tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175562867822111389.post8540473267226263770..comments2023-11-03T07:29:16.334+00:00Comments on The Potty Diaries: 21st Century LearningPotty Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04751869800592294891noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175562867822111389.post-58502971582522219282014-11-24T11:49:30.135+00:002014-11-24T11:49:30.135+00:00Hi NVG, I suspect it will be because their intake...Hi NVG, I suspect it will be because their intake comes partly from international schools (either in the UK or elsewhere) and that - online testing - is what they are used to...<br /><br /><br />Seems like madness to me too but I suppose that's only way they can give all students and equal chance to show where their strengths lie (excluding the ability to write by hand on piece of A4 for more than 5 minutes at a time, obviously. I'm laughing - but I'm not, really...)pottymummynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175562867822111389.post-70131322914976140272014-11-24T10:44:47.468+00:002014-11-24T10:44:47.468+00:00I was going to say that, like Melissa, that I don&...I was going to say that, like Melissa, that I don't think the boys have that much screen time at their school. But then I saw this weekend's homework for Littleboy 2 (age 7). It was to complete a ten minute game on a BBC educational website and then answer questions about it....he did enjoy it and his brother was so interested that he even did the game too. But, yes, screen time all the same....<br /><br />Also, my nephew just did pre-tests for a couple of rather elite secondary schools in London. I was horrified to hear they were ALL multiple choice papers on a computer. Even for English. How can that be right??Nappyvalleygirlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175562867822111389.post-86320071408141181272014-11-20T20:21:52.752+00:002014-11-20T20:21:52.752+00:00Your school sounds like it has different approach ...Your school sounds like it has different approach to ours, Melissa. Every child at our school has access to an ipad or similar from 8, and at age 10/11 they are encouraged to bring their own laptop to school in case there aren't enough school-supplied ones to go around. They don't have 'IT' lessons any more it seems, because almost every lesson uses some form of it... <br /><br /><br />I don't like it, necessarily, but that's how it is.pottymummynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175562867822111389.post-52236978938027187302014-11-20T20:18:12.911+00:002014-11-20T20:18:12.911+00:00Good idea, but if your school is anything like our...Good idea, but if your school is anything like ours, I wish you luck selling it in to them!pottymummynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175562867822111389.post-2989243264482057712014-11-20T20:14:54.702+00:002014-11-20T20:14:54.702+00:00And that, Sally, is exactly the other point I want...And that, Sally, is exactly the other point I wanted to make when I wrote this post, but decided best not because it would make it too long - thanks so much for bringing it up. <br /><br /><br />It really concerns me that we are packaging kids' education into entertaining bite-sized pieces of knowledge in this way. What happens when they have to sit and consume long pieces of literature - the classics, for example - that whilst they may be incredible pieces of writing, don't meet most tweens and teens criteria for being something they will bother to read all the way to the end? Or when they need to learn long lists of foreign vocab, maths formulae, or historical facts by rote, or digest large text books to pass an exam for university? What if their chosen career - that of lawyer, for example - at the start of their training, requires them to read and understand long documents that would send most people to sleep, and we never taught them the skill of study?<br /><br /><br />Uh oh - you've got me started now... (I feel like Bloat in 'Finding Nemo'...)pottymummynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175562867822111389.post-37760706805701000432014-11-20T09:39:21.365+00:002014-11-20T09:39:21.365+00:00I asked my boys how much screen time they have at ...I asked my boys how much screen time they have at school. They have one 40 minute ICT lesson. They both go to computer programming club once a week (1 hour) but they are learning to code so a useful skill. My eldest son said very occasionally they have to use a computer for some research but it is rare. The younger one does maths for an hour once a week on a computer. So I don't think it's excessive at their school. The do spend too much time on screens at home. I have let them because i think they need downtime after a very busy school day, but have recently implemented a new rule that all screens are off at 7pm and they will then spend the next hour having a shower, playing a board game, chatting to me , having stories so that they wind down for bed.Melissa Talagohttp://www.melissatalago.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175562867822111389.post-29593466229818061742014-11-20T05:07:57.053+00:002014-11-20T05:07:57.053+00:00My daughter (who is 7) has 2 afternoons of ICT a w...My daughter (who is 7) has 2 afternoons of ICT a week. I know it's important for them to learn about technology but think it's way, way too much screen time. The school say they can't increase the amount of Mandarin the kids are being taught because there is no room in the curriculum. Well remove one afternoon of ICT et voila!21st Century Mummyhttp://21stcenturymummy.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175562867822111389.post-75857639821949335402014-11-20T00:06:58.614+00:002014-11-20T00:06:58.614+00:00Great post. It's an issue I've long though...Great post. It's an issue I've long thought about with Flea - in less sophisticated terms than you, I suspect, but for me it's the difference between 'lean back' and 'lean forward' learning - the thing about using those dusty books and pens and paper is that it forces children/students to discover, to explore, to actively engage with materials, even when it's boring and time-consuming and slow. And there are real benefits to that in terms of their development. <br /><br />All the evidence I've read over the years convinces me that apps and games may well be educational but they're lean back learning - yes, they're interactive but kids don't have to work for the learning, it's served to them in highly entertaining, consumable bites - they're constantly stimulated and evidence suggests that for young kids, in particular, this isn't the best learning methodology. <br /><br />In our family, we rarely had screen time at home when Flea was small - certainly no TV at home or screens before she was 5, at which point the school complained she couldn't use a mouse, and had told a teacher she didn't know how to use a remote control. <br /><br />These days, I know the school uses whiteboards in most lessons that are computer-based, and there's some IT used in lessons for research and apps, but home is very much not screen based, and there is always a period of reading, every day (actually, Flea is still way more likely to pick up a book than a video game or TV) but you're quite right - the screen time comes from school, not from us. Great post, sorry for the essay!Sallynoreply@blogger.com