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Is there a way for you to provide feedback outside the survey? Any chance you could join together with other parents who share the same concerns to give feedback as a group?

I think the things you've mentioned are important info to give back to the schools, whether or not it impacts the results of this survey. As a parent at a school that is successfully using iPads in the classroom, there are a few things you've mentioned that - if addressed - could be handled. For instance, the child who is playing games during class (or at home or wherever). If the iPads are issued by the school, why is a student allowed to download *anything* to the iPad (this would, I think, be handled by the school AT administrator). If the iPad is provided by parents, the parents can set the password to something the student doesn't know, and control what's loaded on the iPad that way.


Looking at these questions from the outside (as in, I'm not a parent in the district concerned about what's going on with the implementation plan).... I see these questions maybe as important to the department-of-whoever-proposed the iPads as providing some crucial info re whether or not the iPads can be successfully implemented. If the students are expected to do online research at home, they'll need internet connections at home, or the school will need to provide access possibly after school for homework. If a parent isn't comfortable with technology, that might be a barrier to the student using the iPad at home for homework. I don't see these questions as assuming the iPad is *the* "it" for technology, but rather questions that are asked to see if the implementation of this particular device is facing any potential roadblocks.

Re changing the nature of what is taught - I do think that the iPads does change the nature of what is taught in some ways (in others, not so much)... but *how* it changes it doesn't have to be negative, you just have to (as a school district) put thought into how the iPads are used. Our ds' school uses network connectivity as a port to research - that's changing the *how* research is done but it's opening up avenues of learning, not limiting. There are other examples I could mention too, but I don't want to ramble on - the key is that technology (iPad or whatever it is) is only going to be as successful as the plan that was put in place to use it. It sounds like the implementation at your district is not working well, and it's also draining $ from textbook purchases which are needed. Those are things the school district needs to hear - I hope you're able to find a way to give your feedback, and I hope that enough parents are concerned to raise their voices together.

Good luck!

polarbear

ps - Was the question about "does the iPad make learning more interesting" really worded that way? That would annoy me. The iPad is a tool, not a teacher. Learning becomes interesting when a teacher is inspired, creative, motivated and when barriers to learning don't exist in the classroom. The iPad can't be responsible to make learning "more interesting" and it can't be an excuse either if things aren't working in the classroom. It's just a tool, just like graph paper is a tool. Granted, it's more fun than graph paper. But kids could sit around the classroom making airplanes with their graph paper all day if they were completely checked out on the lesson being taught. OK, I'm rambling now! And probably not making much sense

I would find those questions really annoying. How about "Is the iPad better than your teacher?". I am sure ipads can be used well but educators (or maybe their bosses) seem very keen to latch on to the latest, newest, shiniest and use it without much thought.

You may find interesting the blog post

http://www.joannejacobs.com/2013/12/miami-dade-rethinks-tablet-handout/
Miami-Dade rethinks tablet handout
DECEMBER 3, 2013
BY JOANNE JACOBS

based on the article

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2013/11/miami-dade_pauses_1-to-1_progr.html
Miami-Dade Pauses 1-to-1 Computing Initiative, Considers Big Changes
By Benjamin Herold
Education Week
November 27, 2013 1:10 PM

Unfortunately this is common and often intentional. These types of surveys seem like censorship, accepting only the feedback which supports their foregone conclusion and effectively precluding any dissenting responses, impact statements, or constructive criticism.

I agree with polarbear that your insights are things which the district needs to hear, I also hope you find a way to present your concerns, and hope you can find strength in numbers for bringing concerns forward.

I've been the "survey queen" (meaning that I get the job of inputting the survey the school wants to do into something like SurveyMonkey) for two schools now, and it is *very* difficult to get the school personnel to understand that they need to:

(1) ask questions that they don't already know the answers to

(2) ask only *one* question per item

(3) ask questions in such a way that allows for specific negative feedback

Getting them to understand that we already knew the good points of the school and that the purpose of the survey was to uncover what needed changing was like pulling teeth.

It was always my understanding that during school hours the children's behavoir was the teachers responsibility.

I suspect that the survey was designed to produce positive results because that's what the administrators who designed it desired.

Case in point: Months after the LAUSD implementation was demonstrated to be a disaster, 36% of teachers strongly favored continuing the rollout... 90% of school administrators felt the same: story

As polarbear so aptly put it:


And LA's is a case-study in how to do it wrong.

Although, I'd add a caveat that one of the most important aspects of "the plan" is the consideration of whether the technology is the right fit in the first place.

I have on occasion donated to one of the two main political parties in the U.S., and I think the surveys it sends are laughably biased, even though I generally agree with the policies of the party. I assume the other party does the same thing.

Wonder no more. The tradition of the push-poll in American politics is well-established.

I wouldn't make that assumption. Although in some ways the US political parties are more alike than not (center-right versus far right, for instance), one of the sharpest differences is in their exhibited degrees of sociopathy.

Organizations who make their living off of data from public opinion polls do good work - e.g., Gallup, Roper etc. Campaign surveys, interest group surveys, media organization surveys which come from these survey professionals who operate under the standards and social science norms established and supported by AAPOR are trustworthy. However, as Dude notes, not all organizations and political operatives do this. The good news is that it never lasts long because they get "outed" for doing it. The robo call or bad survey ends up in the press and they are embarrassed. It can still influence people though. Tends to happen less in lobbying settings because if you as an interest group give bad data to a politician or bureaucrat who then trumpets it and gets called out, the interest group will have damaged the relationship.

All that being said, most small institutions, like schools, think they can write surveys because they are unaware of how easy it is to write bad questions. There are so many ways, often inadvertent, which bias responses.

For the ipad original question - there are stock survey questions that can be found online which would allow more appropriate answers - plus there is also the fill in the blank question. Textbooks often highlight these types of bad questions with the classic - how often do you beat your dog - it does not allow the respondent to say you do not do it or have ever done it - particularly if a 0 answer is not provided

DeHe

Living in Iowa (first in the nation caucus) and being registered independent, I get a LOT of telephone polls both early and often. I have learned to appreciate an honest poll versus a stacked one. Though I do enjoy seeing how few questions it takes before I can figure out which party (and sometimes which candidate) has sponsored the poll.

-S.F.

This is not new to ipads but common with new technology. When my kids were in early elementary this is how the classroom computers were used. When kids were finished with their work, they could play "edutainment" games. The problem I see is that teachers don't really know how to USE this technology.

Hmmm, letting the early finishers play games seems like a quite effective way to "close the achievement gap".

Yes but I think it is marginally better than another 60 examples exactly the same as the ones already done. I could never understand why I couldn't go to school for a couple of hours, do the work and then go home.