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I am just surprised to hear from my 4th grader that from this year every student in Edison, NJ has Chromebook and more importantly shocked to learn that there will be little or no writing and everything will be done on these laptops. I am a technologist myself but strongly believe that writing skills are essential.
Elementary schools years are the years where kids develop reading, writing and critical thinking skills. If this is replaced by typing for the most part then I don't see how these kids can develop their writing ability and critical thinking to write an essay or paragraph. I can understand the use of laptops from High school onwards but starting this excessive use from elementary years is very concerning to me.
I want to know what do the other parents think of this ? Do other public schools in NJ also have the similar adoption of laptops in elementary schools ?
I am just surprised to hear from my 4th grader that from this year every student in Edison, NJ has Chromebook and more importantly shocked to learn that there will be little or no writing and everything will be done on these laptops. I am a technologist myself but strongly believe that writing skills are essential.
Elementary schools years are the years where kids develop reading, writing and critical thinking skills. If this is replaced by typing for the most part then I don't see how these kids can develop their writing ability and critical thinking to write an essay or paragraph. I can understand the use of laptops from High school onwards but starting this excessive use from elementary years is very concerning to me.
I want to know what do the other parents think of this ? Do other public schools in NJ also have the similar adoption of laptops in elementary schools ?
My children attend private school. My sister's do not and do not live in Edison. Yes, this is becoming more common. I know they got tablets in second grade.
My personal opinion is, I don't mind it if the children are learning how to properly use the equipment. I think a lot of the time it's either used improperly (broken), used too much, or not used enough. However, I wonder where the money is coming from. A lot of very poor districts are rich in technology. I feel the money either shouldn't be spent (it's a debt) or if it is in the budget it should be spent on things that the students need more. Like all things, technology should be used in moderation. I feel when children become too reliant on technology it stifles their social skills.
I don't understand why you would think typing vs handwriting would have an impact on critical thinking ability to write an essay or paragraph. If anything, typing makes writing a much more enjoyable experience, making it much easier to revise work.
As for the value of handwriting, I have a hard time thinking of a value so long as you can manage basic printing for short notes.
I don't understand why you would think typing vs handwriting would have an impact on critical thinking ability to write an essay or paragraph
Because they lose or never learn the skill to actually compose and write a paragraph. We included a essay section in our part entrance tests and some of the results from individuals that are supposed college graduates and students was deplorable. Today the younger generation thinks what works for a text is just fine for a official document.
I am a technologist myself but strongly believe that writing skills are essential.
I'm in technology myself and agree with you. However, I find it hard to believe that "everything" will be done paperless in school from here on. I do hope that paper books will go away. When my sister was in 3rd grade they changed the school policy and didn't allow students to go to their lockers between classes, forcing 8 year-olds to carry around 30 lbs bags all day. She injured her doing that shortly before they cancelled this fail of a policy. Also, we read a lot as a family and switching to eBooks has significantly reduced clutter in our house, as well as provided some savings on books themselves. Libraries don't accept fiction and throwing out books seems like blasphemy.
So in short: paperless writing - bad, paperless reading -good.
My reasons against excessive use of laptops in early grades are,
a) Elementry school is the time where Kids develop handwriting skills, cursive writing. If you are not providing that opportunity when will they learn
b) If you google, typing vs. writing notes, the research overwhelmingly says that when you write notes you memorize where as in typing you are just hearing and typing so write notes instead of type
c) As far as critical thinking goes, all the homeworks and tests are becoming online and there is a little opportunity to express your thoughts on computer where as in writing you go through systemactic thought process. Try to write a letter to someone and you will realize how hard is it to write even a paragraph
d) As the earlier member pointed out, Kids lose social skills- communicating with teacher or classmate and get hooked on to their own little laptops
It is ok to introduce laptop as a tool to be familiar with but not ok to use in lieu of writing on notebook. Very sad to see this transformation. I have not seen any convincing online research that says laptops have advantage over good old writing but I have seen many articles that suggests otherwise. School money could be better spent in sports, music, Arts and other activities. I am not sure if other public schools in NJ have seen similar transformation.
My reasons against excessive use of laptops in early grades are,
a) Elementry school is the time where Kids develop handwriting skills, cursive writing. If you are not providing that opportunity when will they learn
b) If you google, typing vs. writing notes, the research overwhelmingly says that when you write notes you memorize where as in typing you are just hearing and typing so write notes instead of type
c) As far as critical thinking goes, all the homeworks and tests are becoming online and there is a little opportunity to express your thoughts on computer where as in writing you go through systemactic thought process. Try to write a letter to someone and you will realize how hard is it to write even a paragraph
d) As the earlier member pointed out, Kids lose social skills- communicating with teacher or classmate and get hooked on to their own little laptops
It is ok to introduce laptop as a tool to be familiar with but not ok to use in lieu of writing on notebook. Very sad to see this transformation. I have not seen any convincing online research that says laptops have advantage over good old writing but I have seen many articles that suggests otherwise. School money could be better spent in sports, music, Arts and other activities. I am not sure if other public schools in NJ have seen similar transformation.
Cursive has been dying out and is not extensively taught, and this trend started years before chromebooks hitting the 3rd grade.
I am just surprised to hear from my 4th grader that from this year every student in Edison, NJ has Chromebook and more importantly shocked to learn that there will be little or no writing and everything will be done on these laptops. I am a technologist myself but strongly believe that writing skills are essential.
Elementary schools years are the years where kids develop reading, writing and critical thinking skills. If this is replaced by typing for the most part then I don't see how these kids can develop their writing ability and critical thinking to write an essay or paragraph. I can understand the use of laptops from High school onwards but starting this excessive use from elementary years is very concerning to me.
I want to know what do the other parents think of this ? Do other public schools in NJ also have the similar adoption of laptops in elementary schools ?
I agree, school should gave the kids macs instead of chromebooks, to set them on the correct path early in life.
I value handwriting. I am also in the technology field. And I can tell you technology isn't a cure-all.
"printing for short notes" is pretty pathetic.
Perhaps I should rephrase to "purpose" instead of "value".
What's the purpose? I haven't had a reason to write anything longer than a couple of lines on paper in years in my professional or personal life.
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