Primary school children and laptops

[railsquid]

So, the Squidlet (aged 6) started primary school last month (here in the Land of the Rising Sun they start at 6 and the academic year from April), and today to my surprise he came home with an actual laptop (well a fairly robust-looking Chromebook) and some parental instructions for setting it up (mainly choosing a child-friendly password and instructing child on use thereof). It even, came, to my much more surprise, with its own internet dongle. Fortunately at no direct cost to the Railsquid household. But has me wondering - how widespread is this practice in other countries, and does it have any academic benefits at such a young age (beyond being useful in a lockdown situation, which we don't have here)?

[Steven B]

My tame five year old started reception class last September (ages 4-5). They've got a couple of PCs in the class room for use with educational games, and as they progress up the school they have access to an increasing number of PCs within class and the computer room for more formal learning of the use of computers.

One of the other primary schools we looked around had a trolley of laptops/Chromebooks that was shared between classes as and when needed.

Certainly there's no issuing of laptops by the school for home use.

Steven B.

[EtchedPixels]

It's not the norm in the UK - but there has been some of it trying to help out poorer families during lockdown (not enough hardware or budget to go around though - or for some of the kids even internet).

In our case the school issues high quality computing resources .. but that's because we homeschool

As to benefits - give a five year old a laptop and by the age of 7 they'll type like a pro and if allowed on things like some of the child friendly minecraft servers also have learned online social skills and to read/write a lot better. It's not entirely pain-free - you will have to deal with 'he stole my llama' and other social gaming existential catastrophes on the way. By ten they'll be able to set up a VPN to go around any filters you put in place, at 14 you won't even understand what tech they are talking about and they'll be well on the way to all the necessary skills for an IT world. A lot of the really good tech folks I know started very young - just like a lot of the very good anything-else people (musicians etc).

There is a whole body of work on self directed learning - a laptop or tablet is a gateway into the greatest library in the world and opportunities to learn all sorts of stuff out of curiosity. If you can make "I don't know, lets find out" into a thing it goes a long way.

[javlinfaw7]

My granddaughter's secondary school issued tablets to all pupils during lockdown , classes were  completed on line and attendance was taken with weekly participation reports sent to parents.
My other daughter is a primary school teacher and pre covid she was giving lessons to parents on use of  I.T. in the education of their children , again tablets were issued at her school.

[zwilnik]

As to benefits - give a five year old a laptop and by the age of 7 they'll type like a pro and if allowed on things like some of the child friendly minecraft servers also have learned online social skills and to read/write a lot better. It's not entirely pain-free - you will have to deal with 'he stole my llama' and other social gaming existential catastrophes on the way. By ten they'll be able to set up a VPN to go around any filters you put in place, at 14 you won't even understand what tech they are talking about and they'll be well on the way to all the necessary skills for an IT world. A lot of the really good tech folks I know started very young - just like a lot of the very good anything-else people (musicians etc).

There is a whole body of work on self directed learning - a laptop or tablet is a gateway into the greatest library in the world and opportunities to learn all sorts of stuff out of curiosity. If you can make "I don't know, lets find out" into a thing it goes a long way.

It also means they learn to save and do proper backups (usually the hard way) before they lose anything really important. I think most people end up learning that lesson the hard way after they lose hours/days/years of work the first time. So best to do it when it's relatively simple stuff.

[stevewalker]

By ten they'll be able to set up a VPN to go around any filters you put in place, at 14 you won't even understand what tech they are talking about and they'll be well on the way to all the necessary skills for an IT world. A lot of the really good tech folks I know started very young - just like a lot of the very good anything-else people (musicians etc).

Luckily I am pretty tech savvy - self taught through ZX-81, PET 2001, Spectrum, QL, PC. Running Windows PCs and a Linux server, plus programming Arduinos. Some programming during an Engineering degree and then more in a Computing MSc (never finished as the final year project was sabotaged by my girlfriend (now wife)'s father being diagnosed with terminal cancer, followed by us marrying and having kids in successive years) and these days working in the world of industrial control with PLCs and SCADA. However, my eldest son has far more knowledge of some areas and is off to university later this year (A-level results depending) for a 3 year degree in cyber security.

All three of my sons sound like a machine gun when typing.

[Bealman]

During my final years in the teaching game, all high school kids were issued with laptops, in what the NSW government called "the digital revolution."

I think it lasted about three years before the government woke up to what it was costing.

From a teaching point of view, they were a pain in the rectum. Kids would be constantly stuffing around on them instead of getting on with what you'd set them to do.

They'd also be left in the playgrounds or toilets. I picked four up during one recess!

If you did design a lesson around them, you can bet your bottom dollar that half your class had left them at home that day.... or so they told you.

Big  from me.... glad I got out of the game when I did.

[grumbeast]

I'm out of the teaching game (thank goodness) and hated laptops in class for the most part (although for teaching specialised compsci stuff they were awesome.

As for younger kids, the just is out I think.  My Daughter has been homeschooled / distance schooled for years now, and here in BC, the support for online is really good and the laptop
has been essential.  She's basically enrolled in a school thats drop-in / online but still uses the official BC curriculum, so she can accommodate her dance schedule. Of course with covid, its been totally online and has been going really well.  The one thing I would advise is discipline about time spent online and being totally open about parental restrictions and discussing social media and online content of shall we say, a dubious nature.  Even at a young age, explaining this in a totally open non-judgy way is key.  After years of this approach, if M see's or experiences anything she's uncomfortable with online, or even just isn't sure of, she's happy to come to us and ask.  This all said, she doesn't have instagram / FB / Twitter whatever the kids are using accounts even though most of her friends do and she understands and is ok with why (again, because we've been at this years and have always been honest about it)

Sorry about the long winded reply, the long and short is that IMHO yes I think it can be beneficial if you invest time in managing their understanding and use, although older M and having a crazy dance schedule, she been maintaining a 90%+ average in all her subjects solely with online, the laptop and (granted) a really good teacher who she never see's but it is in weekly contact with. (Dancer's are super disciplined though)

[Railwaygun]

the problem with laptops used by kids ( and adults) s that they tend to be fragile beasts - prone to damaged/lost keys, dead trackpads and broken power connectors.

A PC has an easily replaceable keyboard and mouse and they are cheap compared to the cost of a new laptop keyboard  providing you can get it apart.

I recycle old PCs/Laptops as a hobby,  for kids/students/regugees etc in w London, and often send out donated laptops with missing keys etc ( and a full-sized KB & mouse - no complaints!)

[d-a-n]

It doesn't reflect the national picture but my class of year 5 pupils (9 and 10 year olds) are lucky enough to have a laptop each at my school; they have it all day and are responsible for charging it over night. I use them for all sort of things but try to keep English tasks written in books on lined paper and maths written on squared paper. The academic benefit is that it is a supplement to writing and reading actual books - it is for enhancing learning rather than being the solution to all learning scenarios. It's also a labour saving device for me and my teaching assistant as the pupils can receive instant feedback about the more mundane learning tasks (eg times table or spelling practice) as well as allowing me to teach directly elsewhere in the room. I like how then can send me or each other their work for feedback from their peers, I also like how I can demonstrate unusual and complex ideas through carefully chosen videos that they can re watch at their own speed.
They are a good carrot/motivator for encouraging the completion of simple tasks too!