We implemented a 1:1 initiative with iPad devices for 7th grade students this year. We are using Schoology as a tool for posting class announcements, homework, assignments and formative assessment. Teachers are providing many classroom resources electronically and students are using an app named Notability to take class notes and to annotate on classroom study guides, worksheets, etc. Social Studies and Spanish textbooks are in e-format on the device as well. And, as you might imagine, this age group of students is very social and highly interested in a variety of games such as Minecraft, Subway Surfer, etc. that they play during their "free" time.
Before the 1:1 initiative, students did not spend quite as many minutes "in front of a screen" during the school day, so at home, watching TV, using their home computers and playing video games was probably the total amount of screen time students encountered each day. Parents are inquiring about the amount of "screen time" that is being required from students now in school. How much is too much?
Here are a few articles on this topic:
"What Happens When Toddlers Zone Out with an iPad"
online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527023...391813961853988.html
Kids for years have sat too close to the television for too long or played hours of Madden on family room game players. But pediatric neuroscientists and researchers who have studied the effects of screen-time on children suggest the iPad is a different beast.
and this from the Huffington Post, ""A Screen Is a Screen Is a Screen" Is a Meme"
www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kleeman/a-s...n-is-a_b_792742.html
I'm looking for additional studies, or other's opinions/thoughts on this.
Thank you.
