To be sick of school directly undermining me

@LainaDelBoyseriously. Join unplug scot. It’s all on there

Is your research published anywhere @DrBlackbird or do you have links to other good articles? I would love to read more. I am not a fan of EdTech for interventions and extra evidence to back up teachers over tech would be helpful in a setting where others are pushing for efficiency over effectiveness.

This is not the case in my school in England. We looked at ebooks but decided to stick with real books but the ebooks subscription was significantly cheaper than buying and replacing real books.

My (scottish) school sounds similar, but I don't think it is as bad as you are fearing.

They use "sumdog" for maths, but it's just one tool to gamify maths - not the only maths teaching.

They do watch a bit of TV - newsround, number blocks, etc.

If it is a wet day, they sometimes do indoor PE as Just Dance or a yoga class, but more often they are outside.

They seem to spend a lot of time making power point presentations about random things, but they also make posters, etc.

So, it is a tool that they use, but part of a range of teaching methods.

Also, in P1, they were mostly learning through play. Very free flowing, little formal teaching.

I think you might be shocked at how slowly they learn to read, compared to down south. My school didn't seem at all fussed about pushing that too hard for the first few years, and I was worried about how slowly they were progressing. But then it was like they flicked a switch, and my DC went from not being able to read, to reading for hours every day.

These software subscriptions alone can costs hundreds of thousands of pounds for a
licence that lasts 2-5 years. There are procurement docs in public domain in our local authority (in Scotland) that confirm this. Not to mention the device hardware costs. I doubt there is any money being saved.

Schools can’t afford real books as they go home and don’t come back or if they do they’ve been damaged by being left in the garden or spilt drinks on. Ebooks don’t need replacing. Many schemes like ‘mastery maths’ are based around Numberblocks and it’s usual for children to watch little videos from BBC bitesize etc to enhance learning.

It’s not how things are, it’s how some schools are using the tools.

At our primary we get passwords for things like Numbots and Tt rockstars which they are expected to use at home but I do it on my phone and monitor screen time appropriately. They are given a log in to a book store as you describe but I don’t use it as we have lots of books a t home and regularly use the library - but I can see how that is useful for a child from a family with few books and who don’t access the library.

My school doesn’t give out iPads. They sometimes use them in class for maths tests and for things like computing lessons. It’s good they are learning about the use and limits of AI. They need to understand it better than most adults currently do.

i also wouldn’t be that happy about what you’re describing OP. Have you looked at other schools to see if there a possibility of moving to one you’re happier with?

It happens a LOT to our son.
Hes a klutz/a complete disaster and has ADHD with no spatial awareness. His iPad has been dropped, stood on, “bricked” all sorts.
We refused point blank to sign for what is ultimately a very expensive paperweight, so the school are responsible for any and all repairs. We have said we don’t want lazy teachers, we don’t want him touching the iPad. But they insist, so we made it their problem. Frankly the cost of repairs will be nothing compared to the law suit we are currently planning.

Delete, sorry, wrong information.

I did quite a lot of research into the effectiveness of Ed tech for teaching children with dyslexia. The findings were clear and unambiguous ie that none of it led to any improvements in reading, writing or comprehension. It’s not rocket science, but the only intervention that made any difference was 1:1 time with a well trained teacher.

As education publishing firms saw their revenues drop as schools stopped using textbooks, they pivoted to Ed tech but it does not result in improved student learning. Far from it. It has, on balance, a negative effect.

Edited to add link to BBC article on Sweden reverting to paper and pen: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly0vk77vdko

I knew from the first post this would be Scotland….

Parents have to sign to say they will pay for repairs before their child can take it home. If you don’t sign your child’s iPad stays in school.

Local authorities schools in Scotland. NO OPT OUT.

@LainaDelBoyits great you have put this here because all the disbelief echoes what so many of us have been saying and the more awareness the better.

again, I’d urge and recommend any of you who want to know more and help to join unplug Scotland. It’s a website which you then link to a WhatsApp group. The experiences and data are terrifying. And I’m not a tech free house.

Sounds very odd. What sort of school is this?

There’s no need for any of it though is there?

Wow this is depressing to read!

what would happen if the ipads were to be accidentally broken?

Absolutely this!

Tech has it's place, but children learn best when using their bodies to write, hold books, play physically etc. it's to do with how their brains work when they are young. To remove pencil and paper is to the detriment of their learning.

We just don't do app based homework tasks.

Yes, it is. BUT all the local authority schools in Scotland are the same. Particularly as OP is unlikely to be able to move to a different authority, more likely a different school in same authority, with same iPad usage.

Granted I'm not in Scotland (England) but I'm quite shocked that (a) they literally give every kid an ipad - surely that's a huge upfront cost!?; and (b) that so much learning is done on an ipad at such a young age!

For comparison, my youngest is 5 and now in Yr 1 (so second year in primary school) and whilst I'm aware they sometimes watch Numberblocks/Alphablocks on the interactive whiteboard, they haven't used ipads or anything themselves yet. Most work is done on paper, or whiteboards so far. We've had actual books for reading at home, which are part of the schools' adopted reading scheme.

My eldest is in the final year of primary (Yr6). We have used 2 apps for homework so far, and these were introduced in Yr4 - Times Table Rock Stars and a special homework app where the teacher sets maths and english comprehension questions weekly. We have to use our own devices for this and log in.

Normal in Scotland.