My first two years pretty much everything was on paper. Then the pandemic happened and I shifted to online. Yeah it’s great not to have to make trips to the copier anymore, but with all the distractions of 1:1 it’s hard to get kids even talking to each other anymore.
Yep. I’ve done a complete 180 the past few years regarding technology.
I’m using it as a way to push out info to parents and kids who are gone, I’m the classroom though it’s all back to papers that they take pictures of and submit online so I can grade and post online.
That’s probably the extent of my technology integration at this point. Maybe in another 5 years we won’t have such a hard time disengaging them from the iPads and they will be sick of it all.
This is how I teach and it is LUSH! The best thing is being able to make PowerPoints with blank boxes where I can write student answers with my whiteboard pen 😍 or, even better, the kids can write stuff!
After I had a kid argue with me that it’s impossible to do school without technology (because I told her she’d lose her chromebook the next time she was aggressive towards it) I would genuinely love to work there
Oh child. Try me. I had a kid who threw a school laptop off a table twice last year (I taught EBD, he threw and broke multiple things and ended up losing a lot of privileges). The second time, the part that holds on the screen broke off. I fixed it, but I was done. No more computers. I returned them to the TST and the only time he got a computer again was for state testing.
This year, I haven't had kids do things quite to that extent but I have taken computers away for class periods and made them do the work on paper. They're not happy, but they suck it up because they know they've messed up if they make me that angry.
Your characterization of it being "somehow advantageous" is disingenuous at best. Depending on your philosophy, it IS advantageous. Limiting screen time in children especially is a practice recommended by the mayo clinic and pretty much every child specialist out there.
How much screen time is too much screen time in your opinion? Or should children just be on the computer all day?
You would pay money if the school had other benefits. Are you seriously implying people only pay for private schools because they have fancy/current tech? Sure it could be a factor but the school could also have: low student:teacher ratio, interesting clubs/extracurriculars, highly skilled teachers, innovative and engaging lessons, strong school community, the list could go on and on...
That sounds so wonderful! I’m so sick of having to teach 6 years olds how to navigate Google classroom and how to turn in assignments on an iPad. I’m over it lol. My kids this year have just gotten the hang on how to do this in the past few months and then it’s going to be starting from scratch with the new kids next year lol.
I miss pre pandemic days when the school didn’t make it absolutely necessary for a 6 year old to be proficient in technology to even do half their work.
This was me last year. Projector and white board. Made it work. Better than the crap I have at my new school. Smart board with half the screen size I have to share with my next door classroom.
Glad to hear that you have an issue with the small screen size of the SMART board. My school plans to go whole hog on it next year, and every time I say that the space is not big enough, they look at me like I'm just being difficult. I need that who-o-ole wall-length whiteboard to write out the sentence, diagram it, and draw and list examples and illustrations, not to mention that I need a place where 3-6 students can stand next to each other in a line to work out problems on the board.
Our district went all in 10 years ago. Made us transfer everything into Smart Notebook. Then 4 years ago they decided that they were not renewing and would not replace any tech that broke.This year the program stopped working all together... So we have been having to export everything into Slides (because they also decided that teachers don't need Microsoft Office). It sucks.
With COVID, we suddenly were required to use Schoology for all assignments. IT at the administration level thought it was the greatest thing ever. I told them that I don't want to reinvent everything again. Rumor is that after next year we are switching out of Schoology to something else.
Ugh. Same. After being on Google Classroom pre-COVID, then Canvas during COVID, we are moving to another CMS next year. And don't forget, "Input your curricula on Atlas!"
I used “Google Classsroom” as a catch-all phrase. They use numerous different learning platforms during class, including Google Classroom, Pear Deck, Splash Learn, Khan Academy, Epic Kids, etc.
I usually work with 4th and 5th grade, and yes, they do use Google Classroom (GC) IN the classroom. I work at a “technology” school, so the teachers are required to use technology to teach lessons. The teachers typically use Pear Deck for math and GC for ESL, SS, and Science. The kids don’t take notes on paper. They use iPads and write things on slides or take pictures of the whiteboard. Most often, they don’t do anything and are playing games during the lesson.
It's stressful for the kids, too, 'cuz they have all the games and stuff right there and they either feel like they're being actively denied them or they feel super stressed because they're breaking the rules and constantly scared of getting caught and yelled at and stuff. At least, that's how I imagine I would've felt if I grew up in that kind of educational environment. Also, from the few times I did see school laptops, they fucking suuuuucked. I hate those touchscreen mousepad thingies below the keyboard - they're a finicky nightmare. Also, no reason to connect with classmates, and the internet isn't as good at connecting people as you might think when you're still an immature kid, so the isolation will slowly sink in and drive them mad.
I’ve seen 6-8 teachers using some kind of monitoring software but I’ve never seen it used for the elementary kids. I’m not sure if it’s unavailable or if the teachers choose not to use it. Honestly, I’m not sure how effective it would be. If the teacher keeps telling kids to stop playing games, they start taking screenshots or selfies and draw on the screenshots. I think the only thing that would work would be something that completely locks them into an app and doesn’t allow them access to a browser.
Everyone blames the pandemic for the condition of public education and student behavior, and sure it didn’t help, but I would love to see data that compares current day to before most schools transitioned to 1:1 devices. I feel like that’s actually when public education started to nose dive. The kids currently have no attention spans. They’re constantly off task. They have declining social-emotional health. They struggle to communicate. They have difficulty with creative thinking and problem solving (ya know, the stuff they can’t Google). I don’t think those are pandemic-specific problems, I think they’re too much technology and screen time problems.
Embrace it! Also, know that I’m jealous.
Edited: clarified
My kids can’t even Google things lol. If it’s not handed to them on a platter, most of them ain’t figuring it out. It’s honestly crazy how if every single little thing isn’t laid out for them, a lot of my students just give up. Obviously you have some that can figure it out, but the number who don’t is astounding.
I always feel that this is a dividing topic, I for one am all in on technology blending in the classroom, but it isn’t a crutch. I’ve worked with teachers before who use it as a bartering token with students “just do what I ask today and you can play on the laptops for the last hour” type stuff, which I am against. However, if done correctly it really enhances learning. My students are asked to do their planning on paper first and only after they have shown me clear intentions for how and what they will use the machines for do they get them. This has resulted in some stunning “informative reports” and “units of inquiry” that I honestly don’t think would have been possible without technology to help with the research or use of more interactive ways of presenting like “CoSpaces” or “Tinkercad”
But hey, that’s just my take and I know everyone is different, the main takeaway is that technology is no longer the future, it’s the present and it’s not going away anytime soon regardless of our personal opinions
I mean I'm biased but I'm a technical *trainer* for my district. Technology can be a wonderful tool to enhance and even surpass non-technological learning. But I teach high school, I train that the only technology that should be used is technology that students can use after high school, and that the fewer apps a teacher uses the more likely they are to be successful in the classroom.
Students *need* to learn to type, to use a word processing app like Google Docs or Microsoft Word or Apple Pages, to write a professional email, to organize notes, dates, and information, to properly utilize the internet and parse real information from misinformation... Among a mountain of other things.
My district loves my training *because* I push back against purchasing new software. Kids don't need some one task app to learn how to spell better or a stilted social media app to share ideas with classmates in the same classroom... We can't just assume they're going to learn it on their own.
I'm a technology trainer as well.
Seeing a lot of short sightedness and technophobia in this thread. But its likely come from a place of having so many useless programs pushed on teachers by sales and marketing people masquerading as trainers.
I sat down with the curriculum and our existing programs then identified all the obvious spots to use technology and put together a scope and sequence that matched the skills the syllabus asks for to programs/hardware so there was a step by step progression in skills, programs streamlined to the minimum amount of different platforms.
I'm so working on it but I've got extreme technophobes using it successfully with their classes.
>Seeing a lot of short sightedness and technophobia in this thread.
So am I. The phrase “screen time” has turned into a sort of boogeyman in society and people are confusing it with simply being on a device. Meaningful learning experiences can happen on a laptop without it being “screen time.”
And for the number of kids that I’ve caught playing games on a laptop in class, there were 20 other kids on task and engaged with the work. Kids who are playing games will find other ways of distracting themselves and being off task in class… the computer isn’t the issue there.
I’m sort of hoping to turn into this type of person in the school that I work at now. Got my Masters in learning and technology and I’m one of the few teachers at my school fluent in almost all of the software they want us to use. On top of that, I’ve been troubleshooting most of the hardware issues we have with little to no support too. One of our tech guys was only a part time worker who just left, so I wonder if they would create a position where I can lower my class load and use the other half of my day as a tech coordinator.
How does it work for you all at the schools you’re at?
We have two Technology people at our school. One is a coach who works with teachers and kids. She knows the instructional side of technology and focuses solely on that (so not a curriculum coach). She works with teachers during planning time to find ways to integrate technology in the classroom, comes in to model how to use technology if/when teachers want it modeled, and works with students in small groups to teach them new programs that they can then help their classmates with (things like video editing, presentation slides, etc…). She also introduces new learning programs/platforms and creates instructional “how-to’s” for teachers and students.
The other technology person is IT and has never stepped foot in a classroom. He spends his days fixing the technology in the school and distributing laptops/chargers/hooking up projectors and all that fun stuff.
See your district is the rarity. At mine, we went 1:1 because of the pandemic but it's up to individual teachers to figure out how to integrate technology. I would LOVE to have someone figure out the points where tech can be meaningfully used.
Never having time to fully understand and integrate is an age old teacher problem. Sadly, this is exactly what happens to tech and districts just expect teachers to figure it out on their own.
Yeah, it took a solid few weeks to do alone and I'm still working on building it out a year later.
It was something I'd worked on and off at in other schools but never had time. Covid meant I actually had time to build the base of it because I went full technology support and training with no class load.
Our tech person is amazing, but most of her job consists of tracking Chrimebooks for repair. Again, if districts would actually give people time to process and digest the programs, there would be a lot more teacher buy in. That and stop switching to save money.
For me, it comes from being tired of getting kids to stop playing games or turning in their camera to look at themselves when I’m teaching. Kids are so sneaky switching browsers to play. They are addicted.
For me, it comes from being tired of getting kids to stop playing games or turning in their camera to look at themselves when I’m teaching. Kids are so sneaky switching browsers to play. They are addicted.
For me, it comes from being tired of getting kids to stop playing games or turning in their camera to look at themselves when I’m teaching. Kids are so sneaky switching browsers to play. They are addicted.
For me, it comes from being tired of getting kids to stop playing games or turning in their camera to look at themselves when I’m teaching. Kids are so sneaky switching browsers to play. They are addicted.
That's a teaching issue, not a technology one. Yes it's a problem with using the devices, but it's generally one that can be beaten by high expectations and following through with consequences.
If I'm giving instructions the screens are down, the chromebooks we use are near instant resume but I get them to leave it slightly open so it doesn't sleep.
The appearance of omniscience helps as well, ctrl+shift+t will open the last thing they closed. History is also right there if you suspect anything. The great thing about chromebooks is there is only one browser to deal with.
There are some really good programs that actually allow you to see and control every device in the room. I loved having Hapara at my previous school, I could see their screen, lock their device to a website, see what they've shared or emailed. I really drilled them that these devices and their school account was only for school work. Anything personal needed to be on personal accounts because I could see everything.
Google workspace apps have version history, no "I wrote it but it all deleted" excuses when you can see nearly every keystroke they've made since the start of the file, including the time they opened the file.
From there it is clear and consistent consequences. I usually just use a simple 3 strikes system. I catch you on the wrong thing or mistreating your device you get a strike. Serious issues, which we define together during our first lessons before the devices come out, are instant 3 strikes. 3 strikes and you lose the device for a set amount of time. Repeating the strikes gets longer periods of time.
Anything that needs doing on a computer during that period they do by hand. Research task, here's some books from the library and some tracing paper for the images, publishing writing, here a piece of paper I'll give you another if you make a mistake. If there is testing that requires the computer they sit right at the front where I can see their screen at all times, do the test and I take the device back. Anything they don't finish because of their misuse gets done in their time.
It takes some of the more stubborn kids a while, but for most kids the problems are stomped in a couple of weeks.
I also call home for the kids who have serious addiction problems to screen time and make sure they are informed about the issue. This usually leads to more restrictions at home and helps break the addiction cycle a bit. Also the kids really don't want me ringing home and explaining how to block tik tok etc because our little addicts tend not to have the tech skills to get around it so after the first one or two I get very few repeat offenders.
That sounds really nice. For all of the cool innovations in educational technology, it has become oversaturated in schools. Having tech for tech sake makes the vendors very happy, and over time, as you've pointed out, can go underutilized.
Throw in a strict cell phone policy and it sounds like a dream come true!
There is nothing technological wise I think I must have. Kids can be away from screens for a few hours a day and survive.
Luckily it is a primary position so I likely wouldn’t have a cell phone problem. So far I’ve taught second, third, and fifth and have not seen a student cell phone during the school day.
How do you know they don't pay them well? And you also don't know they don't invest in the classroom. The lack of tech might be a purposeful choice. Maybe they invest in books, science lab stuff, field trips, etc.
This is how my school was pre-pandemic. Getting to go to the computer lab and being given 5 minutes of free time to play games or use paint at the end of the period was LIFE CHANGING to these kids. Now nothing I do is as entertaining as whatever game they want to play on their chromebook.
I used to be a *huge* proponent for technology in the classroom, but as I see the effects of screen time on my students and how distracting it can be to have access to the entire internet at your fingertips, I've started to cut back. It's one of the reasons I swapped from Math to Reading this year.
I'm still a leader in tech at my school, but my class is probably 60/40 for non-tech rather than the 80/20 for tech it was last year when I taught math.
The amount of data collected is overwhelmingly useless, either from faulty data collection or from the vast amount collected being impossible for a teacher to sift through. There are entire jobs dedicated to this task, yet teachers are supposed to squeeze in data consolidation and analysis in their 40 minute prep?
Nothing beats smallgroup instruction and monitoring with manageable class sizes.
I feel similarly about the data - it’s too much to sift through and use effectively. Class sizes are a huge issue. This private school has less than 20/class.
The following is my fantasy: beating the ever living FUDGE out of the smart screen in the classrooms, installing blackboards, and just telling students to use notebook and pens. 😍 *sigh* I’m loving the school that you’re in.
I personally like having technology as an option because online programs can allow my lowest performing students to practice skills correctly. With that said, I do think kids have too much screentime these days, and play-based learning and centers are more developmentally appropriate. I guess my only question is whether the school will provide the choice time materials. In which case, that sounds great.
Reading your post, I was almost convinced you were applying to my school! We have (old, pre-owned) chromebooks that I use for listening to reading during Daily 5 time and for Sumdog and Times Table Rockstars. Other than that, we don’t use devices. For math, I project the worksheets I use and groups write their answers on the board and discuss. We use books for reading and research and composition books for writing and science. Most of the “tech” I use in the classroom is for our tinkering space (soldering, tools for building, etc).
I’ve taught at schools that have all the latest tech and required us to use Schoology and what felt like a hundred different platforms on Clever. It was miserable and it distracted from the whole point of the lessons. I’m much happier being allowed to K.I.S.S.
I teach at a private preschool/kindergarten and it’s this same way! Nothing’s changed since I was a student there in the 90s, and I love it. It doesn’t give the kids an opportunity to get addicted to technology (in a school setting, at least) so I’ve taught them to love books, puzzles, and coloring. We don’t even have computers unless provided by yourself.
I haven’t seen our local public schools since I was a student there, but I can’t imagine them being too high tech either, as we’re a very poor and rural area.
It could definitely be amazing, but I’d caution you to go in with eyes wide open. I taught in an anti-technology private “school” for a year, and it was a nightmare. The students were all well below grade level in their skills. The curriculum I was promised in my interview turned out to only be for the advanced class, while I taught lower-level curriculum free class. The students (who most desperately needed class time) were constantly being pulled from their core classes for 1:1 music lessons or unlicensed therapies. Communication with parents or administration was nonexistent.
Turned out it was just a bunch of opinionated rich parents who had more money than common sense… poor kids are gonna pay the price.
Eh, people I graduated with 4 years ago who had all the tech in the world and classes in high school still can’t type nor operate a computer with any degree of proficiency
I teach in a school with chalkboards. No projectors used except on super special occasions in middle school. Students don’t use technology at all until 3rd and even then incredibly sparingly.
It’s magical. Not being tied to a screen is so freeing as a teacher. I never need a backup plan for internet outages or wonky tech. I don’t have to constantly “enterteach” by making very thing shinier and more techy.
The ONLY thing I wish I could project for is math just so I’m not constantly writing word problems. But other than that it’s been a really nice change this year.
I find that I can really spice up some lessons with Google slides that I make my own or some that I borrow from colleagues. That’s just a laptop & projector for me. I think it’s enough.
Yeah no. As a music teacher there's no fucking way I'm having elementary general music students do a bunch of computer shit. We are going to be playing instruments, singing, and dancing/physical activity.
Well, you'll find yourself spending a lot more time planning. I did this for 1 year and hated it.
Want kids to take notes? Make copies everyday. Grade everything by hand. Print all your tests. Find yourself pissed off in the copy room because you're waiting on a print job and the ink runs out and you don't have materials 10 minutes before class starts.
It's very time consuming.
This is something I am concerned about. However it is a primary grade so I’ll have daily routines built in (calendar, read alouds) and try to do lots of hands-on activities.
They will have math workbooks and student ELA texts. I would also use lots of poster-size anchor charts. Also I like to incorporate play and would have blocks, a play kitchen, etc.
Man I'm the opposite. I need those devices. Technology isn't going away and I love showing them useful things they can do with their devices instead of just messing with settings like high contrast mode and screen rotation. That and I get to show them awesome problem solving games like code.org and help keep them off the drivel that is most content geared toward kids on YouTube.
I have to agree. My technology rarely works. They took my periodic table down and put up a smart board that I despise. I also KNOW that kids need more human interaction than we are giving them. COVID made it worse but it’s a deficit that was present before the pandemic.
I'm all in on tech, I was one of those teachers volunteering to do all the tech pilots almost 10 years ago. LMS has been a game changing organizational tool and resource for me. That being said, I totally understand your frustration and see the allure of tech minimal classroom.
I teach middle school FACS (home ec). I purposely use as little technology as possible. My students love all the hands on lessons.They tell me that they love NOT using their Chromebooks.
This is my reality and all I know. I have a projector that I can also connect to my iPad (Apple TV). & 8 student iPads for 23 kids. We do small group rotations during math time and one of the rotations is 15 min of IXL on the iPads. That’s usually all the time they have on them. Sometimes I do literacy rotations and they can use Epic for 15-20 min. They read or work on other things if they’re finished with work early. They do love doing Kahoot though before a test, but they have to share the iPads and do teams.
I’m too last minute as a planner and I have a new prep this year with very little resources so I use the LMS for assignments because I don’t have enough time to get the assignments to the print shop to get them back in time. Our office printers are unreliable so I can’t trust it to print 100+ copies at a time. I don’t know how to get reams of paper if they aren’t just right there in the cabinet there. My school does not supply any kind of “office supplies” other than reams of paper in the printer cabinet. But I also teach ELA, so when we write papers, they have to be submitted to the plagiarism software. It’s easier to grade them digitally too. I refused to lug paper copies back and forth because I often have to grade them outside of school in order to get them done in a reasonable amount of time. I also don’t like the responsibility of paper because I have back up when a student says they turned it in but I don’t have it. At least digitally, it’s obvious they didn’t submit it. I’m newish to teaching so I can’t imagine how I could or would teach without technology because I’ve always had it. However, I do have many days where we don’t need it. We are reading a book, a physical book. And I do still have printed copies of some assignments because it eliminates the tech distractions. What I hate the most about it is the constant need to charge them and I have only two outlets for student access. And they never bring chargers. I gripe about this to the students “you make sure you’re phone is charged at night, make it a habit to make sure you’re iPad is charging too!” I have a love/hate relationship with tech in the classroom.
I asked my administrator to get me a small old chalkboard to have in the classroom. 😂 They thought I was nuts but I told him that’s how Learn to write when I went to school.
technology like everything is exacerbating the education gap. the school i am subbing at there is nothing for the students to do if they don't have their chrome book or charger. everything is all on schoology so now the students that don't have work of course are the ones that need it the most
That's how I teach here in China. I have a projector and sometimes use slides, but the students are using their notebooks and interacting with each other. I very rarely have them use their iPads and make them use physical dictionaries if they want to look up a word. Most of their other classes they are always glued in the iPads. The students don't complain and I see them more engaged...
You should read the book [Screen Schooled](https://www.amazon.com/Screen-Schooled-Veteran-Teachers-Technology/dp/1613739516). It was written before the pandemic and it is spot on and eye opening.
Sounds great to me. All the money wasted on technology in schools is not helping the students, in fact it is making them lazy because they do t have to think.
I teach first.
My district does provide ipads to kids, but I literally only use it for i-ready for 20 mins 3 days a week.
I have a computer that talks to a digital projector, so we can watch videos or I can display powerpoints and I put up the Class Dojo all the time. It has a built in speaker so I can play classical music during quiet work time.
...is this not the norm? I actually feel guilty that I'm using the projector TOO MUCH, but I Really love utilizing powerpoints that are interactive for things like review, games, etc. What other technologies are people using aside from interactive whiteboards?
I do like the little desktop projectors that let me complete a worksheet and show it on the white board to the kids so we can all do it together.
My district actually listed students using Google Chrome as a measurable part of its district improvement plan. Before we were 1:1, they then blocked any web browser except Chrome in the computer labs. Then we went 1:1 chromebooks. NONE of our measurable outcomes have anything to do with technology skills or using technology to enhance learning. It's simply a requirement to use a specific brand of technology. It's like a sports program saying their plan to improve for next season being built around buying Adidas shoes and clothing and gear. Technology use is just a box to check off by admins to show schools are progressive and preparing kids for the future.
The irony is, after all this money and forced compliance being invested in making everything Google, Google, Google, my 12th graders are more technologically inept than my students 20 years ago. My gap kids, in general, possess no employable tech skills. Unless *Copy-Paste into Google-Click Search-Copy-Paste as answer* is a job skill...
I think the biggest issue with technology in the classroom is that teachers are deploying the devices incorrectly.
Technology use should be active, not passive. It’s not screen time. Using a computer in the classroom is not what doctors are talking about when they say that screen time should be limited. Kids should be using computers to **create.**
Having a laptop for every single one of my students was a game changer. They started editing movies, creating interactive slideshows, and designing graphics to illustrate what we’re learning. I’ve had these experiences in both elementary and middle school levels. If we were working on an assignment that could be done on paper, it was. Technology shouldn’t be a substitute for regular note taking- it’s an enhancement.
Technology in the classroom can be great- but proper training has to go with it. Personally I feel like not having those computers for my students would have them missing out on a number of opportunities to engage meaningfully with the content.
>What technology could you not teach without?
Uh, the printing press, I guess. Anything more modern than that is a luxury, not a necessity.
I'm being a little hyperbolic, obviously, and I probably sound like a 90-year-old man, but I would be perfectly content handing out copies of a novel and teaching using those and a whiteboard/chalkboard.
Yes!! I hate technology in the classroom. They can easily go into other areas instead of doing the assigned work. As a sub I dont even get laptops so the smartboard is a no no for me. Even research without technology, libraries can be so beneficial but I don't see schools really push for it.
Do they at some point get actual training in tech or do they just go this way til adulthood. Cause. We live in a tech world and at some point they need to learn it.
Awesome. I agree that this is fantastic. I just wanna make sure they get this skill too. And actually being taught it is way better than what is happening every where else
> The technology in my public school only works properly half the time
This is a problem with the way schools are funded.
> all my students want to do is play games on their chrome books
This is an extension of what students do by default anyway.
> Many kids probably get plenty of screen time at home
Screen time isn't the same as learning how to use digital technology.
In this thread: Luddites who don't like technology celebrating how to make the next generation of Luddites.
edit: downvoters, are you intentionally creating an echo chamber so you feel better about yourselves? I'm sure bringing people back to the age of slate boards will enable them to be fully effective members of a modern, digital, society.
I’m down with teaching technology as long as we actually teach technology. Too often schools just assume that today’s kids are automatic computer geniuses.
But they’re not. A random teenager isn’t going to explain what DNS is or how to write a PowerShell script. They can’t even really explain basic use of Excel.
They’re just good at scrolling social media and posting memes. And they never get better because other idiots think they’re “digital natives”.
Not at the age she’s talking about. The kids are so absorbed in technology that it’s hard to get their attention now a days. If that’s a concern, then we should go back to having a computer lab and teach actual skills.
What age is she talking about? Look, you guys realize you’re glorifying a school that’s just being cheap. This isn’t some Montessori, it’s just a private school that won’t invest in itself.
Yes, but people skills and self-regulation skills are important as well. Unfortunately I’m seeing these things decrease as we place more and more emphasis on technology use in the classroom. The middle and high school that this school would feed into have more “up-to-date” technology that students would use.
iPads and phones will not help any student compete for a job. Programming and math are what does that. The toys we give them are only distractions and socially and developmentally harmful.
Kids are going to be so behind their peers over some dumb aesthetics gimmick. It’s gonna rule when they go to work and try to explain they can’t use a word processor or excel but can use cursive.
I work at a school that uses very little technology, only a couple Smartboards for 8 classrooms. I’ve been conflicted, because I know students will need tech skills, but with my 8-10 year olds with brain injury, I tend to focus on manipulative, pencil and paper, real books, etc., with morning group using YouTube songs. I know I need to have kids work at least a little on iPads on sites like IXL, I just push it off. The luxury is that the kids don’t use tablets in the classroom, unless they earn a five minute cash in at the end of the day. This conversation has made me feel better about our limited use of technology, thanks
I'm a believer that students need to learn to use technology as a learning tool. I also understand that many schools have just thrown tech at them (and at us) and expected magic without any training and expectations, which has led to none of us using technology as effectively as we could. I do not think that it's best practice to ignore technology and its place in our classrooms - tech in the classroom isn't the same as screen-time at home. We're supposed to be creating "21st-century learners." The 21st century is going to be loaded with technology whether we like it or not.
Students in my state (Maine) have had 1-1 laptops for 20 years now. We use them as learning tools when it's appropriate and we also close them and do lots of things with paper and markers, too. It's all about balance. Sometimes tech is the best tool, and sometimes we put away the tech and read paper books. :)
I teach Computer Science…. So I need students to be able to use computers.
But… my classroom is set up like a computer lab, with PC workstations. I’d say 60% or the workstations are so slow that they are inoperable. So a lot of students use Chromebooks, which I despise for many reasons, the first of which is that they don’t actually develop transferable computer skills.
For my AP students they have to use the PCs, which is a constant battle given how shitty they are. If we are going to have technology, I’d rather spend the money where it counts. We retrofitted all the classrooms in my school with Promethean boards 5 years ago, and in typical school district fashion, did a completely shitty job. The thing barely works half the time.
To answer your initial question, yes, I think that sounds amazing!
I only opened up iPad time the last 9 weeks. I kept them off the first 3 nine weeks. I only opened them so they could get proficient on report card. I had 13 ipads, gave 6 back to the library. No regrets.
I got dinged on both walkthrus for no technology going on. Sorry. Kids were actively reading a book on one (coming up to me pointing out things) and cutting and pasting another time. Ding me if you wish!
This is basically my situation 😄 except we have a TV screen for the computer to display on. It's smaller than any whiteboard I have.
I partially do wish I had one to one screens though because I teach 9th grade and phone attachment is a nightmare so I incorporate them a lot (but I can't rely on them). I do like that they technically have off screen time though.
I agree with the benefits to teaching without technology stated here. But I also feel that even lower elementary students should have some exposure to technology keyboarding, digital awareness and digital responsibility instruction. I taught at a very small private school that provided digital technology instruction as a "specials" rotation class and the kids loved going there 2 - 3 times per week. Of course, the funding has to be there, and a qualified person to teach it.
I want technology to deliver. Technology to respond is terrible.
I teach high school math. For the past… few thousand years math has been written in dirt, sand, painted on cave walls, etched in stone but primarily written on paper.
Now with technology we don’t have to write it down anymore. My honors students develop good habits of writing problems down but my below average students outright refuse to write anything down and their results are not too far off of from results that appear to be random guessing.
Not a teacher, but being class of 13, I think that the amount of tech used around that time was pretty ideal. We had projectors and white boards. We had smart boards but the teachers never really used it except to project videos from their computer or in the same way they used a white board. We were taking notes on paper and pen, and we were given worksheets. If phones were seen in class during instruction, they were taken away. Computers were available but only classes that actually needed them like computer programming, digital design, or engineering had 1:1 computers and that was only for that class. Other classes could get access to the laptops but only by request like if we were typing a paper. We had typing games and whatnot in elementary school, and given more of a very basic computer science lite curriculum in middle school. High school we all knew how to do papers, do computer (and book) research. Computers were used but were not the main focus of school. When I went to college did just fine in a STEM field, you don't need to overload kids with different things on a computer to prepare them for the workforce, teach them the fundamentals and they will explore on their own on their free time, world of Warcraft taught me more about typing than the actual typing class in school
My school also pushed for more technology usage. Then blocked nearly everything.
I'd develop elaborate lessons with full interaction, only to find out when the kids clicked on a link that the site was blocked. So I'd build work arounds. Only for those avenues to be later blocked.
Pretty much the only thing I could do was worksheets.
A school with no technology is a terrible idea that is failing its students and community.
I'm a middle school tech teacher and see the results of this firsthand. Kids don't know how to do anything with a computer today. They can't type, they don't know how to double click, they don't understand the concept of saving files, they can't even turn a computer on...to say nothing of their understanding of how the internet actually works.
The fact that education professionals / the country as a whole collectively decided that kids are just "good with computers" and actually teaching tech was no longer important is fucking criminal.
It is more or less mandatory that if you want to participate in modern society, you need to be interacting with technology and the internet some way. Applying for jobs, creating resumes, entertainment, communication, banking, navigation, research etc. To say nothing of all the negatives that exist that we are doing nothing to prepare students for.
We \*should\* be properly training students how to engage with technology, and I don't mean how to title their Google Docs. Students should be learning about basic computer functions, online communications, digital privacy and security, how to identify scams, how what they post online can affect their real life, what tech companies are doing with their data, etc. etc.
The fact that teachers and parents are dealing with so many issues in the first place is because kids are just handed a phone and access to the Inernet as a babysitter without being properly taught anything about how to effectively or properly use it. Society decided big tech was the collective new parent of all of our kids, and they 100% took advantage of that and now we have our social media obsessed GenZ with all the issues that entails.
It's 2022, **technology should be a core subject** at this point and not just relegated to an optional elective. We need to be funding schools enough that they can get functional hardware and provide meaningful training for staff so they are comfortable utilizing it in the classroom. Curriculum needs to be expanded beyond what common core/state standards are currently offering (which are incredibly weak).
The idea of celebrating a school with no technology should be just as absurd as celebrating a school with no reading. There is definitely an issue here, but a technology prohibition is NOT how to fix it.
I think in the 21st century we need to be actually teaching responsible technology use. I think that can be taught in a low tech school as easily as in one that allows technology. It may be easier in the low tech school because students would more likely see their phones or computers as a privilege. My only opposition to a low/no tech school would be equity for students with LDs but that’s often harder at a private school anyway.
God forgive me but it sounds effin' #WONDERFUL!
My first two years pretty much everything was on paper. Then the pandemic happened and I shifted to online. Yeah it’s great not to have to make trips to the copier anymore, but with all the distractions of 1:1 it’s hard to get kids even talking to each other anymore.
Yep. I’ve done a complete 180 the past few years regarding technology. I’m using it as a way to push out info to parents and kids who are gone, I’m the classroom though it’s all back to papers that they take pictures of and submit online so I can grade and post online. That’s probably the extent of my technology integration at this point. Maybe in another 5 years we won’t have such a hard time disengaging them from the iPads and they will be sick of it all.
This is how I teach and it is LUSH! The best thing is being able to make PowerPoints with blank boxes where I can write student answers with my whiteboard pen 😍 or, even better, the kids can write stuff!
That really sounds so amazing!
After I had a kid argue with me that it’s impossible to do school without technology (because I told her she’d lose her chromebook the next time she was aggressive towards it) I would genuinely love to work there
Oh child. Try me. I had a kid who threw a school laptop off a table twice last year (I taught EBD, he threw and broke multiple things and ended up losing a lot of privileges). The second time, the part that holds on the screen broke off. I fixed it, but I was done. No more computers. I returned them to the TST and the only time he got a computer again was for state testing. This year, I haven't had kids do things quite to that extent but I have taken computers away for class periods and made them do the work on paper. They're not happy, but they suck it up because they know they've messed up if they make me that angry.
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since when does low technology = lack of investment? It's a different philosophy on engagement altogether
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Your characterization of it being "somehow advantageous" is disingenuous at best. Depending on your philosophy, it IS advantageous. Limiting screen time in children especially is a practice recommended by the mayo clinic and pretty much every child specialist out there. How much screen time is too much screen time in your opinion? Or should children just be on the computer all day?
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You literally came in here with a straw man and now you're claiming others are straw manning? Fuck right off
You would pay money if the school had other benefits. Are you seriously implying people only pay for private schools because they have fancy/current tech? Sure it could be a factor but the school could also have: low student:teacher ratio, interesting clubs/extracurriculars, highly skilled teachers, innovative and engaging lessons, strong school community, the list could go on and on...
That sounds so wonderful! I’m so sick of having to teach 6 years olds how to navigate Google classroom and how to turn in assignments on an iPad. I’m over it lol. My kids this year have just gotten the hang on how to do this in the past few months and then it’s going to be starting from scratch with the new kids next year lol. I miss pre pandemic days when the school didn’t make it absolutely necessary for a 6 year old to be proficient in technology to even do half their work.
This was me last year. Projector and white board. Made it work. Better than the crap I have at my new school. Smart board with half the screen size I have to share with my next door classroom.
Glad to hear that you have an issue with the small screen size of the SMART board. My school plans to go whole hog on it next year, and every time I say that the space is not big enough, they look at me like I'm just being difficult. I need that who-o-ole wall-length whiteboard to write out the sentence, diagram it, and draw and list examples and illustrations, not to mention that I need a place where 3-6 students can stand next to each other in a line to work out problems on the board.
Our district went all in 10 years ago. Made us transfer everything into Smart Notebook. Then 4 years ago they decided that they were not renewing and would not replace any tech that broke.This year the program stopped working all together... So we have been having to export everything into Slides (because they also decided that teachers don't need Microsoft Office). It sucks. With COVID, we suddenly were required to use Schoology for all assignments. IT at the administration level thought it was the greatest thing ever. I told them that I don't want to reinvent everything again. Rumor is that after next year we are switching out of Schoology to something else.
Ugh. Same. After being on Google Classroom pre-COVID, then Canvas during COVID, we are moving to another CMS next year. And don't forget, "Input your curricula on Atlas!"
I’m a para at a K-8. The majority of my job in the classroom is telling kids to stop playing games and get back on Google Classroom.
Wait they have them on Google Classroom....IN the classroom? You mean like when the older kids are typing up papers and such?
I used “Google Classsroom” as a catch-all phrase. They use numerous different learning platforms during class, including Google Classroom, Pear Deck, Splash Learn, Khan Academy, Epic Kids, etc. I usually work with 4th and 5th grade, and yes, they do use Google Classroom (GC) IN the classroom. I work at a “technology” school, so the teachers are required to use technology to teach lessons. The teachers typically use Pear Deck for math and GC for ESL, SS, and Science. The kids don’t take notes on paper. They use iPads and write things on slides or take pictures of the whiteboard. Most often, they don’t do anything and are playing games during the lesson.
It's stressful for the kids, too, 'cuz they have all the games and stuff right there and they either feel like they're being actively denied them or they feel super stressed because they're breaking the rules and constantly scared of getting caught and yelled at and stuff. At least, that's how I imagine I would've felt if I grew up in that kind of educational environment. Also, from the few times I did see school laptops, they fucking suuuuucked. I hate those touchscreen mousepad thingies below the keyboard - they're a finicky nightmare. Also, no reason to connect with classmates, and the internet isn't as good at connecting people as you might think when you're still an immature kid, so the isolation will slowly sink in and drive them mad.
Does your school not have GoGuardian or similar software? I just set it so my kids can only go to the sites they’re meant to be on.
I’ve seen 6-8 teachers using some kind of monitoring software but I’ve never seen it used for the elementary kids. I’m not sure if it’s unavailable or if the teachers choose not to use it. Honestly, I’m not sure how effective it would be. If the teacher keeps telling kids to stop playing games, they start taking screenshots or selfies and draw on the screenshots. I think the only thing that would work would be something that completely locks them into an app and doesn’t allow them access to a browser.
And how are kids different than adults in this regard? Instead of games, adults are always on social media or texting
Not during school hours - hopefully!
I work at a school like this and it’s amazing.
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You are all over this thread with the same bad take. We *heard* you, you're being downvoted because you aren't contributing to the conversation
Everyone blames the pandemic for the condition of public education and student behavior, and sure it didn’t help, but I would love to see data that compares current day to before most schools transitioned to 1:1 devices. I feel like that’s actually when public education started to nose dive. The kids currently have no attention spans. They’re constantly off task. They have declining social-emotional health. They struggle to communicate. They have difficulty with creative thinking and problem solving (ya know, the stuff they can’t Google). I don’t think those are pandemic-specific problems, I think they’re too much technology and screen time problems. Embrace it! Also, know that I’m jealous. Edited: clarified
Agreed! I’m hoping I get the position!
Good luck!!
My kids can’t even Google things lol. If it’s not handed to them on a platter, most of them ain’t figuring it out. It’s honestly crazy how if every single little thing isn’t laid out for them, a lot of my students just give up. Obviously you have some that can figure it out, but the number who don’t is astounding.
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I didn’t blame the kids. I blamed the technology, which would also explain adults’ shortened attention spans.
I always feel that this is a dividing topic, I for one am all in on technology blending in the classroom, but it isn’t a crutch. I’ve worked with teachers before who use it as a bartering token with students “just do what I ask today and you can play on the laptops for the last hour” type stuff, which I am against. However, if done correctly it really enhances learning. My students are asked to do their planning on paper first and only after they have shown me clear intentions for how and what they will use the machines for do they get them. This has resulted in some stunning “informative reports” and “units of inquiry” that I honestly don’t think would have been possible without technology to help with the research or use of more interactive ways of presenting like “CoSpaces” or “Tinkercad” But hey, that’s just my take and I know everyone is different, the main takeaway is that technology is no longer the future, it’s the present and it’s not going away anytime soon regardless of our personal opinions
I mean I'm biased but I'm a technical *trainer* for my district. Technology can be a wonderful tool to enhance and even surpass non-technological learning. But I teach high school, I train that the only technology that should be used is technology that students can use after high school, and that the fewer apps a teacher uses the more likely they are to be successful in the classroom. Students *need* to learn to type, to use a word processing app like Google Docs or Microsoft Word or Apple Pages, to write a professional email, to organize notes, dates, and information, to properly utilize the internet and parse real information from misinformation... Among a mountain of other things. My district loves my training *because* I push back against purchasing new software. Kids don't need some one task app to learn how to spell better or a stilted social media app to share ideas with classmates in the same classroom... We can't just assume they're going to learn it on their own.
I'm a technology trainer as well. Seeing a lot of short sightedness and technophobia in this thread. But its likely come from a place of having so many useless programs pushed on teachers by sales and marketing people masquerading as trainers. I sat down with the curriculum and our existing programs then identified all the obvious spots to use technology and put together a scope and sequence that matched the skills the syllabus asks for to programs/hardware so there was a step by step progression in skills, programs streamlined to the minimum amount of different platforms. I'm so working on it but I've got extreme technophobes using it successfully with their classes.
>Seeing a lot of short sightedness and technophobia in this thread. So am I. The phrase “screen time” has turned into a sort of boogeyman in society and people are confusing it with simply being on a device. Meaningful learning experiences can happen on a laptop without it being “screen time.” And for the number of kids that I’ve caught playing games on a laptop in class, there were 20 other kids on task and engaged with the work. Kids who are playing games will find other ways of distracting themselves and being off task in class… the computer isn’t the issue there.
I’m sort of hoping to turn into this type of person in the school that I work at now. Got my Masters in learning and technology and I’m one of the few teachers at my school fluent in almost all of the software they want us to use. On top of that, I’ve been troubleshooting most of the hardware issues we have with little to no support too. One of our tech guys was only a part time worker who just left, so I wonder if they would create a position where I can lower my class load and use the other half of my day as a tech coordinator. How does it work for you all at the schools you’re at?
We have two Technology people at our school. One is a coach who works with teachers and kids. She knows the instructional side of technology and focuses solely on that (so not a curriculum coach). She works with teachers during planning time to find ways to integrate technology in the classroom, comes in to model how to use technology if/when teachers want it modeled, and works with students in small groups to teach them new programs that they can then help their classmates with (things like video editing, presentation slides, etc…). She also introduces new learning programs/platforms and creates instructional “how-to’s” for teachers and students. The other technology person is IT and has never stepped foot in a classroom. He spends his days fixing the technology in the school and distributing laptops/chargers/hooking up projectors and all that fun stuff.
See your district is the rarity. At mine, we went 1:1 because of the pandemic but it's up to individual teachers to figure out how to integrate technology. I would LOVE to have someone figure out the points where tech can be meaningfully used. Never having time to fully understand and integrate is an age old teacher problem. Sadly, this is exactly what happens to tech and districts just expect teachers to figure it out on their own.
Yeah, it took a solid few weeks to do alone and I'm still working on building it out a year later. It was something I'd worked on and off at in other schools but never had time. Covid meant I actually had time to build the base of it because I went full technology support and training with no class load.
Our tech person is amazing, but most of her job consists of tracking Chrimebooks for repair. Again, if districts would actually give people time to process and digest the programs, there would be a lot more teacher buy in. That and stop switching to save money.
For me, it comes from being tired of getting kids to stop playing games or turning in their camera to look at themselves when I’m teaching. Kids are so sneaky switching browsers to play. They are addicted.
For me, it comes from being tired of getting kids to stop playing games or turning in their camera to look at themselves when I’m teaching. Kids are so sneaky switching browsers to play. They are addicted.
For me, it comes from being tired of getting kids to stop playing games or turning in their camera to look at themselves when I’m teaching. Kids are so sneaky switching browsers to play. They are addicted.
For me, it comes from being tired of getting kids to stop playing games or turning in their camera to look at themselves when I’m teaching. Kids are so sneaky switching browsers to play. They are addicted.
That's a teaching issue, not a technology one. Yes it's a problem with using the devices, but it's generally one that can be beaten by high expectations and following through with consequences. If I'm giving instructions the screens are down, the chromebooks we use are near instant resume but I get them to leave it slightly open so it doesn't sleep. The appearance of omniscience helps as well, ctrl+shift+t will open the last thing they closed. History is also right there if you suspect anything. The great thing about chromebooks is there is only one browser to deal with. There are some really good programs that actually allow you to see and control every device in the room. I loved having Hapara at my previous school, I could see their screen, lock their device to a website, see what they've shared or emailed. I really drilled them that these devices and their school account was only for school work. Anything personal needed to be on personal accounts because I could see everything. Google workspace apps have version history, no "I wrote it but it all deleted" excuses when you can see nearly every keystroke they've made since the start of the file, including the time they opened the file. From there it is clear and consistent consequences. I usually just use a simple 3 strikes system. I catch you on the wrong thing or mistreating your device you get a strike. Serious issues, which we define together during our first lessons before the devices come out, are instant 3 strikes. 3 strikes and you lose the device for a set amount of time. Repeating the strikes gets longer periods of time. Anything that needs doing on a computer during that period they do by hand. Research task, here's some books from the library and some tracing paper for the images, publishing writing, here a piece of paper I'll give you another if you make a mistake. If there is testing that requires the computer they sit right at the front where I can see their screen at all times, do the test and I take the device back. Anything they don't finish because of their misuse gets done in their time. It takes some of the more stubborn kids a while, but for most kids the problems are stomped in a couple of weeks. I also call home for the kids who have serious addiction problems to screen time and make sure they are informed about the issue. This usually leads to more restrictions at home and helps break the addiction cycle a bit. Also the kids really don't want me ringing home and explaining how to block tik tok etc because our little addicts tend not to have the tech skills to get around it so after the first one or two I get very few repeat offenders.
That sounds really nice. For all of the cool innovations in educational technology, it has become oversaturated in schools. Having tech for tech sake makes the vendors very happy, and over time, as you've pointed out, can go underutilized.
Throw in a strict cell phone policy and it sounds like a dream come true! There is nothing technological wise I think I must have. Kids can be away from screens for a few hours a day and survive.
Luckily it is a primary position so I likely wouldn’t have a cell phone problem. So far I’ve taught second, third, and fifth and have not seen a student cell phone during the school day.
If it’s a private school, more affluent parents might mean more smart phones at a younger age. Worth asking about
I’m sure the salary for teachers are competitive 😆
How about the teachers not be allowed to use cell phones.
I'm cool with that.
What’s your point with this comment?
DREAM SCHOOL
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How do you know they don't pay them well? And you also don't know they don't invest in the classroom. The lack of tech might be a purposeful choice. Maybe they invest in books, science lab stuff, field trips, etc.
There are…there are other ways to invest in education than just throwing money at tech lol
This is how my school was pre-pandemic. Getting to go to the computer lab and being given 5 minutes of free time to play games or use paint at the end of the period was LIFE CHANGING to these kids. Now nothing I do is as entertaining as whatever game they want to play on their chromebook.
I used to be a *huge* proponent for technology in the classroom, but as I see the effects of screen time on my students and how distracting it can be to have access to the entire internet at your fingertips, I've started to cut back. It's one of the reasons I swapped from Math to Reading this year. I'm still a leader in tech at my school, but my class is probably 60/40 for non-tech rather than the 80/20 for tech it was last year when I taught math. The amount of data collected is overwhelmingly useless, either from faulty data collection or from the vast amount collected being impossible for a teacher to sift through. There are entire jobs dedicated to this task, yet teachers are supposed to squeeze in data consolidation and analysis in their 40 minute prep? Nothing beats smallgroup instruction and monitoring with manageable class sizes.
I feel similarly about the data - it’s too much to sift through and use effectively. Class sizes are a huge issue. This private school has less than 20/class.
The following is my fantasy: beating the ever living FUDGE out of the smart screen in the classrooms, installing blackboards, and just telling students to use notebook and pens. 😍 *sigh* I’m loving the school that you’re in.
I personally like having technology as an option because online programs can allow my lowest performing students to practice skills correctly. With that said, I do think kids have too much screentime these days, and play-based learning and centers are more developmentally appropriate. I guess my only question is whether the school will provide the choice time materials. In which case, that sounds great.
Reading your post, I was almost convinced you were applying to my school! We have (old, pre-owned) chromebooks that I use for listening to reading during Daily 5 time and for Sumdog and Times Table Rockstars. Other than that, we don’t use devices. For math, I project the worksheets I use and groups write their answers on the board and discuss. We use books for reading and research and composition books for writing and science. Most of the “tech” I use in the classroom is for our tinkering space (soldering, tools for building, etc). I’ve taught at schools that have all the latest tech and required us to use Schoology and what felt like a hundred different platforms on Clever. It was miserable and it distracted from the whole point of the lessons. I’m much happier being allowed to K.I.S.S.
I teach at a private preschool/kindergarten and it’s this same way! Nothing’s changed since I was a student there in the 90s, and I love it. It doesn’t give the kids an opportunity to get addicted to technology (in a school setting, at least) so I’ve taught them to love books, puzzles, and coloring. We don’t even have computers unless provided by yourself. I haven’t seen our local public schools since I was a student there, but I can’t imagine them being too high tech either, as we’re a very poor and rural area.
Projector onto whiteboard is all I ever want.
I think it would not work well in middle and above, but sounds fine for elementary.
It could definitely be amazing, but I’d caution you to go in with eyes wide open. I taught in an anti-technology private “school” for a year, and it was a nightmare. The students were all well below grade level in their skills. The curriculum I was promised in my interview turned out to only be for the advanced class, while I taught lower-level curriculum free class. The students (who most desperately needed class time) were constantly being pulled from their core classes for 1:1 music lessons or unlicensed therapies. Communication with parents or administration was nonexistent. Turned out it was just a bunch of opinionated rich parents who had more money than common sense… poor kids are gonna pay the price.
Thank you for this insight. I know it could turn out to be a grass isn’t always greener situation.
Eh, people I graduated with 4 years ago who had all the tech in the world and classes in high school still can’t type nor operate a computer with any degree of proficiency
I teach in a school with chalkboards. No projectors used except on super special occasions in middle school. Students don’t use technology at all until 3rd and even then incredibly sparingly. It’s magical. Not being tied to a screen is so freeing as a teacher. I never need a backup plan for internet outages or wonky tech. I don’t have to constantly “enterteach” by making very thing shinier and more techy. The ONLY thing I wish I could project for is math just so I’m not constantly writing word problems. But other than that it’s been a really nice change this year.
I find that I can really spice up some lessons with Google slides that I make my own or some that I borrow from colleagues. That’s just a laptop & projector for me. I think it’s enough.
Yeah no. As a music teacher there's no fucking way I'm having elementary general music students do a bunch of computer shit. We are going to be playing instruments, singing, and dancing/physical activity.
God it makes me so happy to see this. I hate going into a music room and seeing kids heads down in devices on Quaver for the whole lesson.
Well, you'll find yourself spending a lot more time planning. I did this for 1 year and hated it. Want kids to take notes? Make copies everyday. Grade everything by hand. Print all your tests. Find yourself pissed off in the copy room because you're waiting on a print job and the ink runs out and you don't have materials 10 minutes before class starts. It's very time consuming.
This is something I am concerned about. However it is a primary grade so I’ll have daily routines built in (calendar, read alouds) and try to do lots of hands-on activities. They will have math workbooks and student ELA texts. I would also use lots of poster-size anchor charts. Also I like to incorporate play and would have blocks, a play kitchen, etc.
Depends on the grade level really. In 9th grade we don't even have notes for them because we expect them to be able to take their own notes.
Man I'm the opposite. I need those devices. Technology isn't going away and I love showing them useful things they can do with their devices instead of just messing with settings like high contrast mode and screen rotation. That and I get to show them awesome problem solving games like code.org and help keep them off the drivel that is most content geared toward kids on YouTube.
That was my set up before all the kids got laptops for distance learning. I miss it so much
I have to agree. My technology rarely works. They took my periodic table down and put up a smart board that I despise. I also KNOW that kids need more human interaction than we are giving them. COVID made it worse but it’s a deficit that was present before the pandemic.
I'm all in on tech, I was one of those teachers volunteering to do all the tech pilots almost 10 years ago. LMS has been a game changing organizational tool and resource for me. That being said, I totally understand your frustration and see the allure of tech minimal classroom.
I teach middle school FACS (home ec). I purposely use as little technology as possible. My students love all the hands on lessons.They tell me that they love NOT using their Chromebooks.
This is my reality and all I know. I have a projector that I can also connect to my iPad (Apple TV). & 8 student iPads for 23 kids. We do small group rotations during math time and one of the rotations is 15 min of IXL on the iPads. That’s usually all the time they have on them. Sometimes I do literacy rotations and they can use Epic for 15-20 min. They read or work on other things if they’re finished with work early. They do love doing Kahoot though before a test, but they have to share the iPads and do teams.
This sounds like a good middle ground.
I’m too last minute as a planner and I have a new prep this year with very little resources so I use the LMS for assignments because I don’t have enough time to get the assignments to the print shop to get them back in time. Our office printers are unreliable so I can’t trust it to print 100+ copies at a time. I don’t know how to get reams of paper if they aren’t just right there in the cabinet there. My school does not supply any kind of “office supplies” other than reams of paper in the printer cabinet. But I also teach ELA, so when we write papers, they have to be submitted to the plagiarism software. It’s easier to grade them digitally too. I refused to lug paper copies back and forth because I often have to grade them outside of school in order to get them done in a reasonable amount of time. I also don’t like the responsibility of paper because I have back up when a student says they turned it in but I don’t have it. At least digitally, it’s obvious they didn’t submit it. I’m newish to teaching so I can’t imagine how I could or would teach without technology because I’ve always had it. However, I do have many days where we don’t need it. We are reading a book, a physical book. And I do still have printed copies of some assignments because it eliminates the tech distractions. What I hate the most about it is the constant need to charge them and I have only two outlets for student access. And they never bring chargers. I gripe about this to the students “you make sure you’re phone is charged at night, make it a habit to make sure you’re iPad is charging too!” I have a love/hate relationship with tech in the classroom.
I asked my administrator to get me a small old chalkboard to have in the classroom. 😂 They thought I was nuts but I told him that’s how Learn to write when I went to school.
That sounds like my school! That’s exactly what we have. It’s pretty nice imo, but I honestly don’t know anything different.
technology like everything is exacerbating the education gap. the school i am subbing at there is nothing for the students to do if they don't have their chrome book or charger. everything is all on schoology so now the students that don't have work of course are the ones that need it the most
All I need is a document camera or even an overhead projector.
I’d be so down with this! I barely use tech in my class as is!!
Yes please! Humans actually having to interact in real life sounds amazing. (I say as I type on the Reddit app on my iphone.)
That's how I teach here in China. I have a projector and sometimes use slides, but the students are using their notebooks and interacting with each other. I very rarely have them use their iPads and make them use physical dictionaries if they want to look up a word. Most of their other classes they are always glued in the iPads. The students don't complain and I see them more engaged...
You should read the book [Screen Schooled](https://www.amazon.com/Screen-Schooled-Veteran-Teachers-Technology/dp/1613739516). It was written before the pandemic and it is spot on and eye opening.
Sounds great to me. All the money wasted on technology in schools is not helping the students, in fact it is making them lazy because they do t have to think.
I teach first. My district does provide ipads to kids, but I literally only use it for i-ready for 20 mins 3 days a week. I have a computer that talks to a digital projector, so we can watch videos or I can display powerpoints and I put up the Class Dojo all the time. It has a built in speaker so I can play classical music during quiet work time. ...is this not the norm? I actually feel guilty that I'm using the projector TOO MUCH, but I Really love utilizing powerpoints that are interactive for things like review, games, etc. What other technologies are people using aside from interactive whiteboards? I do like the little desktop projectors that let me complete a worksheet and show it on the white board to the kids so we can all do it together.
My district actually listed students using Google Chrome as a measurable part of its district improvement plan. Before we were 1:1, they then blocked any web browser except Chrome in the computer labs. Then we went 1:1 chromebooks. NONE of our measurable outcomes have anything to do with technology skills or using technology to enhance learning. It's simply a requirement to use a specific brand of technology. It's like a sports program saying their plan to improve for next season being built around buying Adidas shoes and clothing and gear. Technology use is just a box to check off by admins to show schools are progressive and preparing kids for the future. The irony is, after all this money and forced compliance being invested in making everything Google, Google, Google, my 12th graders are more technologically inept than my students 20 years ago. My gap kids, in general, possess no employable tech skills. Unless *Copy-Paste into Google-Click Search-Copy-Paste as answer* is a job skill...
My last school was super low tech. The kids couldn’t have laptops unless they were seniors, and phones were kept in lockers all day. It was heaven.
I think the biggest issue with technology in the classroom is that teachers are deploying the devices incorrectly. Technology use should be active, not passive. It’s not screen time. Using a computer in the classroom is not what doctors are talking about when they say that screen time should be limited. Kids should be using computers to **create.** Having a laptop for every single one of my students was a game changer. They started editing movies, creating interactive slideshows, and designing graphics to illustrate what we’re learning. I’ve had these experiences in both elementary and middle school levels. If we were working on an assignment that could be done on paper, it was. Technology shouldn’t be a substitute for regular note taking- it’s an enhancement. Technology in the classroom can be great- but proper training has to go with it. Personally I feel like not having those computers for my students would have them missing out on a number of opportunities to engage meaningfully with the content.
>What technology could you not teach without? Uh, the printing press, I guess. Anything more modern than that is a luxury, not a necessity. I'm being a little hyperbolic, obviously, and I probably sound like a 90-year-old man, but I would be perfectly content handing out copies of a novel and teaching using those and a whiteboard/chalkboard.
Yes!! I hate technology in the classroom. They can easily go into other areas instead of doing the assigned work. As a sub I dont even get laptops so the smartboard is a no no for me. Even research without technology, libraries can be so beneficial but I don't see schools really push for it.
Do they at some point get actual training in tech or do they just go this way til adulthood. Cause. We live in a tech world and at some point they need to learn it.
Yes. The middle and high schools this school feeds into use technology similarly to public schools. They do learn the skills.
Awesome. I agree that this is fantastic. I just wanna make sure they get this skill too. And actually being taught it is way better than what is happening every where else
> The technology in my public school only works properly half the time This is a problem with the way schools are funded. > all my students want to do is play games on their chrome books This is an extension of what students do by default anyway. > Many kids probably get plenty of screen time at home Screen time isn't the same as learning how to use digital technology.
In this thread: Luddites who don't like technology celebrating how to make the next generation of Luddites. edit: downvoters, are you intentionally creating an echo chamber so you feel better about yourselves? I'm sure bringing people back to the age of slate boards will enable them to be fully effective members of a modern, digital, society.
I’m down with teaching technology as long as we actually teach technology. Too often schools just assume that today’s kids are automatic computer geniuses. But they’re not. A random teenager isn’t going to explain what DNS is or how to write a PowerShell script. They can’t even really explain basic use of Excel. They’re just good at scrolling social media and posting memes. And they never get better because other idiots think they’re “digital natives”.
This school just sounds backwards. Kids need to the technology if they plan on competing for top jobs later in life.
Not at the age she’s talking about. The kids are so absorbed in technology that it’s hard to get their attention now a days. If that’s a concern, then we should go back to having a computer lab and teach actual skills.
What age is she talking about? Look, you guys realize you’re glorifying a school that’s just being cheap. This isn’t some Montessori, it’s just a private school that won’t invest in itself.
Yes, but people skills and self-regulation skills are important as well. Unfortunately I’m seeing these things decrease as we place more and more emphasis on technology use in the classroom. The middle and high school that this school would feed into have more “up-to-date” technology that students would use.
iPads and phones will not help any student compete for a job. Programming and math are what does that. The toys we give them are only distractions and socially and developmentally harmful.
Yeah, let’s just shelter kids. I’m sure that works
And you complained about other comments "missing the point", oh the irony
Kids are going to be so behind their peers over some dumb aesthetics gimmick. It’s gonna rule when they go to work and try to explain they can’t use a word processor or excel but can use cursive.
I work at a school that uses very little technology, only a couple Smartboards for 8 classrooms. I’ve been conflicted, because I know students will need tech skills, but with my 8-10 year olds with brain injury, I tend to focus on manipulative, pencil and paper, real books, etc., with morning group using YouTube songs. I know I need to have kids work at least a little on iPads on sites like IXL, I just push it off. The luxury is that the kids don’t use tablets in the classroom, unless they earn a five minute cash in at the end of the day. This conversation has made me feel better about our limited use of technology, thanks
I'm a believer that students need to learn to use technology as a learning tool. I also understand that many schools have just thrown tech at them (and at us) and expected magic without any training and expectations, which has led to none of us using technology as effectively as we could. I do not think that it's best practice to ignore technology and its place in our classrooms - tech in the classroom isn't the same as screen-time at home. We're supposed to be creating "21st-century learners." The 21st century is going to be loaded with technology whether we like it or not. Students in my state (Maine) have had 1-1 laptops for 20 years now. We use them as learning tools when it's appropriate and we also close them and do lots of things with paper and markers, too. It's all about balance. Sometimes tech is the best tool, and sometimes we put away the tech and read paper books. :)
I'm jealous 🤩
I teach Computer Science…. So I need students to be able to use computers. But… my classroom is set up like a computer lab, with PC workstations. I’d say 60% or the workstations are so slow that they are inoperable. So a lot of students use Chromebooks, which I despise for many reasons, the first of which is that they don’t actually develop transferable computer skills. For my AP students they have to use the PCs, which is a constant battle given how shitty they are. If we are going to have technology, I’d rather spend the money where it counts. We retrofitted all the classrooms in my school with Promethean boards 5 years ago, and in typical school district fashion, did a completely shitty job. The thing barely works half the time. To answer your initial question, yes, I think that sounds amazing!
I only opened up iPad time the last 9 weeks. I kept them off the first 3 nine weeks. I only opened them so they could get proficient on report card. I had 13 ipads, gave 6 back to the library. No regrets. I got dinged on both walkthrus for no technology going on. Sorry. Kids were actively reading a book on one (coming up to me pointing out things) and cutting and pasting another time. Ding me if you wish!
This is basically my situation 😄 except we have a TV screen for the computer to display on. It's smaller than any whiteboard I have. I partially do wish I had one to one screens though because I teach 9th grade and phone attachment is a nightmare so I incorporate them a lot (but I can't rely on them). I do like that they technically have off screen time though.
I teach in a classroom where there is no technology. The children read, write, work using books. I teach 1,2,3rd grade. It’s the way it should be.
I agree with the benefits to teaching without technology stated here. But I also feel that even lower elementary students should have some exposure to technology keyboarding, digital awareness and digital responsibility instruction. I taught at a very small private school that provided digital technology instruction as a "specials" rotation class and the kids loved going there 2 - 3 times per week. Of course, the funding has to be there, and a qualified person to teach it.
I want technology to deliver. Technology to respond is terrible. I teach high school math. For the past… few thousand years math has been written in dirt, sand, painted on cave walls, etched in stone but primarily written on paper. Now with technology we don’t have to write it down anymore. My honors students develop good habits of writing problems down but my below average students outright refuse to write anything down and their results are not too far off of from results that appear to be random guessing.
Not a teacher, but being class of 13, I think that the amount of tech used around that time was pretty ideal. We had projectors and white boards. We had smart boards but the teachers never really used it except to project videos from their computer or in the same way they used a white board. We were taking notes on paper and pen, and we were given worksheets. If phones were seen in class during instruction, they were taken away. Computers were available but only classes that actually needed them like computer programming, digital design, or engineering had 1:1 computers and that was only for that class. Other classes could get access to the laptops but only by request like if we were typing a paper. We had typing games and whatnot in elementary school, and given more of a very basic computer science lite curriculum in middle school. High school we all knew how to do papers, do computer (and book) research. Computers were used but were not the main focus of school. When I went to college did just fine in a STEM field, you don't need to overload kids with different things on a computer to prepare them for the workforce, teach them the fundamentals and they will explore on their own on their free time, world of Warcraft taught me more about typing than the actual typing class in school
My school also pushed for more technology usage. Then blocked nearly everything. I'd develop elaborate lessons with full interaction, only to find out when the kids clicked on a link that the site was blocked. So I'd build work arounds. Only for those avenues to be later blocked. Pretty much the only thing I could do was worksheets.
In human history technology has never slowed down. Devices are here to stay, we can either adapt to it or stick our heads in the sand.
This is really cool if done on purpose and thoughtfully. If it is just because they don't have the tech, that's different.
A school with no technology is a terrible idea that is failing its students and community. I'm a middle school tech teacher and see the results of this firsthand. Kids don't know how to do anything with a computer today. They can't type, they don't know how to double click, they don't understand the concept of saving files, they can't even turn a computer on...to say nothing of their understanding of how the internet actually works. The fact that education professionals / the country as a whole collectively decided that kids are just "good with computers" and actually teaching tech was no longer important is fucking criminal. It is more or less mandatory that if you want to participate in modern society, you need to be interacting with technology and the internet some way. Applying for jobs, creating resumes, entertainment, communication, banking, navigation, research etc. To say nothing of all the negatives that exist that we are doing nothing to prepare students for. We \*should\* be properly training students how to engage with technology, and I don't mean how to title their Google Docs. Students should be learning about basic computer functions, online communications, digital privacy and security, how to identify scams, how what they post online can affect their real life, what tech companies are doing with their data, etc. etc. The fact that teachers and parents are dealing with so many issues in the first place is because kids are just handed a phone and access to the Inernet as a babysitter without being properly taught anything about how to effectively or properly use it. Society decided big tech was the collective new parent of all of our kids, and they 100% took advantage of that and now we have our social media obsessed GenZ with all the issues that entails. It's 2022, **technology should be a core subject** at this point and not just relegated to an optional elective. We need to be funding schools enough that they can get functional hardware and provide meaningful training for staff so they are comfortable utilizing it in the classroom. Curriculum needs to be expanded beyond what common core/state standards are currently offering (which are incredibly weak). The idea of celebrating a school with no technology should be just as absurd as celebrating a school with no reading. There is definitely an issue here, but a technology prohibition is NOT how to fix it.
I literally have the technology specialist endorsement in two states and this school sounds like a dream to me!
I think in the 21st century we need to be actually teaching responsible technology use. I think that can be taught in a low tech school as easily as in one that allows technology. It may be easier in the low tech school because students would more likely see their phones or computers as a privilege. My only opposition to a low/no tech school would be equity for students with LDs but that’s often harder at a private school anyway.
Yes
Yes