Can we disable YouTube on the District 65 devices?
It is appalling in my estimation that elementary school students are issued computers and iPads.
Like many things with the District, the oversaturation of these devices has ben done without any consultation with parents and, as far as I know, there is no evidence that any possible educational benefit outweighs the addictive and distracting nature of the devices.
I find it very hard to stomach an argument that any person younger than 11 needs a computer for school.
My fifth grader can barely write with a pen and paper and there is no worksheets and the like coming home. The apps they use for math are ridiculous and no better than learning equations. I’ve had to teach these things myself to the kids and they are way beyond the stuff on the apps.
The other thing is that these devices are probably a decent chunk of the budget. At our school the hapless principal asked parents to tell the kids not to use the computers while they are waiting in morning for the school doors to open. Apparently the kids were dropping them and getting dirt in the and damaging them. How about not sending them home with the kids?
Then there was the time they wanted me to pay for a laptop charger my son allegedly lost. I told them “ no way, you made the unwise decision to give an 8 year old a computer. I never agreed to be responsible for it.”
If you look in the last Curriculum committee meeting of the Board there is a report hidden in there related to their technology policy.
You will not be surprised to know that they retained a consultant to do an assessment of tech in the district. Absolutely none of the work they have done so far suggests a critical eye towards its use.
Can we disable YouTube on the District 65 devices?
It is appalling in my estimation that elementary school students are issued computers and iPads.
Like many things with the District, the oversaturation of these devices has ben done without any consultation with parents and, as far as I know, there is no evidence that any possible educational benefit outweighs the addictive and distracting nature of the devices.
I find it very hard to stomach an argument that any person younger than 11 needs a computer for school.
My fifth grader can barely write with a pen and paper and there is no worksheets and the like coming home. The apps they use for math are ridiculous and no better than learning equations. I’ve had to teach these things myself to the kids and they are way beyond the stuff on the apps.
The other thing is that these devices are probably a decent chunk of the budget. At our school the hapless principal asked parents to tell the kids not to use the computers while they are waiting in morning for the school doors to open. Apparently the kids were dropping them and getting dirt in the and damaging them. How about not sending them home with the kids?
Then there was the time they wanted me to pay for a laptop charger my son allegedly lost. I told them “ no way, you made the unwise decision to give an 8 year old a computer. I never agreed to be responsible for it.”
If you look in the last Curriculum committee meeting of the Board there is a report hidden in there related to their technology policy.
You will not be surprised to know that they retained a consultant to do an assessment of tech in the district. Absolutely none of the work they have done so far suggests a critical eye towards its use.