Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

vice.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 204 posts

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#131

Post by kramerger »

JenrHywy wrote: post #122
paxys wrote: post #110

Trying to get through hardware/software locks, content filters, firewalls, spyware etc. at school is usually the first experience kids have with "hacker" culture. For a lot of them (myself included) this eventually leads up to a real career in the tech industry. So godspeed, all you young rebels.

I would be more sympathetic to this line of thinking if I didn't have a 16yo who's going to be lucky to get through high school because he can't focus in class. I would have been the same at his age, if someone had plopped an internet connected device on my desk and told me to focus on school work.

Do you think Shakespeare would have written Hamlet if he was given an iPhone on his 12th birthday?

:)

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#132

Post by rwmj »

mcv wrote: post #118
kleiba wrote: post #113

There's a big political agenda where I live to push laptops, tablets and other IT into schools, but so far no-one has been able to explain to me why this is thought to be necessary or even a good idea. The common answer that kids need to be able to us information technology as a way to prepare them for challenges of their later life is laughable: most kids are already way more tech-savvy when they enter grade 4 or so…

At my kids school, blackboards have long ago been replaced by digiboards, which enables the teacher to show much more than a blackboard allows. There's also a bunch of chromebooks that are required for certain exercises. It certainly helped me when I wanted to give programming lessons there, but they're also used for language and math. One big advantage is that it can provide kids with a much more personal approach t…

I've no doubt it's true that the "digiboard" allow richer content than a blackboard, but the real question should be do children learn more effectively this way? And I don't have the answer to that, but there's surely research on the topic.

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#133

Post by mk3 »

JenrHywy wrote: post #122
paxys wrote: post #110

Trying to get through hardware/software locks, content filters, firewalls, spyware etc. at school is usually the first experience kids have with "hacker" culture. For a lot of them (myself included) this eventually leads up to a real career in the tech industry. So godspeed, all you young rebels.

I would be more sympathetic to this line of thinking if I didn't have a 16yo who's going to be lucky to get through high school because he can't focus in class. I would have been the same at his age, if someone had plopped an internet connected device on my desk and told me to focus on school work.

He will be allright. The focused 16 years old are very suspicious IMHO.

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#135

Post by lucumo »

kleiba wrote: post #113

There's a big political agenda where I live to push laptops, tablets and other IT into schools, but so far no-one has been able to explain to me why this is thought to be necessary or even a good idea. The common answer that kids need to be able to us information technology as a way to prepare them for challenges of their later life is laughable: most kids are already way more tech-savvy when they enter grade 4 or so…

Some subjects can benefit from dynamic difficulty. A teacher can handle a limited number of difficulty levels for kids of different skills. A computer can handle many more. It's good for kids to get a subject at their own level, instead of being bored or discouraged by stuff that's too easy or too hard.

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#136

Post by neom »

My high schools IT manager got so sick of me he eventually just gave me creds and told me if I abused his trust he'd be really disappointed in me. I never bypassed a single filter system once, just made sure whatever computer I was on was functioning, up to date, didn't need any attention and fixed anything broken. In retrospect, Weird way to get me to stop fucking around, but worked extremely well for him.

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#138

Post by skupig »

notRobot wrote: post #128
JenrHywy wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be more sympathetic to this line of thinking if I didn't have a 16yo who's going to be lucky to get through high school because he can't focus in class. I would have been the same at his age, if someone had plopped an internet connected device on my desk and told me to focus on school work.

I'm sure you know this, but trouble focusing could stem from many issues, the vast majority of which can be treated. ADHD is a big one, but there's others too, some behavioural. If you haven't already seen one, I'd book an appointment with a psychiatrist and/or a psychologist. I wish my parents had done so when I was the student with trouble focusing so I could have received the help I desperately needed but never go…

ADHD is a blessing and a curse. Anything you don't enjoy doing becomes very difficult, and it takes a lot of conscious effort to turn doing those things into habits so they'll stick.

However, people often ignore that there is an equal and opposite side to that coin, and people with ADHD can hyperfocus to an absurd degree on tasks they enjoy. An internet connection and a desire to learn something is a powerful combination for someone who can shut out everything else in the world for several hours at a time.

If you have a job you enjoy, ADHD is usually a boon. Unfortunately, high school is mostly stuff that falls into the "very difficult" category.

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#139

Post by kleiba »

lucumo wrote: post #135
kleiba wrote: post #113

There's a big political agenda where I live to push laptops, tablets and other IT into schools, but so far no-one has been able to explain to me why this is thought to be necessary or even a good idea. The common answer that kids need to be able to us information technology as a way to prepare them for challenges of their later life is laughable: most kids are already way more tech-savvy when they enter grade 4 or so…

Some subjects can benefit from dynamic difficulty. A teacher can handle a limited number of difficulty levels for kids of different skills. A computer can handle many more. It's good for kids to get a subject at their own level, instead of being bored or discouraged by stuff that's too easy or too hard.

There's a difference between what theoretically could be achieved with IT - in a perfect world - and what is actually being done in praxis right now. There's no concept in place, as far as I can tell, other than "we need to have tablets in schools".

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#140

Post by kleiba »

Kiro wrote: post #116
kleiba wrote: post #113

There's a big political agenda where I live to push laptops, tablets and other IT into schools, but so far no-one has been able to explain to me why this is thought to be necessary or even a good idea. The common answer that kids need to be able to us information technology as a way to prepare them for challenges of their later life is laughable: most kids are already way more tech-savvy when they enter grade 4 or so…

They might be tech-savvy but that's entirely touch-based for the majority of kids. If we think keyboards and non-touch computers will still be the medium of work in the future it's crucial that kids learn how to use them.

But that's not what is taught in the schools around me where everything is done on tablets, too.
Post reply on HN