CATRIONA Stewart seems to me to have encapsulated in one article all the worst aspects of “put-down” attitudes in Glasgow short of saying “ he’s nae use - ah kent his faither” (‘Will Glasgow’s iPad scheme raise attainment? iRight’, The Herald, August 30).
She seems to have focused entirely on the rather obvious management challenges the scheme will have in a practical sense.
I view young people today as being largely so used to the way electronic information is accessed and processed by them that book-based passive learning can often be a barrier to understanding.
Although she rightly cites the fiasco in Los Angeles when the authorities attempted something similar, I believe that the issue there was mainly deficiencies regarding the software on the iPads.
I am convinced that it is the software on the devices which holds the key to the success of the scheme.
Used effectively, the iPad becomes a portable teaching machine which, with the appropriate software, allows pupils to interact with a graded series of actions at their own individual speed and progress is controlled by constant diagnostic testing steps.
This ensures that learning has been successful at each stage. Programmed learning has been developing throughout the last century in various forms and has been used in the armed forces for many years. Electronics has simply taken the whole idea to a new level.
If designed carefully, such programmed learning self-regulates to meet the needs of the individual and can be a huge advantage to those young people off whom ‘talk and chalk’ merely bounces.
Catriona concludes by saying that she will be interested in seeing what answers the Glasgow iPad scheme provides, as indeed many of us will. However I feel she firstly should ask herself - ‘do we really understand the questions?’
Bill Brown,
Milngavie
CATRIONA Stewart in her article raises some interesting points in her article about the iPad, specifically about young people’s excessive use of digital products.
Like many people I do worry about our youngsters seemingly spending every waking hour staring at their phones and other devices.
It will be the case, as Ms Stewart argues, that parents will find it harder to control their children’s use of council-issued iPads than would be the case with their own phones.
It has been recently been reported that nursery teachers have concerns about many of their young charges. The more these young children become hooked on iPads, the less creative they become, the less inclined they are to indulge in pretend play.
It is easy to overlook the importance of such play, but it does allow children to develop in all sorts of ways that iPads do not.
What confuses the issue however is that the future will undoubtedly become digital, and that pupils who have been issued with iPads are being geared towards such a future.
But I cannot help thinking that desk-top computers would be a much wiser investment in Glasgow schools rather than portable devices that aim merely to entertain.
L McGovern,
Glasgow
AS someone who has long retired, and for whom schooldays are but a thing of remote memory, can I just say how much I envy today’s pupils and their rich helpings of digital devices?
M Towers, Glasgow
The problems of P1 testing
IN response to your story on Primary one tests (‘Teachers brand P1 school tests “meaningless” and “a waste of time”, The Herald, August 30): does Mr Swinney have any idea of the range of developmental ages in a typical primary one class?
It is impossible to devise a class test which can assess if an individual is performing at the desired level for their “age”. Furthermore, it can have undesirable, long-lasting consequences.
A child who sees other children finding the tests easier than they do, is apt to assume they themselves are not going to be any good at learning. Any teacher of whatever stage will tell you this is the hardest nut to crack. It leads to inattention or disruption or disinterest – anything to conceal their supposed inability.
It`s a tragedy, as it is so difficult to break through this harsh self-assessment, and it can persist for years. Why not trust your teachers, who know the children and work with them five days a week, to use their skills and experience to assess progress? It’s a lot more likely to be accurate then any tick-box mentality method, and a great deal less damaging.
Ann Walsh, Glasgow
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here