Stuck With The Digital Revolution

I think it's sad, but must admit the old sometimes has to yield to the new, but this one surprised me; it shouldn't have.

Many American kids in school today, especially Grade School, cannot tell the time of day from the standard old schoolhouse clock on the wall!

Brought up in a digital world, all the clocks they have been exposed to display the time as digits horizontally. Given the preponderance of hand-held devices able to do arithmetic similarly, will they learn "multiplication tables", "long division", how to relate fractions to decimals?

In Engineering Discipline, much of the practical work consists of mathematically-derived solutions which are in reality not exact depictions, but rather close "estimates". Thus, we "hedge" results. But, I learned 2 + 2 = 4, no matter what else was involved.

How are the discrepancies encountered between traditional teaching and today's "information-led" trends being handled? Scant 13 years ago, when I taught High School Math in rural Missouri, I (thankfully) still had a classroom having two of it's four wall lined with blackboard! To explain facts to a class of 30 or so without that display ability, I cannot imagine.
Frank

 

NOT SEAMLESS yet, is it? Why does the "system" not allow me to use a capital "D" in the title word of the thread, Digital?

 

When I was growing up I only had analog watches; today I have digital watches only. Alas I've caved in to the digital world too. I must admit that I like the digital world. I can look for information on things I need to know, ask nice people at forums for help on problems...learn a lot and now am free of bursitis because of the digital world, so it's not that bad.

 

@Krissttina Isobe There can be no doubt that you are entirely right! I, too, really feel the same way, but miss the earlier lifestyle, so much more simple, and offering so much more unexplained "meat" to be explored and cut-apart.

 

Great OP. When my oldest grandson asked me what time it was I told him to look at the clock, you know the old type with numbers and hands that move. He then asked me if I had another kind of clock that he could look at. If I could have seen the expression on my own face I would have laughed. Immediately I knew he didn't know how to tell time that way. After teaching him how to read it (which he probably forgot anyway) and a few other things I won't mention, I told him these are the only clocks that I have in my house, except on my electric stove it's digital. I taught my youngest grandson who is 7 years younger how to tell time as well and he has no problem. It helped him to learn different measures of time quarter hour, half hour and minutes.

As long as I am able I will teach my grandchildren the 'old school' ways which includes writing their names in cursive style.

 

I took up Industrial Engineering for my college degree. In those days, the calculator is not allowed to be used inside the classroom. We had to do the computations by long hand. What about the tedious formula for square root and cube root? With a press of some keys, the calculator can give you the answer that would save you several minutes in using long hand computation. But I agree with this thread about the multiplication table. Maybe even mental addition and subtraction is not in the minds of the young people now.

Learning to read the time with the traditional clock is the chore of the parents in the olden days. That's why the big wall clock in the living room is very important for that was the visual aid used for teaching children to read the time. I don't know if the grade school children now know how to read the analog clock for they might be dependent on their phones. By the way, the wristwatch is getting out of fashion because of the cellphone.

But on the other end of the rope, oldsters are having a hard time coping with technology. I'm fortunate to be working in the IT department otherwise I might be lost. Last week, there was the reunion of former colleagues who more senior than I am. Some of them still use the old cellphone because they cannot adjust to the smart phone. Some have no email or Facebook account. They are simply being left behind by the rapid advances of technology. I am praying that I can cope with progress until my twilight time.

 

Hello Frank, you started a thread that I have been wanting to do.

Learning how to tell time, something we learned in school. I can't believe that one of my nieces, can tell time unless it's digital. I taught my daughters how to tell time. Same thing with handwriting, kids now a days don't know how to write in cursive. Sure time is changing, we're into new technology, but to be honest, I think all this is hurting the new generations. Some kids don't know how to read. For example the little girl that my daughter is babysitting, she is 7 years old, her writing is like chicken scratch, they use college rule paper for their homework, what happen to the other type of paper for first grade kids? She doesn't like to learn anything new, she spends her days on her tablet. She can't even sit down to watch an entire Disney movie, we give her 15 minutes before she puts her headphone on and starts watching whatever she watches on her tablet. This little girl doesn't even know how to jump rope, and play hop scotch. I've tried teaching her how to write better and she just refuses to learn, I even took her to the library, thinking maybe this will get her excited to learn to read, so sad, she read one book that took her about 1/2 hour, checked it out and left on the counter. Never again.
What I'm saying is that all this new gadgets, new technology, is not allowing kids to use their brains.

In my opinion, the system should teach elementary students the basics, teach them how write, read and how to do the arithmetic the simple way. I agree with you Frank, it's so sad to see how things have changed. I love my childhood, where we didn't have all this. We played outside, during the summer my mother would take us to the library, this was a must, we had to read all summer, no and's or but's about it. We couldn't watch TV until later that evening. And as for using a cell phone, I only use to text my hubby with a message, call me, I hate texting.

I wonder what this world is going to be like 50 years from now. Kids today, don't know and will never know that our years are the best.

And with a closing note, I just order me some Jacks to play with.

 

I was shocked when I was at a friend's house and her granddaughter couldn't read the analog clock. It shouldn't take that long to teach it, but obviously schools don't feel the need these days. It's something that can be done with a few inexpensive supplies, such as using a paper plate as the basis of the clock, and attaching hands, so the kids can physically touch the hands and move them around to different positions as they're learning. I think it's important to teach both the old and new ways.

 

Hi Diane,
Teaching them the basis is very important, one never know when they will need them. What happens if the electricity goes out, and you like to know what time it went off, so that you can tell customer service how long the service been out. With us it's not a problem, because we know, but for those kids who don't know how to tell time, what are they going to say? I don't know. Like the little girl that my daughter takes care of, the homework that she gets, the father does not care if she does it right or not. She has to write a sentence using her spelling words, she writes them and they make no sense what so ever, and when we tell her to re-write it, she get mad. I've told her how to hold a pencil, how to follow the red line on the college rule paper, to start her words. Like talking to the wall. I've mentioned this to her father, and I figure okay, he is going to tell her to listen to what I say and do the right way, nope, he just told me not to be hard on her, and I was like seriously, you allow your child to turn in her homework like that. wow. My mother would have beat my behind for not doing the way it's suppose to be done. That was one thing my mother always made sure that we did our homework and that it was clean, and not a mess. I also taught my daughters the same thing, if their homework was messy I make them do it again, until they did it right. I remember my making one at school. I wish I could remember how I learn how to tell time.

I think that some teachers just don't care about kids now a days. They want to be teachers, but for the wrong reasons.

 

It has become a "digital world" it seems, since the machinery of computers relies on everything being "digitized", all the data information is expressed as ones and zeroes. In numbers, a zero is still a zero, a one is still a one, but if ya want a "two" it's written "10", a three becomes 11, four is 100, five is 101, six is 110, seven is 111, eight is 1000. Obviously, then, large numbers become huge long strings of 1s and 0s. Looking closely at this, to understand how it works, take 10 (which is "2"), it is 1 X two to the first power (which is two) plus 0 (zero) times two to the zero power. The power to which 2 is raised increases by one from right to left. Thus, in digital notation, the number 64 is written 1000000, which means 1 X 2 to the sixth power.

Confusing? Sure it is. It came to be this way because in electronics, which serves as the basis for all our computers, everything consists of tiny switches, which are either "off" or "on". When off, the digit represented is a zero; when "on" a one. Now we have described what is known as a "Diode", an electronic switch which may be either on or off.

Conflict happens between the English system of time and numbers we grew up with and the "digital age" which is based on a system of "tens", like the Metric system. Once learned the Metric more easily used and understood. For example, freezing and boiling water, 0 degrees Centigrade and 100 degrees. Ours everyday? 32 and 212! Worse yet, who knows how much an "ounce" of water weighs? Any guess? Trick question, because there are two different "ounces", and my wife is still trying to get it straight in cooking. "Fluid Ounces" measure volume but the "other ounce" is a unit of weight. So, a "cup" of stuff being 8 ounces in volume, might weigh a whole bunch of different numbers of "ounces" depending on the material: water, lighter than mercury, for example.

What's my point, Grandma? The analog clock, 12 hours around (sometimes 24) does not "fit" into the world of "tens". Or 12 inches to a foot. I think our system is like it is, because 60 is divisible by so many numbers, including 12. So, 60 seconds per minute, 60 minutes per hour, why is an hour 1/24 of a day? I dunno. 1/20 would make more sense. 1/10 even better.

See why my wife thinks I'm nuts?
Frank

 

OMG, I'm like oh I see how the zero is still zero and one is still a one, this is when I got lost when a 2 is written 10 and so on.Confusing you say , yes it is. I think it more confusing to me because I was and still am so bad at math, without a calculator I'm lost. I still count with my fingers, forget about fractions, . I enjoy reading your post and always wonder, how is that people like yourself, can explain something so difficult for me and put into something so simple (still don't understand it) I get it, but don't understand . My grandson understand how all these zeros and ones works, but he won't explain it to me, now I know why, lol. with the clock I understand the 24 hour military time and that's it.

 

@Rachel Rodarte

I cannot tell a lie.....I had to take a scrap of paper and figure out the powers of 2. In Technical School, we had to be able to convert to and from any "base number", as it's called. Our normal numbers are "base 10". That means there are only 10 different actual numbers, 0, 1, 2, 3, .......up to 9, then the next one higher repeats: one, zero, 10. It uses two of the numbers we already used.

For "base 5" we would have only 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, then 10 would be five. So digital, or "base two" has only 0 and 1. Two actual numbers.

 

@Rachel Rodarte Here's a link to a PBS post about how to make a paper plate clock, in case you'd like to make one, or share it with your daughter, so she can make one with/for the girl she watches: http://www.pbs.org/parents/crafts-for-kids/make-your-own-clock/ And, here'a site that talks about ways to teach children about time and how to tell time: http://www.parents.com/kids/development/intellectual/learning-to-tell-time/ It seems it's a popular subject, because there are a lot of links that come up on Google, including some worksheets that might come in handy.

@Frank Sanoica I think the emphasis on teaching kids the metric system has taught them that it's more important than our system, so they feel they no longer need to learn our system of measurement, and many feel there's no need to learn how to read an analog clock when digital exists, but I still feel they should learn both.

 

Thank you so much Diane,
But we gave up on trying to teach her anything, she just a little girl that has to have her own way or nothing. If you tell her she is wrong, she gets very upset, and her excuse is that she is tired. (my blood pressure is already high, and with her I can feel getting higher, lol). Just like when I was teaching her to play hop scotch, I draw it, and gave a bobby pin, and told her the rules, you stop on the line, that mean you're out, so I showed how it's done. She tried it and she stepped on the line and I told her she was out, she said her shoes were too big, and she didn't want to play anymore. I bought her a coloring book with crayons, she will sit there for at least 5 minutes before putting it away, she than gets her tablet and sits on the corner of the sofa.