Technology~Classroom for the Future

Report: School-Issued Computers ‘Spy’ on Children Without Parental Consent

I believe we must respect the basic right of all human beings to learn in person and in relationship to one another; central to this process is a live teacher who is present and active in all aspects of educating. Students also deserve an education where they are free to think and explore independently without fear of being profiled and commoditized by the data they generate. "A new report finds that, under the guise of “personalized learning,” school-issued computer devices — now distributed to one-third of K-12 students in schools across the United States — are serving to collect and store an unprecedented amount of personal data on children without their parents’ notice or consent."

Our children need our school board trustees and parents to stand in defense of their right to privacy and their interests before experimentation, innovation and public/private partnerships.

HPISD writes, "Integrating technology into the classroom has long been a HPISD priority." Is anyone asking, "Why?"

The classroom of the future aligns with TASA's Vision of integrating technology for teaching and learning.

The page on the right outlining TASA's vision says the following in regard to technology and the role it should play in our schools, "Virtual learning should become the norm in every community to meet the needs of students who prefer such an environment. The secondary credit system should be expanded beyond school walls so that any place/time learning, including virtual learning, are equally valued and supported."

TASA’s technology plans diminish student teacher interaction that is vital to learning. I want to keep teachers teaching- not reduce their role to facilitating.

In the year 2016 alone, HPISD invested millions of dollars in technology for its classrooms as well as professional development for teachers to use this technology. The "Learner for the Future” adopted by HPISD and supported by my opponent, praises how technology is integrated into the space and also how the facility is a learning tool. Technology is an experimental theory of education that has never been tried, tested and proven successful in teaching children. In this article, Gretchen Logue poses the issues parents and school board trustees should also be considering:

"If increased technology has not increased academic achievement and/or outcomes, then school board members must be asked why they vote for large expenses without research/data proving they will indeed increase educational outcomes.”
“If they vote to implement these technological expenses, taxpayers must hold them accountable when they ask for more money ‘for the kids’.
Who knows if Chromebooks will be successful in the intended outcomes? It’s more and more likely that iPads are a thing of the past (it’s difficult to use them for Common Core assessment testing) so will the next expensive item on school board agendas for technology be Chromebooks?
Where is the research/data showing their effectiveness in raising student achievement/outcomes?"

The below quote from a Time Magazine article titled, "Screens in Schools are a $60 Billion Hoax", focuses on student screen time and shows how the money to be made from technology far outweighs the well-being of our students. It states, "The screen revolution has seen pedagogy undergo a seismic shift as technology now dominates the educational landscape. In almost every classroom in America today, you will find some type of screen—smartboards, Chromebooks, tablets, smartphones. From inner-city schools to those in rural and remote towns, we have accepted tech in the classroom as a necessary and beneficial evolution in education. This is a lie."

How much technology in the classroom is too much? Who is financially benefiting from the instructional materials and methods being used in the classroom? How does investing in technology benefit student academic outcomes? (The profile name has been cropped to protect the name of the HP teacher posting this picture on social media.)