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NYC phone ban reveals some students can't read clocks

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Re: NYC phone ban reveals some students can't read clocks

#31

Post by amitav1 »

ekjhgkejhgk wrote: post #24
themafia wrote: post #13

This framing aggravates me. Of course they /can/ read clocks. You just haven't _taught_ them how to do it yet, and up until now, they've had no reason to do it. It's divisive and weird.

Bullshit. Information is everywhere, if they WANTED to learn how to read them they could go on wikipedia or youtube. That excuse could've worked when I was a teenager, where to learn something you have to either learn it from a person or from a book, but not nowadays.

Is learning how to read an analogue clock really an effective use of one's time? I myself was taught how an am able to read an analogue clock, but I doubt that I would be much worse off without that abulity.

Re: NYC phone ban reveals some students can't read clocks

#32

Post by twelvedogs »

themafia wrote: post #13

This framing aggravates me. Of course they /can/ read clocks. You just haven't _taught_ them how to do it yet, and up until now, they've had no reason to do it. It's divisive and weird.

I've worked in schools, we only have analogue clocks, phones are banned and I'm still constantly asked the time as they don't want to read them.

Teaching them to do it is tough because it's incredibly uninteresting to them and someone will have a watch or something

Re: NYC phone ban reveals some students can't read clocks

#33

Post by UtopiaPunk »

modeless wrote: post #28
pedalpete wrote: post #10

This makes me wonder what methods of transferring information we may have lost historically that we don't even recognize? Will there be analog clocks in 30 years? It seems somewhat doubtful, particularly if this generation can't read them. What benefit is there to keep this antiquated method around, aside from just as an historical reference? I'm in my 50s, so I can read an analog clock, and I have analog watches. Bu…

My kids are spending hours of class time in school learning Roman numerals. The correct amount of education about Roman numerals is a short form video of math trivia when you're 23. Zero classroom time should be wasted on an inferior system of numerals.

How would one possibly hope to keep the Final Fantasy series straight without knowing Roman numerals?? It's already challenging knowing them

Re: NYC phone ban reveals some students can't read clocks

#34

Post by gizmo686 »

pedalpete wrote: post #10

This makes me wonder what methods of transferring information we may have lost historically that we don't even recognize? Will there be analog clocks in 30 years? It seems somewhat doubtful, particularly if this generation can't read them. What benefit is there to keep this antiquated method around, aside from just as an historical reference? I'm in my 50s, so I can read an analog clock, and I have analog watches. Bu…

The power thing is a red herring. "Analog" clocks are almost always electric and digital under the hood. And battery technology has been good enough for them to stay powered for longer than actual analog clocks for decades. If you really wanted to, you can create an entirely mechanical digital clock.

The main benefit of the analog style output is in the ability to quickly read the output. You can get an approximate sense of the time with a much quicker glance, even if determining the time to the minute takes longer than with a digital display.

Re: NYC phone ban reveals some students can't read clocks

#35

Post by lynndotpy »

anotherhue wrote: post #8
wan23 wrote: post #7

One thing that's tricky about analog clocks if you're not used to them - the hour hand sweeps unnecessarily over the course of an hour so you have to find the hour hand then go backwards. We have the technology to make clocks where the hour hand actually points to the hour that it is. I don't understand why the jump hour feature isn't more common.

That would make it discontinuous, which means there's no information beyond the integer. I think, though I don't know how I'd prove, that anyone truly used to an analogue wristwatch probably only looks at the hour hand when casually checking. Many watches don't even have face markings.

I disagree with this. I read analogue clocks without having to do any conscious mental effort, but the minute hand is definitely a part of it.

If I have to think about how I parse them, I think the minute hand is more important than the hour hand. I'm usually roughly aware of what hour it is, and if I'm looking at a clock, it's to know what minute it is.

Re: NYC phone ban reveals some students can't read clocks

#36

Post by amitav1 »

TheChaplain wrote: post #14

The fact that US children doesn't know how to read clocks doesn't surprise me, but what about other countries? Is reading a clock taught to students in India, Japan, China, Chile?

Not a student in any of those countries, but speaking as a Canadian: I was taught how to read a clock in early grade school (grade 1, I believe?), and retain this ability now. I can see myself losing this ability in the next few years given that I tend to keep my phone on me much more often than before. I believe that most Canadian kids were probably taught to read a clock, but by high school when everybody has phones there's not much reason to.

Re: NYC phone ban reveals some students can't read clocks

#37

Post by modeless »

UtopiaPunk wrote: post #33
modeless wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My kids are spending hours of class time in school learning Roman numerals. The correct amount of education about Roman numerals is a short form video of math trivia when you're 23. Zero classroom time should be wasted on an inferior system of numerals.

How would one possibly hope to keep the Final Fantasy series straight without knowing Roman numerals?? It's already challenging knowing them

Just refer to this handy guide: https://youtu.be/8o1ieehttdA Oh wait that's Kingdom Hearts. Same difference.

Re: NYC phone ban reveals some students can't read clocks

#38

Post by izacus »

TheChaplain wrote: post #14

The fact that US children doesn't know how to read clocks doesn't surprise me, but what about other countries? Is reading a clock taught to students in India, Japan, China, Chile?

Aren't most children taught how to read them by parents, not in schools?

Re: NYC phone ban reveals some students can't read clocks

#39

Post by gumby271 »

UtopiaPunk wrote: post #33
modeless wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My kids are spending hours of class time in school learning Roman numerals. The correct amount of education about Roman numerals is a short form video of math trivia when you're 23. Zero classroom time should be wasted on an inferior system of numerals.

How would one possibly hope to keep the Final Fantasy series straight without knowing Roman numerals?? It's already challenging knowing them

And how would they participate in America's annual roman numeral challenge, The Super Bowl!

Re: NYC phone ban reveals some students can't read clocks

#40

Post by throw20251220 »

dusted wrote: post #19

When I was a kid, before kinder garden, I remember my parents beginning to teach me how to read an analogue clock.. But I this was the late 80s, maybe it was 1990, but, this thing called Digital Clocks were a thing at the time.. And I absolutely refused to learn that old fashioned shit when I was already staring right at the objectively better solution.. My reasoning was that the old clocks would either be replaced b…

Wow, you must have been violated by an analog clock somewhere sometime. It left a visible trauma. Go get help.
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