The Dangerous Push For More Technology In Schools

The Dangerous Push For More Technology In Schools
By Dr. Devra Davis, Opinion, ibtimes.com, 19 October 2019

A legacy of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, Title 1 schools, are located in some of the poorest neighborhoods in this nation. More than half of all schools in America are eligible for special funding to enhance educational programming and community engagement. Over half of the covered students are in elementary schools, with one in every eight in preschool and kindergarten. Riddled with violent crime, environmental contamination, and limited expectations, disproportionately jailed teens from these schools are poorly prepared for the technologically-based job market.

As a result, they face the highest unemployment rate as young adults.

If there ever were a Trojan Horse of public education, it is stabled with technologists now generously giving away Virtual Reality and other fun tech toys. Verizon, Google, and others have donated hundreds of millions in educational resources with no recognition that microwave wireless radiation should not be used close to the brains of young children. Betsy Devos, the current Secretary of Education, leads national efforts to sell local school districts on the capacity of charter schools to innovate in the use of laptops for students from preschool through primary school and high school.

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Schools Pushed for Tech in Every Classroom. Now Parents Are Pushing Back.

Schools spent millions of dollars on devices and programs; some question how much it’s helping

Schools pushed for tech in every classroom. Now parents are pushing back.
by Betsy Morris and  Tawnell D. Hobbs, wsj.com, Sept. 3, 2019 **

Teachers at an elementary school in Montgomery County,
Md.  Photo: Greg Kahn for the Wall Street Journal

When Baltimore County, Md., public schools began going digital five years ago, textbooks disappeared from classrooms and paper and pencils were no longer encouraged. All students from kindergarten to 12th grade would eventually get a laptop, helping the district reach the “one-to-one” ratio of one for each child that has become coveted around the country. Teaching apps and digital courses took the place of flashcards and notebooks.

Despite the investment, academic results have mostly slipped in the district of about 115,000 students.

Over the last decade, American schools embraced technology, spending millions of dollars on devices and apps, believing its disruptive power would help many children learn faster, stay in school and be more prepared for a competitive economy. Now many parents and teachers are starting to wonder if all the disruption was a good idea.

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Phones Buzz in Class—With Texts From Mom and Dad

Phones Buzz in Class—With Texts From Mom and Dad - Schools are instituting phone bans to cut down on classroom distractions; ‘My mother texts me all the time’
By Julie Jargon, wsj.com, Updated 3 Sept. 2019 - extracts from article

Illustration: Veronica Grech

Cellphone usage in class is getting so out of control that some schools are locking up students’ phones during the day. Here’s a notification for you parents: You’re partly to blame.

Students, teachers and administrators say parents light up their kids’ phones throughout the day with text messages. Students tell me they feel obligated to reply to their parents quickly, even if the text isn’t urgent.

“Out of all people, you’d think your parents don’t want you on your phone,” said Darya Iranmanesh, a 16-year-old in Lexington, Mass. “My mother texts me all the time.”

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New Law Asks California Schools Ban Smartphones In Classrooms

New Law Asks California Schools Ban Smartphones In Classrooms
gooddaysacramento.cbslocal.com, 8 July 2019

(Photo): Pupils using mobile phone at the elementary school during recreation time. Group of multiethnic children sitting in a row and typing a message on smartphone. Young boys and girls playing with cellphone.

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – California public and charter schools can now ban students from using smartphones in class and at school, except under certain circumstances.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 272 in early July.

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Switzerland: Smartphones Definitively Banned from Schools in Canton Vaud

Switzerland: Smartphones definitively banned from schools in canton Vaud
rts.ch/info, 26 June 2019 - translation

Mobile phones will be banned during classes, breaks, school outings and camps for Waldensian schoolchildren in canton Vaud until 11P [age 15]. The Training Department made this decision after a pilot experiment that was deemed successful.

Since the start of the 2018-2019 academic year, ten schools have been testing such a ban. In concrete terms, schoolchildren must turn off and store smartphones and connected personal devices during school hours, says the Department of Training, Youth and Culture (DFJC) on Thursday.

Described as beneficial by "almost all the actors concerned", the experience will be extended to all pupils in the compulsory cycle from the next school year onwards. Parents will benefit from advice on the use of the screens that will be added to the agenda as of the beginning of the August school year.

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