning more? Or would I just be more distracted in class?

I use technology all the time, including "spaced repetition" apps on my phone, to exercise my memory as much as possible. But I strongly feel the classroom is not the right place for fiddling with that.

Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die

#94

Post by Krasnol »

vxNsr wrote: post #92
Krasnol wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where is the exact problem there? I never came upon an app that would cause a problem on my Android tablet because it's not a "first party tablet app". Especially nothing that would justify the immense cost of an iPad.

I guess it's a question of convenience, if all you're getting is a big phone app, it's not always gonna work very well, I'm not sure what you mean by "would cause a problem" but I've often come upon apps that simply aren't nearly as easy to use on a tablet compared to a phone.

Well then maybe we're not understanding each other since I don't have a clue where the convenience problem may even be.

Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die

#95

Post by Zelizz »

kumarm wrote: post #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.

I wrote a number of essays in high school on my iPad (the first one) using the touchscreen keyboard. I also did digital painting using the Brushes app and my finger (later with a touchscreen stylus), and made some simple music tracks using piano and looper apps. On the original iPad, with software that was basically available since launch.

Nowadays I do computer graphics for fun, and I want to be able to create full applications, so I lug around my MacBook, but I have no doubt if I upgraded from my venerable iPad 1 I could find apps that let me play with shaders, or web-apps that let me do quite a bit more.

Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die

#96

Post by earenndil »

kickscondor wrote: post #70
athenot wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of incredible uses? I'm genuinely curious as I've delayed introducing tablets and computers to my kids until they can do something creative with them.

I mentioned this example elsewhere in this thread, so I'll just repeat it here: > Just today we did an activity where all the kids 'drew' a visualization of a certain math problem and then we passed the tablets around and added on top off them and then I showed the results on the projector. There was laughter, story-telling, kids helping each other, moving around the classroom, you name it. I do group activities that…

> Just today we did an activity where all the kids 'drew' a visualization of a certain math problem and then we passed the tablets around and added on top off them and then I showed the results on the projector. There was laughter, story-telling, kids helping each other, moving around the classroom, you name it.

I fail to see how this is something that couldn't be accomplished with paper And using the tablets half the time seems like wayy too much imo.

Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die

#97

Post by earenndil »

kwhitefoot wrote: post #84

Why the hell does anyone in kindergarten need a computer? They should be out in the playground getting muddy and having fun, riding trikes and soapboxes, climbing trees and building forts.

I agree-- partly. There are skills kids can start learning in kindergarten that they can use later. Counting, basic arithmetic, the alphabet, simple reading, general conventions that are followed in school. But there is no reason for kindergarteners to be using computers. And I say this as someone who started using the computer at 5 -- I wasn't doing anything remotely interesting on it until at least 9.

Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die

#98

Post by earenndil »

kickscondor wrote: post #65
etatoby wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will add another couple of points. In kindergarten (many decades ago) sometimes we were given individual assignments, such as sticking figures in the right place, coloring things, basic counting... But other times we were forced to interact with our peers and "play together." As someone who has always struggled to interact with other people, and who had not met any other kids before/except in kindergarten, I think…

> I still struggle with people as an adult, but I think I would be worse off had I spent that time in front of a screen. I will say that one of the things that makes a tablet so great is the potential for group activities. I do a ton of whole-class activities with lots of interaction - and it is possible on a tablet because it is small enough to be easy to look past. This is an issue with desktops (esp. in a lab) and…

> I will say that one of the things that makes a tablet so great is the potential for group activities

If your interactions with other people are done through a screen, then they're very heavily structured and so you don't learn how to actually interact with people in the improvised, real-time way you often have to.

Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die

#99

Post by JohnClark1337 »

You can argue about features all you want but in the end it's all about money. Schools don't have the money to buy and repair (because you have to assume the kid will break it) ipads. Chromebooks are far easier to repair and cheaper. I will now allow you to argue for a Utopian world where money is no longer an issue.

Re: A Kindergartener’s Best Computer Is About to Die

#100

Post by sanitizer »

Krasnol wrote: post #94
vxNsr wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it's a question of convenience, if all you're getting is a big phone app, it's not always gonna work very well, I'm not sure what you mean by "would cause a problem" but I've often come upon apps that simply aren't nearly as easy to use on a tablet compared to a phone.

Well then maybe we're not understanding each other since I don't have a clue where the convenience problem may even be.

For me, it's not a convenience problem, it's a trust problem. After all the bad press I've read, I can never trust my family's data to Android. The premium I pay for Apple products lets me sleep at night.
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