NYC teachers stunned to learn students can’t read old clocks amid phone ban
www.independent.co.uk
At least 31 states and the District of Columbia restrict cell phones in schools

At least 31 states and the District of Columbia restrict cell phones in schools

New York City teachers say the state’s recently implemented cell phone ban in schools has showed that numerous students no longer know how to tell time on an old-fashioned clock.

“That’s a major skill that they’re not used to at all,” Tiana Millen, an assistant principal at Cardozo High School in Queens, told Gothamist of what she’s noticed after the ban, which went into effect in September.

Students in the city’s school system are meant to learn basic time-telling skills in the first and second grade, according to officials, though it appears children have fallen out of practice doing so in an increasingly digital world.

  • StarDreamer@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    5·
    3 days ago

    As someone who is in a relevant field (higher ed), the teachers are doing what they can.

    This past year I’ve had college students ask about the time during an exam because they can’t read the analog clock projected on the wall. If you can make it to 20 years old without realizing you’re missing a critical skill and learning it yourself, that’s also on you.

    We’re also seeing a lack of critical thinking skills and ability to retain information. People don’t remember things that were taught 1-2 semesters ago. Not that they need “a refresher”, but completely forget core concepts (such as forgetting what CPU caches are in an advanced architecture course). Then there’s tons of people who can recite every definition on an exam, but not take a step further to come to a conclusion on a problem. (Git revert reverts checked files, so if I run the command after committing a test file the file is gone and no test is executed).

    There is something wrong with students today. And I’m saying that as someone who just finished my undergrad during COVID. But the institutions are adapting by teaching things with less depth, which then dumbs down further education because they now have to re-cover everything from scratch…

    • luciferofastora@feddit.org
      1·
      3 days ago

      If you can make it to 20 years old without realizing you’re missing a critical skill and learning it yourself, that’s also on you.

      I think the difficulty here is judging what is and isn’t critical. How would they know, if they never have to use it otherwise, that reading analog clocks is critical?

      We’re also seeing a lack of critical thinking skills and ability to retain information.

      But the institutions are adapting by teaching things with less depth, which then dumbs down further education because they now have to re-cover everything from scratch.

      I think this issue would have to be tackled early on, but I’m not sure how. At some age, you probably could explain to the students why it’s important, but I tend to overestimate the comprehension of younger students in particular, and just understanding the value doesn’t make for a good training in doing so either.