Posted on 04/11/2011 9:46:09 AM PDT by pillut48
Level the playing field for all students?
What is sad is THAT is what the overall goal is for the kids...and not to use the Ipad to teach each child creatively and well.
My child’s kindergarten teacher uses hers in our classroom and it’s fantastic. She’s not using it to “level the playing field”, however.
“She hollered out to her fellow girl clerk, “How much is 3 X 5?”
Fellow girl clerk hollered back, “I don’t know, but I think it’s the same as 5 x 3””
The current generation was brought up on calculators.
And this is the result. They DON’T know their math facts.
What won’t they be learning if they only learned from a computer that YOU have no control of the the content of?
Talk about a nation of drones. Emontionally crippled drones.
‘I asked a young 20-something what would happen if power was out, cell towers were down, Internet was unavailable, and your iPhone died? The expression was that of a child who’d lost a puppy.’
I had the pleasure of describing that very example to my elderly parents last week in trying to educate them as to the socially dysfunctional digital generation that is now present.
Specific to the article, I’m on the fence on these devices for kids. Up until 10th grade, we weren’t allowed to use calculators for anything. Once we got into trigonometry and calculus, you almost had to have one. The idea of using calculators for basic algebra and other early arithmetic is silly, and I believe it reinforces laziness on the part of the kids as evidenced by your example.
If they want to give kids iPads in kindergarten, fine, but not on the taxpayers’ dime. College-aged kids are required to have computers before matriculation, but the majority of colleges in this country do not provide them. The same should be for younger kids. If they’re going to mandate it, it should be put up for a referendum by the districts so that parents can chime in.
Are they for 'normal' Kindergarteners? Certainly not full time.
If they can reduce cost of textbooks in later grades and help focus on independent study, I've no issue with introducing them. They are not a substitute for all forms of learning.
When you sign up you have to make an ITunes account and usually you have to type in a password to purchase an app. Well this one game he was playing somehow started charging my card. Its OK, he is still under contract with me for the next 14 years.
It’s really frightening to me, and I’m 31! My younger brother, 3 years my junior, is totally dependent on his cell phone. When it chimes with a text message, he’s got it in his hand faster than he would pick it up if it rang. He’s got his “IT Drip.”
I asked my 9 year old cousin if he knew his multiplication tables yet, and his answer was a quizzical, “What are those?” I asked him if he knew what 5*4 or 11*5 were. He asked if I had a calculator. This was at 9.
When I went to McDonald’s last week to get something to nosh on the road, they’d lost power and were still bringing up their machines. They took my order, but they couldn’t plug it into their terminals. I gave them a $20 for an order somewhere in the neighborhood of $9.50. I got a $10 bill, a $1 bill, and $0.50. I gave him back the dollar and the clerk says, “Oh, you can just put that in the Ronald McDonald house.” I just shook my head and did exactly that.
These devices will be how future generations interact with society. I think it is a good idea for them to learn on these things at a young age. They should also know how to live without them, but like most every other technological advance, if it was suddenly taken away our society would likely not be able to function.
I prefer to stick to the basics, myself. If it doesn’t associate to the physiological or safety aspects of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, then it should be foregone in lieu of other training for the kids. Higher intellectual pursuits should only be taught after someone has a firm grasp on how to care for themselves physically.
Indeed...there are locks on the iPad, and to order something online the child would have to access either/or passwords and credit card numbers? Sounds like the parent didn’t do his/her homework before giving the child the iPad!
My 8.5 year-old son (who is finishing 3rd grade next month) knows his multiplication facts cold. They give them old-fashioned flash cards for practice and test them weekly (more often earlier in the school year while they are still learning the tables). No calculators allowed at any grade level—this school goes up to 6th grade.
They have computers in the classroom (usually 3 or 4 per room) and SMART boards, but they still learn proper printing and cursive. They have library once a week where they also learn to do research and other useful things.
One of the most popular extracurricular activities is the Battle of the Books—it’s a statewide competition and each participant has to read a list of about 12-14 books. They form teams and compete by answering questions about the books. My daughter’s in her third year—it’s for 4th through 6th graders, and about 65 kids participate (that’s over half the students in those grades).
(Maybe the difference is that it’s a Catholic school w/test scores well above state and national averages and per pupil spending is low. Discipline is not only preached, but practiced, and responsibilities are taught from Kindergarten on up through sixth.)
I think if parents want to get them their own ipad that’s fine but don’t leave it up to taxpayers to fork out money on this.
Besides why enforce into young kids you can’t do your work without an ipad? How about solving problems wihtout a computer? We’ve got kids growing up that can’t handle NOT being connected and can’t function without their phones. They literally do not know what to do or how they will get things done without technology.
A few days without power and these people will be severely messed up.
How do you get sticky gummy bear goo off an iPad screen without hurting it?
My child's iPad was taken into the sandbox. Should I be worried?
My little boy shares his iPad with another child who picks his nose with his iPad finger. Can this spread germs?
Obviously I didn’t make myself clear about the “motivational” aspect of this TOOL (I’m not saying replace teachers, although, IME, yes, there are MANY who SHOULD be replaced!)...do your children have Wii consoles, or Nintendo DSi’s?? How often do they break them? Lose them? My tweenie guards hers like a mama bear does her babies...stolen, yes, that is a possibility, one option could be to have the iPads in the classroom for pre-k to say 4th or 5th grade, then in the older grades have them assigned the same way textbooks used to be assigned, being the student’s responsibility...some of the cons for using this in schools? Getting rid of those darn heavy backpacks that are crippling young kids’ backs...motivation for learning (half the battle! if not more)...greater incentive for positive behavior in the classroom (you act up, you lose your privileges for using this tool when it’s your turn)...yes, right now it might not be feasible, but in the future? Who knows? Maybe iPads built into the desks in some form? Just tossing out ideas and opinions here, nothing set in stone. :-)
“I gave him back the dollar and the clerk says, “Oh, you can just put that in the Ronald McDonald house.” I just shook my head and did exactly that.”
They probably thought you were giving him/her a tip!
Well there ya go, Momma. You’ve found yourself a great school. Many of the elementary schools in my area are of passing grades, but the caliber of the child isn’t reinforced. Much of their curriculum is taught to a statewide standardized test. I’m just flummoxed at how kids can immediately default to a calculator without even trying to commit thought to the problem.
Same goes with my younger brother. He doesn’t know how to measure with a tape ruler down past quarter-inch. When I ask him to cut a board at 5/8”, he has to ask, “Is that before or after the half inch?” This is basic stuff to us, folks, and our kids are failing at it.
Distraction? I don’t think so (having experience teaching kindergarten)...some people are assuming I mean using the ipad to replace the teacher, I’m thinking more along the lines of a center in the preschool/kindergarten classroom, used in rotation with other centers...the possibilities are very exciting from what I’ve seen with my own children (2 yr old b/g twins and a 10 y/o g)—yes, involving the entire group in discussions will always be a great learning opportunity, but these ipads are great for reinforcing reading skills, writing skills, computer skills, language skills, math skills, science skills, problem solving skills, music skills...these are the ones I’ve seen in my own kids...I just wish I’d had a few of these in my inner city classroom years ago, when I had non-English speaking illegal immigrant gang members who wanted NO part of any free education they were given...how many kids could I have saved from the gangs and the streets? I just have a vision that in the future this tool will make a BIG difference in the lives of many children, from all walks of life. :-)
It isn’t a higher intellectual pursuit. It is as basic and fun for him as finger painting. He is learning to play Checkers, trace his numbers and letters and play fun little games like Angry Birds and Air Hockey. The biggest problem is he and his sister never plug the thing in so the battery is usually dead.
Unfortunately, it’s been my experience since my 10 y/o started going to school that schools here no longer allow students to take textbooks out of the classroom, no doubt because of their EXTREMELY high costs and the fact that parents were not responsible for the missing/lost/destroyed/stolen textbooks their kids were assigned in the ‘old days’, and handouts tend to get tossed in the trash when my child cleans out her backpack -I do check them out before that, but how many parents really don’t worry about going over their child’s handouts?
Do taxpayers pay for computers, textbooks, etc. in the classrooms? This tool is just a variation of the same, not just a ‘video game’ I think you think it is...
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