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I don’t care that they have blocked change.org, but let’s be clear that the District’s technology policy is clearly not focused on safety for kids.
I’ve yet to hear a pedagogical reason for issuing iPads to elementary school kids.
The security reports I get on their use show that the bulk of the time they seem to be using it to watch inapp…
I don’t care that they have blocked change.org, but let’s be clear that the District’s technology policy is clearly not focused on safety for kids.
I’ve yet to hear a pedagogical reason for issuing iPads to elementary school kids.
The security reports I get on their use show that the bulk of the time they seem to be using it to watch inappropriate videos on YouTube.
None of the ’learning’ apps do anything more than a book or worksheet might do and the devices cause nothing but friction since the kids want to play games on them when they are home.
There is lots of evidence to suggest limitations on screen time is wise for kids yet the district embraces them without any critical assessment as far as I can ascertain.
100% agree with you. Maybe we need a change.org petition to get D65 to ban YouTube on district devices or stop using them altogether in elementary school.
There is way too much reliance on technology and ipads in the schools. I was shocked when my oldest kid started kindergarten how much of the curriculum was directly tied to the Ipad. I know a lot of parents are unhappy with how phones, ipads, and technology are prevalent in the schools in general. A lot of those same parents are spearheading the Wait Until 8th Pledge at several of the D65 schools in the area to encourage families to delay giving their kids a smart phone until high school. If anyone is interested in learning more about that, you can check it out here: https://www.waituntil8th.org/
Amen. And a pet peeve of mine is that they don't even use the computers to teach a useful skill like touch typing. My middle schooler is still hunting and pecking to type papers. Ugh
Might not be this straightforward, but why don't we simply require a parent-authorized "opt-in" for everything. Shortlist of apps provided with a clear educational purpose, maybe even explanation of why it's superior to whatever the analog equivalent might be (i.e. the bar should be justifying why tech is best suited to build the proficiency). Additionally, it would be great to hear from teachers why YouTube is critical to their ability to teach the students. If there's a handful of videos that are posted on YT, could those be downloaded into some "Class Folder" so that they're only accessing the specific videos themselves, vs. launching kids into the infinite world of YouTube? Parents can make their own tech decisions that extend beyond what's academically necessary on school-issued devices.
Doing parental controls and attempting to block sites ad hoc is a fools errand, and the burden shouldn't be on parents.