Tablet computer purchases suspended

[casualbiker]

One smart classroom costs the same as 40 of the tablets and can service more than 40 kids!

I'm not against tablets for students BUT I think smart classrooms would be far better at this time!

They can take away our 2am discos. They can take away our 3am khao thom. But they can't remove our right to think.

You could be right. I think (heh) smart classrooms are fine but that the smart teachers required aren't generally available. I saw smart classrooms in quite excellent schools in the United States that were nothing but really neat whiteboards that you don't need to have dusty erasers, because of teachers that weren't up to the task.

I admit my prejudice, too. I don't like stuff that puts the bureaucrats MORE in control because I am 100% convinced that the bureaucrats are problem No. 1 in education. The top-down nature of the coming Thai smart classrooms will try to micro-manage every minute of class time, and thus encourage teachers to be terrible in smart classrooms.

I'll bet you this, though: That no smart classroom in Thailand is installed for the same price as 40 tablets. But for me it's not the cost, it's the {cough}extracosts{cough}.

.

Your so cynical!

I know a school whose principal decided NOT to have the tablets .. she requested the money be spent on interactive whiteboards.

6 classrooms done (6 P1 classes) but all grades use them.

I do agree about bureaucrats!

Ever done any teaching?

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

In one of the schools I used to teach they installed 3 smart classrooms (2years ago), up to date no-one use them as intended! The teachers haven't received any training. The information about the hardware and software isn't in one language it's mixed Chinese,Thai and English!? Now the company that did the installation is gone/closed (about 1 month after installation) and I know that they did atleast 5 more schools.

I'm for smart classrooms but Thailand need to get rid of the corruption first otherwise it will be like this in more schools!!!

Are you saying that YOU did not use the classroom! Why?

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[MarkCyr]

Tablets can be useful IF they are introduced along with sweeping educational form that helps learners shift from print media to digital, flipped classrooms and so on. Without that, they are just expensive toys. Scrapping this plan is a good move. Chalk up another win for the junta!

[sumtingwong]

Shouldn't they get electricity to all classrooms first?

[losworld]

I am not saying the current govt is necessarilly the answer but they are moving in the right direction. People have been brainwashed to believe "democracy" is the end all and the only way.. As many philisophers have pondered probably the best govt is a govt acting in the interests of others with the authority to get things done and to jail and punish criminals and those abusing the system. American democracy is broken and recent studies show America is now an oligarchy for the wealthy corporations at the expense of the people. Thailand is little different under an elected system where no one is accountable and votes are gathered with a few baht and some whiskey. The corrupt love democracy in many ways because it is easy to break down the power and to corrupt the people inside who can easily be replaced if they do not play the game whereas an honest ruler could throw them all out. Democracy if operating as it was intended to be is the best system problem is has been corrupted.

[sumtingwong]

American democracy has always been an oligarchy for the wealthy.

Yingluck is like Evita of Argentina.

The masses are so easily fooled and so easily bought off.

[Kasset Tak]

One smart classroom costs the same as 40 of the tablets and can service more than 40 kids!

I'm not against tablets for students BUT I think smart classrooms would be far better at this time!

They can take away our 2am discos. They can take away our 3am khao thom. But they can't remove our right to think.

You could be right. I think (heh) smart classrooms are fine but that the smart teachers required aren't generally available. I saw smart classrooms in quite excellent schools in the United States that were nothing but really neat whiteboards that you don't need to have dusty erasers, because of teachers that weren't up to the task.

I admit my prejudice, too. I don't like stuff that puts the bureaucrats MORE in control because I am 100% convinced that the bureaucrats are problem No. 1 in education. The top-down nature of the coming Thai smart classrooms will try to micro-manage every minute of class time, and thus encourage teachers to be terrible in smart classrooms.

I'll bet you this, though: That no smart classroom in Thailand is installed for the same price as 40 tablets. But for me it's not the cost, it's the {cough}extracosts{cough}.

.

Your so cynical!

I know a school whose principal decided NOT to have the tablets .. she requested the money be spent on interactive whiteboards.

6 classrooms done (6 P1 classes) but all grades use them.

I do agree about bureaucrats!

Ever done any teaching?

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

In one of the schools I used to teach they installed 3 smart classrooms (2years ago), up to date no-one use them as intended! The teachers haven't received any training. The information about the hardware and software isn't in one language it's mixed Chinese,Thai and English!? Now the company that did the installation is gone/closed (about 1 month after installation) and I know that they did atleast 5 more schools.

I'm for smart classrooms but Thailand need to get rid of the corruption first otherwise it will be like this in more schools!!!

Are you saying that YOU did not use the classroom! Why?

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Many reasons!

1. All software in Thai language, ONLY .

2. No-one in the entire school did know how to use the interactive whiteboard.

3. All instructions and information mixed in Thai,Chinese and English.

4. The first policy of the director was that the smart classrooms where only to be used for mathematics and science subjects.

5. The second policy of the director, Don't use the classrooms until after a course in how to use the equipment... And no-oneone to hold course!?

[casualbiker]

One smart classroom costs the same as 40 of the tablets and can service more than 40 kids!

I'm not against tablets for students BUT I think smart classrooms would be far better at this time!

They can take away our 2am discos. They can take away our 3am khao thom. But they can't remove our right to think.

You could be right. I think (heh) smart classrooms are fine but that the smart teachers required aren't generally available. I saw smart classrooms in quite excellent schools in the United States that were nothing but really neat whiteboards that you don't need to have dusty erasers, because of teachers that weren't up to the task.

I admit my prejudice, too. I don't like stuff that puts the bureaucrats MORE in control because I am 100% convinced that the bureaucrats are problem No. 1 in education. The top-down nature of the coming Thai smart classrooms will try to micro-manage every minute of class time, and thus encourage teachers to be terrible in smart classrooms.

I'll bet you this, though: That no smart classroom in Thailand is installed for the same price as 40 tablets. But for me it's not the cost, it's the {cough}extracosts{cough}.

.

Your so cynical!

I know a school whose principal decided NOT to have the tablets .. she requested the money be spent on interactive whiteboards.

6 classrooms done (6 P1 classes) but all grades use them.

I do agree about bureaucrats!

Ever done any teaching?

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

In one of the schools I used to teach they installed 3 smart classrooms (2years ago), up to date no-one use them as intended! The teachers haven't received any training. The information about the hardware and software isn't in one language it's mixed Chinese,Thai and English!? Now the company that did the installation is gone/closed (about 1 month after installation) and I know that they did atleast 5 more schools.

I'm for smart classrooms but Thailand need to get rid of the corruption first otherwise it will be like this in more schools!!!

Are you saying that YOU did not use the classroom! Why?

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Many reasons!

1. All software in Thai language, ONLY .

2. No-one in the entire school did know how to use the interactive whiteboard.

3. All instructions and information mixed in Thai,Chinese and English.

4. The first policy of the director was that the smart classrooms where only to be used for mathematics and science subjects.

5. The second policy of the director, Don't use the classrooms until after a course in how to use the equipment... And no-oneone to hold course!?

Make a cash offer to the director .. and then resell at a profit.

But yes I do get were your coming from.. unless it is thought through correctly then Thais have a habit of doing half a job!

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[inutil]

Tablets, love them or hate them meant one thing: the kids could keep up with the learning at ther own pace... IF used in conjunction with a textbook and core curriculum. Used on their own and they seem redundant in truth. They should supplement the core curriculum a la something like rosetta stone (which i honestly believe is a great program) a tablet would be phenomenally useful. But replacing the textbook with a tablet really just means youre trying to cut costs on textbooks through (no doubt) pirating software. Again, the problem here might be that people want low taxes and awesome education and are often astonished when the two dont really mix. A side point perhaps. But if you arent paying for the nuts and bolts of education and investing in your kids' future like Japan and Korea do, (or paying for it through profits on state controlled industries a la china) then you shouldnt really be amazed that people look for wonder solutions and try to find shortcuts to fund them.

So tablets should be a good thing. But arent, because theyre attempting to be an EVEN CHEAPER solution to problems in funding rather than an investment in the future. Little wonder that this backfired with shoddy products, poor forethought and an endless money sink. Sort of good intentions perhaps: save money, pull up the weaker students through independent learning etc. but the wrong fix.

Which brings me to the next wonder solution: The smart classroom! Only er, in every iteration of the smart classroom ive seen (in both Korea and China) is just a return to a passive style of lecturing. The teacher stands at the front of the class and delivers a powerpoint. Sure, in some subjects it brings the ideas to life if used appropriately, but it quickly becomes formulaic and a crutch for the teacher, while the students quickly tire of yet another powerpoint. The only real use they seem to get out of it is lunchtime when they can watch music videos on youku/youtube or play games. Its just passive learning at its core. At least in Japan they dont screw around with this stuff and actually spend time making sure their teachers are fit to be in a classroom and teach their subject even if it follows the whole rote-repeat model. I dunno. Its a wonder-drug. Again, it has its benefits, and in the hands of an astute teacher it can be a wonderful means to switch the students on and have them pay attention as they really grasp how a system functions or see how a dialogue plays out in the real world, but its very rarely used in that way. In fact, more often than not it functions as a glorified tape-recorder: Teacher puts in the accompanying 'interactive' CD to the textbook. Hits play. Runs through the motions. Job done!

I dunno, i dont mean to be a negative nancy, but these things are supposed to supplement and enhance the nuts and bolts of a core curriculum. You get the details mashed out on that, and technology can bring to life the often threadbare and maybe outdated ideas of the textbook (or enhance the learning point), but almost no one uses them like this. They use them exactly how theyd have used the accompanying tape or CD ten or twenty years ago: press play when the teachers edition of the textbook says to press play. Have the students sit around bored out of their minds. Maybe even make a powerpoint now and again. And have the students sit around bored out of their minds. Im not saying its terrible as an idea, im just saying that maybe chucking money at the next big innovation in the classroom in the hope that suddenly kids will find it invigorating is massively patronising and lacking in any idea of WHAT kids actually want. Hey! they like computers! theyre always on those whatchamajiggers playing their crazy whatchamacllits! lets give them that, but teach them science at the same time! test scores will go through the roof! QED! Its like games marketed as 'educational'. No kid wants to play those stupid games (but give them civilisation 5!!!...). Its a band aid solution to chronic under-funding in education. The heart is in the right place at the end of the day. No one in education genuinely wants to screw a kid over to line their own pockets. But they dont half come up with some crack brained ideas to avoid facing the genuine problem thats staring them in the face: if you want quality education, you have to pay for it. Technology wont cover up the holes caused by under-funding.

PS Teachers who have embraced tech and use it to bring to life their subject material, im sorry to be down on it. Youre genuinely awesome and i wish there were more teachers like you in the world! Its BRILLIANT to enhance the core subject. But i just cant see it replacing the textbook in the hands of a skilled and professional teacher. Id love to be proved wrong though

Edited May 31, 2014 by inutil

[sumtingwong]

That is because Thaksin was taking a cut as the middleman.

[inutil]

of course it is. :/

[CharlesHH]

A tablet in the kids hands is better than a smart classroom because the teachers are not smart enuf to use that well. Train the teachers and THEN put in advanced classroom.

[icare999]

another useless Taksin Sceme I mean scam ? how can anyone support him is beyond me

[inutil]

and now that the army is in charge all the problems will be solved and Thailand will be number one in the world for education!

Get a grip! Theres far more going on here than Thaksin. In fact thaksin is the least of the issues here.

Heres five things right off the top of my head (from a whole TWO MONTHS of teaching in Thailand) that illustrate some of their problems faced by the country. Maybe someone like Scott, with even more knowledge of this, can also add in his tuppence on the matter.

1. The directors running schools as their personal fiefdoms.

2. Very low salaries for all education staff INCLUDING department heads and even the higher ups.

3. Low investment in education forcing INCREDIBLY poor parents into also having to contribute to their childrens (state mandatory) education through textbooks, meals, and clothing.

4. Poor maintenance, ridiculous class sizes and awful resources.

5. Stupid band aid fixes to problems in teacher training, education, and the syllabus, as well as low expectations of value, and parents treating education as a babysitting club due to chronic issues like low social mobility, low paying graduate work and thus a genuine feeling that education is a waste of their time and money.

Bonus number 6: too many people wanting their cut, whether red or yellow.

Edited May 31, 2014 by inutil

[Kasset Tak]

and now that the ar-my is in charge all the problems will be solved and Thailand will be number one in the world for education!

Get a grip! Theres far more going on here than Thaksin. In fact thaksin is the least of the issues here.

Heres five things right off the top of my head (from a whole TWO MONTHS of teaching in Thailand) that illustrate some of their problems faced by the country. Maybe someone like Scott, with even more knowledge of this, can also add in his tuppence on the matter.

1. The directors running schools as their personal fiefdoms.

2. Very low salaries for all education staff INCLUDING department heads and even the higher ups.

3. Low investment in education forcing INCREDIBLY poor parents into also having to contribute to their childrens (state mandatory) education through textbooks, meals, and clothing.

4. Poor maintenance, ridiculous class sizes and awful resources.

5. Stupid band aid fixes to problems in teacher training, education, and the syllabus, as well as low expectations of value, and parents treating education as a babysitting club due to chronic issues like low social mobility, low paying graduate work and thus a genuine feeling that education is a waste of their time and money.

Bonus number 6: too many people wanting their cut, whether red or yellow.

You can add:

7. The policy to NEVER give students a 0 even if they don't know/understand the subject. Example: My Thai friend asked me to speak with his son just graduated from P6 and he got a 4 in English... He did not understand/know the answer to "Good morning. How are you today?" either when I spoke to him or when I wrote it down on a piece if paper!

8. Finance. Many times the teacher must use their own money to buy things to use in the classroom. Last Christmas the director gave me the assignment to make Christmas activities for the students but I got 0 Baht in budget to do it. I ended up spending over 8000Baht of my own money to buy materials, decorations, candy and so on so that my students could have a good experience about Christmas. (Maybe I'm stupid but I want my students to be happy and have a great time in school!)

9. School uniform. For good and bad! The students don't compete about who uses the most expensive clothes. But sometimes it's an extra cost for parents to buy them.

It's the same for teachers at some schools, I have one uniform for FFT, one shirt for Fix it center and one scout uniform and we as teachers must pay for it ourselves.

10. Making a plan/strategy. My college decided to have/make a Mini English Program (MEP)... In my contract and what was first said I would have 18 teaching hours a week, now when it came to reality I have 30 teaching hours. And the same for many Thai teachers because now they must teach the subject in both Thai and English (co-teaching with me as I don't know how to teach subjects like biology or chemistry!).

11. Old teachers! Some are great but some(many) are just there to pass the time waiting for their pension...

12. Moral. I have seen teachers, workers and students drinking alcohol and using drugs during school hourse, teachers using/abusing students and teachers basically cheating /making money on the students and no one does anything about it. The directors even seems to feel angry with me when I have reported it in the past, now I don't report anymore as nothing happens with it any way!

13. Corruption. I have been offered everything from money and amulets to motorcycles and sex from students to give them high grades. I always answer: If you want higher grades then you must study harder!

There are many things wrong with the system from the students to the directors and all the way up in to the ministries. But most are good and most of us try to do our best to transform the system and the students for a brighter future!

I'm apologizing for any mistakes in my grammar, choice of words, any misspellings or any other mistakes as that is clearly more important to some in this forum than the actual content of the post!