Connecticut is borrowing 25 million dollars to specifically "provide a grant-in-aid to various school districts statewide for the purchase of computers, tablets and other electronic devices in order to meet the requirements of Common Core. All capital purchases meet the Smarter Balanced Technology Strategy Framework and System Requirements Specifications to ensure that local districts are test-ready."
My town received $202,575 of that money. Recently at a PTO meeting our Superintendent admitted that he was surprised to have received it, since typically "towns like ours" do not get such grants, that those grants "usually go to more urban areas". Which basically means that districts that are more cash-strapped will not be getting more help to purchase all this equipment than the rest of the state. Nevertheless, the money is here, and my town plans to "provide all grade 7 and 8 students with Chromebooks to use throughout the school day in order to access the learning resources, Google Drive, and the Internet as needed in every class."
A while back I posted a link to an article about my town's purchase to a Facebook group I'm part of, expressing concerns about these things. I commented "No word from my kiddo yet on whether they will be allowed to bring them home. If not, I will have to buy him his own and refuse to allow him to use the school's." People kept asking what the problem was with allowing my son to use it.
My response:
There are several issues. 13yo is already using online websites where the school has him use his real name, so I have privacy concerns. (Chromebooks aside, Google is already collecting lots of information about my kids via Google Docs since everything they do is submitted to teachers that way. So Google has a nice collection of all my kids' papers and opinions on a whole slew of topics.)
There is no way my kiddo will use the thing for school stuff only, even during school hours. So now the school will also have information about his surfing habits and interests.
Also, I will have no way to know what he's working on at school if he is not allowed to bring it home. Chromebooks that can't come home represent more and more parental exclusion from our kids' educations. This has already been a problem with Social Studies since in that class there are no textbooks, no worksheets, and only my kiddo to tell me what's going on in his classroom.
And now, a month later, I'm reading an article that states:
Rival Google wants in on the game on the taxpayers’ dime, too.
The company’s “Chromebooks,” which use a cloud-based operating system mimicking the Google Chrome browser, are gaining market share rapidly. While they are cheaper than iPads, they depend on reliable WiFi. Google offers a suite of Google Apps for Education (GAFE) for “free.”
Google can collect student/family data to target ads through related services outside the GAFE suite, such as YouTube for Schools, Blogger and Google Plus. These are not covered under the already watered-down federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Under the Obama administration, Grand Canyon-sized loopholes in FERPA have already opened data mining to third-party private entities.
One parent shared her kids’ experience with the Chromebooks online: “The biggest problems to date are that kids figured out quickly how to bypass security so they could look at non-approved web material… Many preferred traditional textbooks; others resented the teachers being able to spy on them with the software embedded in the Chromebook.”
Another savvy mom noted: “If you think Google won’t be handing over any and all data it gets from your kids using their Chromebooks, you’re nuts.”
My concerns stand. And others are finally waking up to the problem.
Are you?
Very concerned as well. Our town received 'Grant money' to purchase computers for our school so they will be ready for the SBAC ths Spring. The Superintendent spun it as, 'Isnt it great? It's a grant & not coming from you, the tax payer. Yippee!'
ReplyDeleteI don't know any details regarding these new computers. It seemed that they will be for school use only. I'm not even sure what type of computers they will be.
I was also told that we cannot opt out of testing. We'll see about that
Actually...
ReplyDeleteYou can easily log onto his account and see everything. You can also log onto the browser and see ever site he has been on...although I would not recommend either :)
I suppose the school can theoretically collect browsing data, but so can your internet company at home, or any hotel that you stay at.
Also with google accounts, and I suppose this depends on how your system sets up the account, the kid usually gets somewhat of a coded name -- 23bflanagan@cheshireschools.org -- that account is not connected with the school database with health records, grades, etc. I am also not clear how google can get info from google account and connect it to your home computer to show you ads. Ads don't cross accounts, and there are no ads in google apps for ed.
The reality is that chromebooks, in the right classroom, can actually be used to empower kids to make them more resistant to corporate take over of ed. Would you rather have kids creating awesome things and being able individualize on their chromebooks, or following the script that comes along with the corporate textbook that tells a warped version of US History?
Funny how I have no issue with google everything, but I would never get a stop and shop card :) At least with a chromebook I get something, at S&S they get my info and I receive nothing in return (yes you can get the sale prices without a card!).
I am also huge proponent of using real names on websites or simply not using websites all. If you are going to say something, you should own it. When kids used coded names there was even more destructive behavior online.
Believe it or not I don;t have a problem with me using a site for free, and them using my information to try to sell me something. I feel as though I am still getting the better deal. What I have been able to "get" is worth much more than what they have "received" from me. The line is crossed when the info on my kids is used to predict who they will be, and their education and opportunities change as a result of that.
Chromebooks will not change the education your kids receive, it will amplify the school culture. Using Chromebooks as a strategy is not where the battle line is, it is on the culture in the classroom. Yep...privacy issues. But in the right class kids walk out powerful. That doesn't happen walking out of a class of worksheets in a room in which everything was paper and pen and every assignment was intended for the garbage can. There is a difference between a class that dumps all their notebooks in recycling at the end of the year, and one that can look back and see the global impact and connections they have made.
The reality is that classes that preserve all privacy usually have kids singing all the same note. Classes that have computers (again, in the hands of the right teacher) have their kids singing many notes...and that is when you can get harmony.
Too late..gotta go, good post.
Hmm. Paul, thanks for that thought-provoking response. Sincerely. You are a teacher I trust and not many other teachers are willing talk about all this.
ReplyDelete