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I didn't bring my son to a museum to look at screens

sethpurcell.com

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Re: I didn't bring my son to a museum to look at screens

#311

Post by fxtentacle »

moi2388 wrote: post #304
bee_rider wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another funny option could be to have the AI class be a linear algebra class.

Nothing funnier than tricking teens into liking math

Show them Red Faction (the video game) and then explain that all the destruction is calculated using binary space partitioning and that all they need for making similar games is to accurately calculate the intersection of planes, lines and points. Add a few linear forces and numerical integration and there you have your Trojan horse for getting kids hooked.

Re: I didn't bring my son to a museum to look at screens

#312

Post by kleiba »

accrual wrote: post #256
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my kid was going to start preschool, we went to see a relatively posh private school in the neighborhood. The first thing they showed was a photo of a 3-year-old kid solving a jigsaw puzzle in a big touchscreen. A jigsaw puzzle, you know, that thing where 80% of the challenge for a kid that age is physically inserting the pieces the right way. In a touchscreen! They also boasted about not having any books until…

I wonder if there would be a market for schools or daycares offering "pre-digital" style classrooms with emphasis on books, blocks, puzzles, art, outdoor time, and policies to limit phones/screens. On the other hand, these kids will eventually end up in a world saturated with displays and maybe even AR, so there's some argument for getting them involved with digital stuff at some point.

> so there's some argument for getting them involved with digital stuff at some point

And that's how the argument usually goes, but I don't buy it: every one of us who attended schools without devices learned to pick up that skill some other way. And usually without any problems.

In my opinion, the trade-off swings hard into the wrong direction: there's much more downsides to using devices in the classroom than upsides for the most part.

Re: I didn't bring my son to a museum to look at screens

#313

Post by watwut »

bluGill wrote: post #261
watwut wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when I learn about the struggles the artist went through The comment you responded to was about "historical, thematic and philosophical aspects to art". Which is something entirely different. This really reads like someone knee jerk dismissing something they never bothered took at, but just assume it's stupid.

I have looked just enough to know that my dissmissal is correct for me. I do not find those parts of interest. you can enjoy them that is okay. Just don't think I'm wrong for not.

My argument was not about those things being interesting or not. My point was that you are wrong about what the content it.

"Artist struggles" is not what art museums writeups are about. They are not even caricature, they are just something people who do not go to art museums imagine to be there. Mostly because the only thing they know about art is that some artists struggled.

Also "historical, thematic and philosophical aspects to art" dont have all that much to do with "artist struggles".

Re: I didn't bring my son to a museum to look at screens

#314

Post by eloisant »

com2kid wrote: post #289
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my kid was going to start preschool, we went to see a relatively posh private school in the neighborhood. The first thing they showed was a photo of a 3-year-old kid solving a jigsaw puzzle in a big touchscreen. A jigsaw puzzle, you know, that thing where 80% of the challenge for a kid that age is physically inserting the pieces the right way. In a touchscreen! They also boasted about not having any books until…

Now days is is the other way around, the expensive private schools boast no/minimal screens and the public schools have Chromebooks.

Why can't the public schools ditch the Chromebooks? They cost money, parents hate them, what's the point?

Re: I didn't bring my son to a museum to look at screens

#315

Post by 1718627440 »

divbzero wrote: post #78
c22 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just museum exhibits and kids, it's everything . I have some maintenance roles in my background and the rate at which things like paper towel dispensers get worn down and completely destroyed when interacted with by hundreds or thousands of people a day is eye opening.

Physical books in libraries is another example: They can typically last just a few dozen circulations.

The user bears the cost of destroying the book though.

Re: I didn't bring my son to a museum to look at screens

#316

Post by dangus »

CM30 wrote: post #231

Feels like you could write the same article about theme parks nowadays too. Okay, there are still a fair few physical attractions there, but the likes of Universal Studios were infamous for having 'rollercoaster' like rides which were just simulators on a screen rather than relying on physical scenery, animatronics, etc. Feels like there's a lot of attempts to integrate smartphones into the parks too, like through ac…

The pendulum is swinging back on this, thankfully. Epic Universe is proof, and I think recently even Disney stopped being so drastically cheap.

Re: I didn't bring my son to a museum to look at screens

#317

Post by Cthulhu_ »

aidenn0 wrote: post #295
CrazyStat wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife and I toured our neighborhood public elementary school a couple years ago. Almost every classroom we passed the kids were staring at their chromebooks, even in the art room—digital art, I guess [1]. In the music room the kids were sitting at rows of desks with electronic keyboards and headphones while the teacher sat at the front of the class and gave them instructions through a microphone (to be heard throug…

My son went to one of those chrombook-intensive public schools (though at least at the time they didn't start using them until 3rd grade; they start younger now). Any time he had the chromebook out, he just played webgames. Not an exaggeration, he would go back on task when the teacher corrected then switch tabs the moment the teacher was not looking over his shoulder. I told the teacher to take the chromebook away i…

Yup, that's the other factor; unless these computers are completely bolted down or tightly monitored at all times, kids will be doing other stuff. It's just too easy to alt-tab to something else.

And the worst part is that this isn't new. Back when I went to elementary school (early 90's) this already happened in the computer lab. A few years later my mom volunteered in the computer classes; one had internet, so naturally as soon as she turned her back there was a gaggle of kids around it to look at nudes.

But they haven't learned. And they got a bag of money post-covid to help kids catch up on missed classes, which they spent on computers and IT, and some opt-in external homework help.

Kids's attention spans (and their parents, for that matter) are all over the place, giving them any screen will just trigger their dopamine hit seeking automatisms.

I mean yes, everyone needs to learn how to use a computer - a lot of these kids didn't know what a file is - but make it focused, make it supervised, and lock these systems down.

Re: I didn't bring my son to a museum to look at screens

#318

Post by dangus »

gorfian_robot wrote: post #264
CM30 wrote: post #231

Feels like you could write the same article about theme parks nowadays too. Okay, there are still a fair few physical attractions there, but the likes of Universal Studios were infamous for having 'rollercoaster' like rides which were just simulators on a screen rather than relying on physical scenery, animatronics, etc. Feels like there's a lot of attempts to integrate smartphones into the parks too, like through ac…

yeah those rides for the most part suck. I worked at disney when they were developing what became "Avatar Flight of Passage" where you ride a dragon wearing 3d headset. The ride vehicle moved in sync so it was pretty immersive. On the other side "Toy Story Midway Mania" totally sucks

Basically, there’s nothing wrong with screens if they’re used thoughtfully, but they can be overused especially if they’re being used in an environment of budget pressures.

Just a nitpick though, Avatar Flight of Passage is just 3D glasses. The ride system actually suspends everyone in a vertical moving theater in front of a spherical theater screen similar to IMAX Omni.

It’s basically Soarin’ on steroids.

Re: I didn't bring my son to a museum to look at screens

#319

Post by Al-Khwarizmi »

com2kid wrote: post #289
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my kid was going to start preschool, we went to see a relatively posh private school in the neighborhood. The first thing they showed was a photo of a 3-year-old kid solving a jigsaw puzzle in a big touchscreen. A jigsaw puzzle, you know, that thing where 80% of the challenge for a kid that age is physically inserting the pieces the right way. In a touchscreen! They also boasted about not having any books until…

Now days is is the other way around, the expensive private schools boast no/minimal screens and the public schools have Chromebooks.

This was in Spain 6 years ago. Here, educational trends in countries like the US or Northern Europe tend to be copied with ~10 years delay, so we are still in the "boasting about screens" phase, although awareness is building up among parents so I think they already boast less. I expect what you describe to become the norm in a few more years.

Re: I didn't bring my son to a museum to look at screens

#320

Post by dangus »

colinb wrote: post #67

Before reading the article, I was going to talk about my very disappointing visit to the Franklin Institute a few months ago. Then I read the article and discovered that it's about the disappointment of visiting the Franklin Institute. My strongest impression of that museum is that it mostly consists of corporate sponsorship displays and a few neglected lessons in how things actually work. I did enjoy walking around…

In this sense I’m not sure if the article is an indictment of science museums overall.

The conclusion seems to be that “this one specific museum sucks.”

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