Student Reading Ability Spikes After Removing Tech From Class

[old dog]

Who woulda thunk it?

Maureen Mulvaney, an AP Literature and English teacher at Washburn High School in Minneapolis, started the low tech experiment last year after becoming frustrated with plagiarism, distracted students, and plunging literacy rates.

And so, with the enthusiastic support of parents, she banned phones and laptops, requiring all coursework to be done with pencil and paper. The turnaround was quick and resounding, and despite some initial resistance from students, they quickly fell in love with the old, analog ways of doing things.

In September, before the experiment started, just 46 percent of Mulvaney’s students said they felt confident about their reading ability. By February, that share shot up to 95 percent.

“We’re having a lot of trouble in education and I think what my kids told us was that there is a solution and the solution is to go low-tech. Go back to the old ways of doing things,” Mulvaney told local TV news station KARE 11. “Remove all the distractions and we can get our kids back.”

https://futurism.com/future-society/students-reading-improves-no-tech-class

[Billy_Bob]

Getting back to basics! Who would have thought this? Use the books and get away from all the electronics that totally distract.

[GeneRaider]

When I was in college we were just moving from the slide rule to the handheld calculator. To me it is unthinkable that smartphones would be allowed in class because they are communication devices, not specifically learning aids.

[old dog]

ease of use -> neglect of basic skills -> dependence -> control

[Kodiak]

ease of use -> neglect of basic skills -> dependence -> control

No doubt. Why learn anything when you can just ask your phone?

[Billy_Bob]

When I was in college we were just moving from the slide rule to the handheld calculator. To me it is unthinkable that smartphones would be allowed in class because they are communication devices, not specifically learning aids.

It's rather interesting today, this phone we carry in our hands has more computing power than the computer used on the moon missions.

Today complex computations can be run on these devices we carry in our hands. But that also means it's very easy to become distracted and not learn how to do things with your mind. This makes you totally useless should we lose these devices.

When I was in school not only did we have to show that we could operate a slide rule, but we had to show that we could do the math, in long form if necessary.

[FNguy]

Well they don't let you use a calculator while learning how to do multiplication by hand for a reason.

[GrumpyOldEngineer]

When I was in college we were just moving from the slide rule to the handheld calculator. To me it is unthinkable that smartphones would be allowed in class because they are communication devices, not specifically learning aids.

In my junior year of High School (1979/1980), our science teachers allowed us to use calculators in class. In my actual math classes (Advanced Algebra and Trigonometry), calculators were not allowed. The logic for allowing them for science classes was that they were NOT testing our ability to perform math operations. They were testing out ability to solve chemistry and physics problems. My Trig teacher didn't allow us to use calculators in class. We had to use all of the old Trig Tables to obtain Trig function ratios. I had the same teacher for Physics. She taught us how to use a slide rule but I haven't used one since.

[GeneRaider]

In my junior year of High School (1979/1980), our science teachers allowed us to use calculators in class. In my actual math classes (Advanced Algebra and Trigonometry), calculators were not allowed. The logic for allowing them for science classes was that they were NOT testing our ability to perform math operations. They were testing out ability to solve chemistry and physics problems. My Trig teacher didn't allow us to use calculators in class. We had to use all of the old Trig Tables to obtain Trig function ratios. I had the same teacher for Physics. She taught us how to use a slide rule but I haven't used one since.

That was my thought but I had a real bastard for Chemistry and he forbid the use of calculators. That was the only class I ever failed. The guy never wrote anything on the blackboard he flipped up projections of the most complex formulas and expected us to copy them. I retook the course and got a B with a good professor.

[GrumpyOldEngineer]

That was my thought but I had a real bastard for Chemistry and he forbid the use of calculators. That was the only class I ever failed. The guy never wrote anything on the blackboard he flipped up projections of the most complex formulas and expected us to copy them. I retook the course and got a B with a good professor.

I came across such a bastard Chemistry professor in my first semester of college except he did allow calculators. My grandfather passed away and I had to miss class to attend his funeral. Silly me, I thought that going to the professor in advance to inform him of this would help. He gave unannounced quizzes and I requested the chance to take a make up quiz in the event that he gave one. He said that he would consider it. Well...I found out that he did give a quiz and I asked if I could make it up. He just smiled and said, "No." For his sake, I hope that he came to terms with the warm and crispy place he secured for himself in the herafter.

I had this same professor in my Chemistry Lab. We were taking a weight/mass measurement with a System Balance that had a resolution of X.XXXX grams (one-ten-thousandth of a gram). My measurement came out to something like 5.2000 grams. Those last zeros would be unbelievable if you didn't see them yourself. Before I proceeded, I called him over to look at it and confirm it, which he did, and in front of him, I took the names to two witnesses just in case he decided to claim that I made it up later. He didn't try to pull another asshole move on me on that one. He was an asshole into the marrow of his bones.

[PeteS in CA]

Calculators, even 4-bangers, were not available when I was in high school. I think the first 4-banger I knew of was at DeVry, a student had paid $400 for it. At DeVry, at that time, we used slide-rules until scientific calculators became available (e.g. the HP 35) and affordable (the HP 35 and 45 were not, but some bought them). My first calculator was a used TI SR-10, four functions plus square root. A bit later, I got a Casio scientific calculators, which had more functions than I ever needed or used. I still have that Casio, but it came without an AC adapter, so it was a battery eater. We were allowed to use calculators, as the point was not our Math skills but knowing and using the pertinent equations.

[Billy_Bob]

I actually had some decent teachers throughout college. Of course mine was kind of broken up over span of about 30 years.

The need for prerequisite courses really changed how things worked. Suddenly you had already proven your ability to do math computations etc, and the professors beyond those prerequisites then allowed you to use the technology available.

There were a few kids who had photographic memories in our class and those kids didn't have to struggle at all, or at least in my view they didn't. Some of us had to work very hard to get the grades we earned.

I'm too old to worry about this stuff. Now it's teaching the younger people what they're not being taught in school so that they understand why what they're being taught is wrong. Now that politics has entered every region of schooling it's become very difficult to get someone who actually understands or knows what they're talking about.

[2cent]

One thing Rush used to say, and I can't agree more... Generally speaking children rarely do more than what you expect of them.

[GrumpyOldEngineer]

I actually had some decent teachers throughout college. Of course mine was kind of broken up over span of about 30 years.

The need for prerequisite courses really changed how things worked. Suddenly you had already proven your ability to do math computations etc, and the professors beyond those prerequisites then allowed you to use the technology available.

There were a few kids who had photographic memories in our class and those kids didn't have to struggle at all, or at least in my view they didn't. Some of us had to work very hard to get the grades we earned.

I'm too old to worry about this stuff. Now it's teaching the younger people what they're not being taught in school so that they understand why what they're being taught is wrong. Now that politics has entered every region of schooling it's become very difficult to get someone who actually understands or knows what they're talking about.

They kept me around to mentor my replacements.

[PassingLane]

It's rather interesting today, this phone we carry in our hands has more computing power than the computer used on the moon missions.

Today complex computations can be run on these devices we carry in our hands. But that also means it's very easy to become distracted and not learn how to do things with your mind. This makes you totally useless should we lose these devices.

When I was in school not only did we have to show that we could operate a slide rule, but we had to show that we could do the math, in long form if necessary.

The moon shot was done with a 16K computer which locked up on land an a human had to take control and land the lunar lander.