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Staring at an ipad.
Staring at an overhead projector...
What is the difference?
As for learning, my son learned the alphabet, colors, shapes, numbers to 30, animals, sounds animals make, sounds the letters make, vehicles, etc...partly from the ipad, partly from us reinforncing it...all before he was 2.
I don't get the idea. You learned from an educator through lectures and school books. It can still be done. I noticed you use the term "learn stuff" a few times. I hope an education is more than just to "learn stuff". What is stuff?
TV in the class room wasn't conducive when I was in school in the 60s. There was Romper Room, Sesame Street(yawn) and Mr Rogers (more yawn). We got to watch it before school started but the school turned that stuff off when the school day began. That programming was for home and not school. Those shows were behavioral programming and that isn't the job of an educator unless you pay a private school to polish your kid's behavior. If a kid learned only from Sesame Street that is a dumb kid along the lines of Common Core.
You mentioned boring monotone teachers. I have had boring monotone college professors, bosses, workmates and anything else that fits. If they are to be as active, fun and involved as you suggest they may as well be clowns making balloon animals. I am sure the government has testing for that.
TV, computers and iPads are recreational toys in the minds of kids. Some might get the idea that it is not but that may be a few out of a classroom. Kids need to learn the three Rs, not how to get answers from the internet. I guess homework research is printing a wiki page and emailing it to the teacher.
The movie Idiocracy is coming to life.
My twins just finished Kindergarten, and they used iPads for homework throughout the year. They're in a Mandarin immersion school and had a fair amount of homework. Much of it was "virtual flashcards" where they learned Mandarin characters. I worked with them a lot on this. Some of it was math, and then we used them to help them with English reading, since they don't learn that formally in school until 3rd grade.
I have no problem with it. They're doing well, and I learned some Mandarin along the way by helping them on their iPads. We limited iPad homework time to 30 minutes or less per day, considering they were only in Kindergarten. Our other option was to print out flash cards and cut them up (time consuming, wasting paper), so I see no difference with using the iPad.
I agree. There is a whole lifetime to be involved with technology. Shouldn't kids at least be introduced to more basic things first?
I am finding that this is a major generational difference in thinking about education.
For kids born now, technology is INTEGRATED into life. An iPad IS one of the basics now. It's not as if "Computers" is a separate class that they take along with English and Science.
Technology is not "separate from work" in the workforce, and it should not be separated or delayed in schools.
Even so, the emphasis on standardized testing is a separate issue.
I am finding that this is a major generational difference in thinking about education.
For kids born now, technology is INTEGRATED into life. An iPad IS one of the basics now. It's not as if "Computers" is a separate class that they take along with English and Science.
Technology is not "separate from work" in the workforce, and it should not be separated or delayed in schools.
Even so, the emphasis on standardized testing is a separate issue.
But there is also something to be said for groups of 2-4 students working together with concrete manipulatives (fraction circles, rods, etc) in solving problems with no computer in sight.
Social development is also a major part of early elementary education.
Hopefully there is a healthy balance of both.
The advent of "virtual manipulatives" lend themselves to not needing to spend money on physical manipulatives.
I don't get the idea. You learned from an educator through lectures and school books. It can still be done. I noticed you use the term "learn stuff" a few times. I hope an education is more than just to "learn stuff". What is stuff?
TV in the class room wasn't conducive when I was in school in the 60s. There was Romper Room, Sesame Street(yawn) and Mr Rogers (more yawn). We got to watch it before school started but the school turned that stuff off when the school day began. That programming was for home and not school. Those shows were behavioral programming and that isn't the job of an educator unless you pay a private school to polish your kid's behavior. If a kid learned only from Sesame Street that is a dumb kid along the lines of Common Core.
You mentioned boring monotone teachers. I have had boring monotone college professors, bosses, workmates and anything else that fits. If they are to be as active, fun and involved as you suggest they may as well be clowns making balloon animals. I am sure the government has testing for that.
TV, computers and iPads are recreational toys in the minds of kids. Some might get the idea that it is not but that may be a few out of a classroom. Kids need to learn the three Rs, not how to get answers from the internet. I guess homework research is printing a wiki page and emailing it to the teacher.
The movie Idiocracy is coming to life.
First off, are you seriously going to nitpick at the term I used for the subjects I learned in school? I don't have all day to explain everything I learned throughout my school years. "Stuff" is an appropriate word to use in this case. If you are bothered by this word you seem to disapprove of, then replace it with "information" or "poop". Both of those words would work fine as well. They both mean facts and data. Will that work better for you?
If you must think in the extremes, then go ahead and hire a clown to teach you "stuff". It is a fact that teachers that are involved and creative with how they teach are better teachers. People remember more information if they can relate to the teacher and actually feel like the teachers are enjoying their work. Those that do not get truly involved in their lessons, get poorer grades during test because the students are not feeling it...not motivated. This is why motivational speakers are great speakers. They get the people watching them involved and enthusiastic about what they are hearing. Those people will go home and remember a lot of the speech because the speaker kept their interest. I remembered most of my biology class information because the teacher enjoyed the subject and got the class involved.
It's not easy teaching. Those ipads and computers in the classroom is a tool. It's not to be used as the main source of information but more a tool to enforce some of those lessons. As kids get older, they'll be more comfortable using the computers as a source of information for research for papers and other classroom assignments. For younger students, it's to enforce lessons on math, reading, social skills, science, measurements, logical thinking, and more including cooperative play with other students. The teachers, parents, and personal experiences are the main sources of information and will always be. What's wrong with adding more ways to learn?
Some of the home schooling parents I know aren't allowing computer use until 5th grade and only then for certain kinds of research that they will personally supervise.
The children are not allowed to play computer games, either, until 5th grade.
The idea is they will develop good handwriting and also process information better by making and taking notes.
I don't have an opinion on whether that's good or bad, just reporting what they have decided to do.
We homeschool and everyone does it different for when to use computers for learning/teaching. Right now the computer is a tool to help us. You need to know what a tiger eats? Then get on long enough to look and then get off. As for computer skills such as typing, I tend to agree Middle School is a good age to learn. Their handwriting needs to be first. Right now we are working on cursive, im not going to teach her typing when she cant write yet.
As for computer games, we do strictly monitor their screen time.
My son started writing his own programs from age 8 with ZERO training and only basic level education.
Some kids take to computers like ducks to water and I see no reason to stop that, they are going to HAVE to get used to computers just like we HAD to get used to handwriting a gazillion pointless pages back in the day.
But there is also something to be said for groups of 2-4 students working together with concrete manipulatives (fraction circles, rods, etc) in solving problems with no computer in sight.
Social development is also a major part of early elementary education.
Hopefully there is a healthy balance of both.
The advent of "virtual manipulatives" lend themselves to not needing to spend money on physical manipulatives.
I have seen this firsthand.
Of course. At our school they do both. I have yet to hear of any school forcing kids to sit in front of screens all day.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu
I agree. There is a whole lifetime to be involved with technology. Shouldn't kids at least be introduced to more basic things first?
They use them in K and 1st in our (yours and mine) school district, too. They don't spend an inordinate amount of time per day on them, but they are definitely used that young.
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