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Brian C. Smith

Computer Science Should Supplement, not Supplant Science Education - 0 views

  • In the integrated STEM classroom, using the principles of NGSS, educators are working to seek out real-world, relevant, authentic problems that would be of interest to students and ask them to apply computational thinking to solve the problem using data analysis, visualization, seeking patterns, and computation.
  • And as everyone knows, time in the school schedule is VERY limited and providing computer science as on a separate track cuts the instructional time pie even more, and sets up another silo in high schools.
Martin Leicht

It's 'digital heroin': How screens turn kids into psychotic junkies | New York Post - 0 views

    • Martin Leicht
       
      Signs/signals being sent to the parent. "It's educational" is a reasonable excuse, yet does it trump parenting technique/skill?
  • As his behavior continued to deteriorate, she tried to take the game away but John threw temper tantrums. His outbursts were so severe that she gave in, still rationalizing to herself over and over again that “it’s educational.”
    • Martin Leicht
       
      Is too much of any one thing, e.g., baseball, food, study, computers, etc., a good idea?
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  • Many parents intuitively understand that ubiquitous glowing screens are having a negative effect on kids. We see the aggressive temper tantrums when the devices are taken away and the wandering attention spans when children are not perpetually stimulated by their hyper-arousing devices.
  • Recent brain imaging research is showing that they affect the brain’s frontal cortex — which controls executive functioning, including impulse control — in exactly the same way that cocaine does. Technology is so hyper-arousing that it raises dopamine levels — the feel-good neurotransmitter most involved in the addiction dynamic — as much as sex.
  • “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” to be especially true when it comes to tech addiction.
    • Martin Leicht
       
      When do we as parents act? Or is it more a partnership going forward? Yes, we (schools) asked students to use these devices. And we must do are bit to help students manage/cope. At the same time, parents need to be aware too. I know we all want to be liked as parents. In today's modern family, life is complex. Yet, I come to the conclusion that I am not my son's friend. There's going to be a lot of actions/directives he will not like. And yes, I will need to do a lot of work to get us through it, yet isn't that my job as a parent to deal with the changes as they come in order to guide him toward adulthood?
  • According to a 2013 Policy Statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics, 8- to 10 year-olds spend 8 hours a day with various digital media while teenagers spend 11 hours in front of screens. One in three kids are using tablets or smartphones before they can talk
    • Martin Leicht
       
      1 in 3 before they can talk are using tablets? Okay, this is an interesting statement. Is it supervised use? How long? I would ask the question, why? We as parents make a lot of interesting choices as parents and we all need to stop and reflect on those choices often. If it is before they can talk, then it is definitely not the school asking/requiring the device.
  • Once a person crosses over the line into full-blown addiction — drug, digital or otherwise — they need to detox before any other kind of therapy can have any chance of being effective.
  • So how do we keep our children from crossing this line? It’s not easy.
  • That means Lego instead of Minecraft; books instead of iPads; nature and sports instead of TV
    • Martin Leicht
       
      Great strategy, active parenting. I would suggest, cooking, surfing, and any activity involving ones hands. Of course, do parents have time for this?
  • When I speak to my 9-year-old twin boys, I have honest conversations with them about why we don’t want them having tablets or playing video games.
    • Martin Leicht
       
      I like the "conversations" point. Not one, many conversations.
    • Martin Leicht
       
      Another great strategy. I would add, the conversation is on going. The author references the distracted parent syndrome above, that one is key!
  • Developmental psychologists understand that children’s healthy development involves social interaction, creative imaginative play and an engagement with the real, natural world.
    • Martin Leicht
       
      Moderation, no? Does not the standby wisdom that everything in moderation apply here too?
  • Thus the solution is often to help kids to connect to meaningful real-life experiences and flesh-and-blood relationships. The engaged child tethered to creative activities and connected to his or her family is less likely to escape into the digital fantasy world.
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    Yeah, this is why the Reggio Emilia Approach and maker-centered learning is excellent. The blending of the digital and physical world to learn nearly anything on any topic and beyond. Kids might spend more time with devices in activities stemming from maker-centered learning, but it isn't all on the device and it provides alternative ways of knowing, understanding, and doing. We, the adults, are ultimately responsible for creating the conditions for this to be so. Papert has taught us this decades ago. I don't know why we don't study his work among the others that have known this for a very long time. Isn't it time to do so with the technology group?
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