I'm going to give them some promotion later this month when I publish my angry screed about YouTube. I think this is a good topic to bring up with Board members and I definitely will.
I'm going to give them some promotion later this month when I publish my angry screed about YouTube. I think this is a good topic to bring up with Board members and I definitely will.
Are you sure they are organizing with relation to getting D65 policy changed?
I welcome that group, but the article seems to be more focused on pledges that families take individually with regard to smartphones rather than getting the school district to use age-appropriate tech.
I welcome anyone who wants to be sensible about tech in our lives, but I didn't get that vibe from the article that that was their focus.
Sensibility in EdTech is a major priority of mine, and our district leadership must provide clearer research-backed positions on how and when tech is used in the classroom in an age-appropriate manner. Tech solutions should provide a clear advantage over their "analog" counterparts, otherwise we should lean on the latter.
We're part of the Wait Until 8th movement, and I'm happy to see that gaining steam locally. ETHS adopted a strong stance around phones in the building, yet I don't recall hearing it brought up meaningfully by D65. As Miriam noted below (thank you for spearheading!), these efforts are interrelated in that they center around fostering a healthy relationship with tech for our kids.
Understandably, our EdTech adoption in D65 was accelerated by the unprecedented circumstances of Covid that forced full-time e-learning. That doesn't give us a pass on reevaluating our EdTech philosophies to ensure they align with our overarching values and goals that span BOTH academic and socioemotional sides of learning. When extra "iPad time" is given as a reward during free time, it robs kids of valuable opportunities to socialize and sharpen creativity skills.
Oh, and in the context of class sizes, I'd imagine there's a correlation between that and EdTech usage.
In thinking about D65’s embrace of technology such as iPads, I think it’s relevant to recall that it was never evidence based but was based on the achievement gap. The thinking was that because white kids had iPads and black kids did not (at least this was the perception), that giving everyone iPads would solve the problem.
I am one of the D65 parents featured in the article. Yes, one of the things we want to accomplish, in addition to encouraging families to delay giving their child a smartphone, is also to put pressure on D65 to have more community conversation about technology in the schools. If anyone would like to get involved, we'd love for you to join!
YES! The ipads and chromebooks for younger grades are horrible and I don't particularly love it for the older kids either. Word on the street is a lot of them are just watching youTube and other things all day. There are ways for them to have this technology available for media arts/typing papers etc that doesn't involve unlimited access. Also I will point out I have yet to see an adaptive test that they are using on these devices that I think is more valuable then pencil/paper. MAP test in particular is a disaster - thank goodness it is going away. I would be happy to be involved. I have a MS student and will have a kindergartner next year.
100%! There has to be a way to shift the default of these devices to be opt-in vs. opt-out in terms of controls over what can be accessed. Otherwise, it's difficult for parents and caregivers to establish foolproof settings their kids can't find a loophole around, and it's unreasonable to expect the staff at school to enforce these variable boundaries for all the students.
We had the school principal send a note asking us to remind our 8 year olds not to use their iPads on the playground before school as they were getting damaged.
I sent a response saying maybe you shouldn’t be giving iPads to 8 year olds and asking them not to send them home.
Her response was that we needed it at home in case we had to ‘pivot to e-learning.’ This was in April of last year— fine weather and the pandemic restrictions behind us!
Let’s also not forget the district is charging families for ‘technology insurance’ as part of the fees.
The wait until 8th group is just for parents delaying getting their kids smartphones. I'm a candidate and 1:1 tech in elementary school is only good for days like today, when there is 3 hours of e-learning and it's called a full day.
I just saw in an email that Chute will be piloting a new, more restrictive YouTube access system. Apparently during school hours kids will only be able to access YouTube videos that their teachers have shared to Google classroom.
A drop in the bucket (and ridiculously late in coming) but at least it's a step in the right direction
There's a parent group that is organizing around this right now:
https://evanstonroundtable.com/2024/12/03/wait-until-8th-evanston-pledge-supports-delayed-smartphone-use/
I'm going to give them some promotion later this month when I publish my angry screed about YouTube. I think this is a good topic to bring up with Board members and I definitely will.
My plan is to try to ask a few of them about this at the Jan 30 meet and greet.
Are you sure they are organizing with relation to getting D65 policy changed?
I welcome that group, but the article seems to be more focused on pledges that families take individually with regard to smartphones rather than getting the school district to use age-appropriate tech.
I welcome anyone who wants to be sensible about tech in our lives, but I didn't get that vibe from the article that that was their focus.
I think so, but we'll find out - I'm going to ask them to write one of the questions for the questionnaire that I'm giving out to candidates.
Sensibility in EdTech is a major priority of mine, and our district leadership must provide clearer research-backed positions on how and when tech is used in the classroom in an age-appropriate manner. Tech solutions should provide a clear advantage over their "analog" counterparts, otherwise we should lean on the latter.
We're part of the Wait Until 8th movement, and I'm happy to see that gaining steam locally. ETHS adopted a strong stance around phones in the building, yet I don't recall hearing it brought up meaningfully by D65. As Miriam noted below (thank you for spearheading!), these efforts are interrelated in that they center around fostering a healthy relationship with tech for our kids.
Understandably, our EdTech adoption in D65 was accelerated by the unprecedented circumstances of Covid that forced full-time e-learning. That doesn't give us a pass on reevaluating our EdTech philosophies to ensure they align with our overarching values and goals that span BOTH academic and socioemotional sides of learning. When extra "iPad time" is given as a reward during free time, it robs kids of valuable opportunities to socialize and sharpen creativity skills.
Oh, and in the context of class sizes, I'd imagine there's a correlation between that and EdTech usage.
Well said, Peter.
In thinking about D65’s embrace of technology such as iPads, I think it’s relevant to recall that it was never evidence based but was based on the achievement gap. The thinking was that because white kids had iPads and black kids did not (at least this was the perception), that giving everyone iPads would solve the problem.
This is 100% true. It is interesting to note that zero actual research on student learning went into the decision to roll out the technology.
And the initial funding for the pilot program came from tech industry foundations like those of Gates and Zuckerberg.
https://evanstonroundtable.com/2018/05/02/school-district-65-introduces-access-to-innovate-technology-program/
I am one of the D65 parents featured in the article. Yes, one of the things we want to accomplish, in addition to encouraging families to delay giving their child a smartphone, is also to put pressure on D65 to have more community conversation about technology in the schools. If anyone would like to get involved, we'd love for you to join!
YES! The ipads and chromebooks for younger grades are horrible and I don't particularly love it for the older kids either. Word on the street is a lot of them are just watching youTube and other things all day. There are ways for them to have this technology available for media arts/typing papers etc that doesn't involve unlimited access. Also I will point out I have yet to see an adaptive test that they are using on these devices that I think is more valuable then pencil/paper. MAP test in particular is a disaster - thank goodness it is going away. I would be happy to be involved. I have a MS student and will have a kindergartner next year.
100%! There has to be a way to shift the default of these devices to be opt-in vs. opt-out in terms of controls over what can be accessed. Otherwise, it's difficult for parents and caregivers to establish foolproof settings their kids can't find a loophole around, and it's unreasonable to expect the staff at school to enforce these variable boundaries for all the students.
We had the school principal send a note asking us to remind our 8 year olds not to use their iPads on the playground before school as they were getting damaged.
I sent a response saying maybe you shouldn’t be giving iPads to 8 year olds and asking them not to send them home.
Her response was that we needed it at home in case we had to ‘pivot to e-learning.’ This was in April of last year— fine weather and the pandemic restrictions behind us!
Let’s also not forget the district is charging families for ‘technology insurance’ as part of the fees.
Sonja, let's connect! You can DM our instagram account and I'll reach out to you that way: https://www.instagram.com/waituntil8th_evanston/
The wait until 8th group is just for parents delaying getting their kids smartphones. I'm a candidate and 1:1 tech in elementary school is only good for days like today, when there is 3 hours of e-learning and it's called a full day.
I just saw in an email that Chute will be piloting a new, more restrictive YouTube access system. Apparently during school hours kids will only be able to access YouTube videos that their teachers have shared to Google classroom.
A drop in the bucket (and ridiculously late in coming) but at least it's a step in the right direction
Oh this is news to me and I'm working on a story about this. I'm going to reach out and get more details. Thanks!!