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I don't want to sound cynical or like a luddite (I would be posting on the wrong site, for sure), but nearly every application that I have used that is meant to be used in a classroom environment has been extremely shallow.
> writes about how we are sacrificing connections, one quick check of our screens at a time
The old Computers cause people to disconnect and check out argument again!
As an old Geek I have always heard the anti-social behaviors breed by computer use. The funny thing is I was more connected to people then anyone I knew. The one culture that connects and gathers together have been the Geeks.
PS iPads for each child in elementary school is a bad idea but not for these reasons.
> One of my saddest days in my digital classroom was when the children rushed in from the lunchroom one rainy recess and dashed for their iPads. Wait, I implored, we play with Legos on rainy days! I dumped out the huge container of Legos that were pure magic just a couple of weeks ago, that prompted so much collaboration and conversation, but the delight was gone. My students looked at me with disdain. Some crossed their arms and pouted. We aren’t kids who just play anymore, their crossed arms implied. We’re iPad users. We’re tech-savvy. Later, when I allowed their devices to hum to glowing life, conversation shut down altogether.
Look I loved Lego's growing up, I still have massive rubbermaid containers full of them but please tell me why playing with Legos is any more valuable than playing minecraft? Let's not pretend that just because kids like different things now that something MUST be lost. I never played a cup-and-ball game like I'm sure generations before me did (I'm sure they lamented the introduction of things like Lego). Every generation complains about the younger generation and how they are going to turn out wrong because they weren't raised the same way they were or with the same things ("I walked up hill to school both ways").
Did the kids get quieter? Sure, I have no doubt of that but who's to say they weren't communicating even more than before using chat programs? I had teachers in HS CONSTANTLY complain about how students were reading less and less all the time which I took issue with not only because I read plenty of books but also I read tons of articles online. The medium may change but the core concept remains IHMO. Reading Pride and Prejudice doesn't automatically make you a better person than the student who know what's happening in the world like the back of their hand.
Lastly not introducing them to tech now is just setting them up for failure down the line. For better or worse the people who know technology will excel more than those who don't. Tech is not it's own little sector/industry, it's everywhere and it's integrated in to everything. To pretend otherwise is to stick one's head in the ground and ignore the world around you.
Change is hard. When computers were first introduced to schools there were similar arguments and complaints. When calculators were brought in instead of the slide rule we heard it would be the end of actually "knowing" math. Teachers who are great find ways to use technology and tools available to inspire their students and create engaging lessons. This teacher just sounds resistant to change.
But calculators actually did negatively impact basic arithmetic skills. The number of people that can't do 9x14 without reaching for a calculator is scary.
Sure, but the interesting question is if they negatively impacted math skills.
I cringed 15 years ago when school boards pushed to put computers in every classroom. What good is a room full of kids on MySpace and AIM?
Sure, you need computer skills for the future. But beyond learning how to use a computer for typing, spreadsheets, word processing, you don't need more than that in the K-12 level. Some kids will want to be programmers. Some kids will want to do music. Some will want to do graphics or desktop publish. Have computers available for kids to do that in computer class or art class or math - but don't push them in every setting.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The number of people who need to do 9x14 when they have no access to a calculator is pretty much zero.
To be fair though, that's the math version of "I don't need to know JavaScript at all because I will always have jQuery." Technically accurate but lazy.
Access, not immersion. I cringed 15 years ago when school boards pushed to put computers in every classroom. What good is a room full of kids on MySpace and AIM? Sure, you need computer skills for the future. But beyond learning how to use a computer for typing, spreadsheets, word processing, you don't need more than that in the K-12 level. Some kids will want to be programmers. Some kids will want to do music. Some…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
But calculators actually did negatively impact basic arithmetic skills. The number of people that can't do 9x14 without reaching for a calculator is scary.
The number of people who need to do 9x14 when they have no access to a calculator is pretty much zero.
The same can be said of general mathematics, and literary analysis, etc.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
But calculators actually did negatively impact basic arithmetic skills. The number of people that can't do 9x14 without reaching for a calculator is scary.
To this point is there an easier way to do this than mentally do (9x10)+(9x4), which is what I've done since I was in elementary school (29 now)?
Example 9 x 14 = ( * 14) - ([1] * 14) = 140 - 14 = 126
key: easier rounded number [] deal with rounding 'error'