The following video documents a project in the Bronx where students are given laptops and much of their school work (in the classroom and out) is done on Google Docs or using other resources.
Interesting changes happen.
The number of students at grade level in math increases from single digits to over half. That is an astounding difference, proving that in some cases environment contributes to a HUGE proportion of variation in intelligence as tested, in this case, by evaluations of math skills.
The teachers have realized they had been asking students to do something they themselves are incapable of doing, and have shifted their emphasis to include multi tasking as something the students are expected to do and also need to be good at.
Big brother really does exist and can creep into the system at any time. And when I say creep, I mean... well, just pay close attention to what happens at just after 4:30 on this video. Wow.
Hat tip: Joe, from Dvorak.
Education
Technology
Comments
That's not 'big-brother' any more than a teacher walking around during class looking over the students shoulders is. Unlike the recent case in Pennsylvania, these laptops are for class room use only and the students have (or should have been told that they have) no expectation of privacy while using them.
Also note that the supervisor is not using the camera to watch the student. He's looking at the students desktop which shows that the student is watching themselves using the camera.
I do think it would be more honest if the students screen gave some indication that their machine was being monitored.
Posted by: NoAstronomer | March 2, 2010 4:58 PM
At least they're not setting off klaxons.
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/setting-off-alarm-bells-at-work/
Posted by: Rich Wilson | March 2, 2010 5:54 PM
In a school in the Bronx, I would imagine that these laptops would be left at school, not taken home, because many students would probably lose them if they brought them home. So there probably isn't much need to fear that these laptops could be used to spy on kids like at that school in Pennsylvania. It does look like the administrator has access to the webcam though - look at the student who was actually working at 5:50, you could see him.
Posted by: Gary | March 2, 2010 6:38 PM
The teacher admits she "can't work for an hour" with distractions? Pathetic. What a bad example for the kids. Too often in education, excessive multitasking is the problem, not the solution.
Posted by: SteveN | March 2, 2010 6:41 PM
It is not clear that the laptops are taken home or kept in school. Did I miss something in the video? Does anyone actually know this? Seemingly, it would matter.
Posted by: Irene | March 2, 2010 9:09 PM
@Irene -- Around the 2:40 mark, you see the students taking the laptops out of, what appears to be, a file cabinet. The implication is that they don't take them home.
Posted by: James | March 3, 2010 8:16 AM
also, the kids are aware of the monitoring. they showed one student ducking the camera. the teachers send out messages telling them to get back to work etc.
it is a different level of monitoring than connecting with students computers when they are at home doing teenager stuff in their bedrooms *unaware* that they are being monitored.
so, it is more like annoying little brother pestering you than the Orwellian version.
Posted by: rob | March 3, 2010 1:42 PM
Even after the laptops, only 62% of the kids are performing at grade level math. I realize that this is a move in a positive direction, but are our expectations that low?
Posted by: merkin | March 3, 2010 6:16 PM
The monitoring software used, Apple Remote Desktop, by default displays an icon in the menu bar to signal that you are being watched. That can be disabled however. I couldn't quite see whether it had been disabled in that case.
Posted by: Jean-Denis | March 4, 2010 3:58 AM
only 62% of the kids are performing at grade level math.
Actually, I'm pretty sure that puts them in the range of a "high performing school." Also, I think the point is that they did thine one thing and got a ten fold improvement. I'm not sure how that can fail to impress.
Posted by: Greg Laden | March 4, 2010 2:03 PM
In my relatively short career in secondary education (6 years), I still don't have a clear explanation of what it means to be 'at grade level'. I think it can either mean the level of mastery that all students at a grade level are supposed to possess, or it can mean the expectations of the average student for that grade. (Coming from a science background rather than the usual education degree route, that kind of imprecision really bugs me.)
In either case, that is a tremendous improvement as Greg points out. You very rarely see that kind of dramatic improvement in test scores at a school.
Posted by: JasonTD | March 4, 2010 4:22 PM
Allow me to ask thee what thy one thing was.
Posted by: Bill James | March 4, 2010 5:23 PM
Bill: Watch the video and go to the link and read it.
Posted by: Greg Laden | March 4, 2010 8:52 PM
I did that Greg and seen several things. So I'm curious as to what you picked out as the one thing.
Posted by: Bill James | March 4, 2010 10:09 PM
We are probably just constructing our lists differently. What are the several things you saw?
Posted by: Greg Laden | March 4, 2010 10:46 PM
I assume the students had to sign something when they were given these showing that they would be monitored...
Posted by: Rokkaku | March 5, 2010 7:21 AM
In any event, they should not be monitored for fun.
Posted by: Teddy | March 5, 2010 9:43 AM
Yes, no... I didn't see it as one thing but an amalgam and you stated "one thing" in reference to the the sum of parts... or list as it were, now clarified apparently. There was no one specific thing. If only that were true we could take afternoon swims in our riches.
The construction of our lists are probably similar although interpretive differences may arise. I wonder for example if the lions share of gains realized were the outcome of computerization or redoubled efforts to teach? I realize this question need not be either/or but there is an important distinction to be made given base populations and budgets in allocations balance between infrastructure and human resources.
Posted by: Bill James | March 5, 2010 3:09 PM