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I gave my students iPads – then wished I could take them back

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Re: I gave my students iPads – then wished I could take them back

#121

Post by CodeWriter23 »

csydas wrote: post #51
CodeWriter23 wrote: post #22

We don't have any of those problems at my daughter's school. First, all the iPads are locked down using some management software, so the kids are locked out of the clock, etc. that can cause unintentional distractions. Second, they limit use to about 30 minutes per day, so traditional lessons are taught using traditional techniques. Third, our school emphasizes social interaction with project-based learning, with the…

I don't know if you'll know this, but are they implementing any other safeguards on the Macbook Airs? (MbA) Just from doing tons of work in a Mac-centric university where the students' idea of pirating was to search "[item] download mac", the search results are crawling with predator sites that promise anything from PDFs to interactive solutions manuals, only to actually download a dmg full of malware (usually Mackee…

No doubt it is going to be a bundle of surprises. Thanks for your input, I'm going to bring up your "[item] download mac" experience at our next technology committee meeting.

BTW the admin account wasn't my idea, and it freaks me out. However, I see what the educators have in mind, they are trying to stretch into new places and prepare children for the real world. I appreciate the bleeding edge ethic of crash and burn and find the solution. So I am trying to play the role of facilitating recovery from problems that will arise. We will have system images on thumb drives. Until someone downloads EFI-based malware, the consequence will typically be the kid loses access to their machine for a day or two while the tech re-images their system. And of course, even though docs are in Google Drive, there is the potential for data loss, which is also a great lesson IMO.

Re: I gave my students iPads – then wished I could take them back

#122

Post by CodeWriter23 »

CaptSpify wrote: post #100
edc117 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Show of hands: who here would want to be the admin for a network you know is going to be routinely infected with any number of malware or rootkits.

I would, depending on the implementation. Basically, can I just have a "wipe-and-go" policy? or do I have to manage user-settings/profiles/etc. Things are much easier if you "embrace" the idea that you'll be infected, and that machines aren't special snowflakes.

Docs in the cloud, combined with "Wipe and go" is our chosen disaster plan. I realize of course this is not perfect. When it breaks down however, I feel there are really good lessons to be learned. Like keep prized docs on that thumb drive like we've been telling the kids.

Re: I gave my students iPads – then wished I could take them back

#124

Post by Joof »

megaman22 wrote: post #78
CodeWriter23 wrote: post #22

We don't have any of those problems at my daughter's school. First, all the iPads are locked down using some management software, so the kids are locked out of the clock, etc. that can cause unintentional distractions. Second, they limit use to about 30 minutes per day, so traditional lessons are taught using traditional techniques. Third, our school emphasizes social interaction with project-based learning, with the…

I would have flunked out of such a school, instead of being my class valedictorian. Group projects and emphasizing socialization is a crutch that incompetent teachers use to force their intelligent students to do their job for them.

Emphasizing socialization is one of the big tools of highly-ranked education systems.

Students benefit from explaining it to others by forcing them to clarify and solidify their own mental models; the other kids understand their peers more quickly and when multiple mental models form, the students can explain it to each other for multiple perspectives.

If it's a powerful tool, teachers should use it. Understanding is more important than grades; too many variables affect grades to make them a great predictor.

Edit: Reminder that American education is often bullshit and leaves jaded students. Just because something is useful doesn't mean our teachers use it in a way such that it is useful.

I also recommend teaching somebody something and if possible taking a class with intelligent people that is out of your element. For me, a topology course with a focus on discussion was incredible.

Re: I gave my students iPads – then wished I could take them back

#125

Post by jvvlimme »

A while back I attended a presentation and the speaker summed it up nicely: "We live in the 21st century, we go to work in the 20th and our kids go to school in the 19th."

And the main hurdle here is not the tech but the teachers. With a few exceptions, teachers are technophobes and they don't have the mindset to support tech in the classroom.

Re: I gave my students iPads – then wished I could take them back

#126

Post by a-saleh »

dagw wrote: post #14
jacquesm wrote: post #3

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.

But calculators actually did negatively impact basic arithmetic skills. Sure, but the interesting question is if they negatively impacted math skills.

Depends what kind of math skills are you looking for.

I remember my classmate, 1st year at university, that passed one of his classes just because his calculator was capable of precise enough numeric integration.

Next semester he was required to construct proofs as well and he flunked the class.

Re: I gave my students iPads – then wished I could take them back

#127

Post by relkor »

FussyZeus wrote: post #113
relkor wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Does everything need to be skill building and development oriented? In short yes. There is a finite amout of time before you die, and that time is measured in years, not millenia . We spend ~12 years in school playing "general education" where basically we are conditioned to set times for work and hierchael authority. That is 15% of your entire expected lifespan, aka not time to spent lightly. Look at how quickly y…

I'm not saying out education system is perfect AT ALL, never would I say such a thing, I'm merely pointing out that the kids not chattering at each other about stupid bullshit and instead doing stupid bullshit on an iPad isn't the problem by a long way, and reversing the inclusion of said iPads will not fix anything either.

Fair enough, I agree with your point about the inclusion of said iPads. The only counterpoint that I would have would be to compare the capital efficiency of letting kids chatter about bullshit, which is free, to using expensive techinical portals to the same ends. I would be really interested to see the insurance policy on those iPads' assesment of expected lifespan, and then use that number to compute the expected value of using iPads specifically as a tablet in the classroom.
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