There is a new app in the market called ‘Class Dojo’, a behavior tracking app that lets the teacher know who was paying attention in the class or who was showing respect. Parents can also keep track of how their precious ones are doing at school using this app. Do we need to track everything, everyone, all the time? Like I said in my previous post, in some ways we are becoming an Orwellian Society; always monitoring, constantly vigilant, all with the use of technology. And then we wonder why we are eyes are glued to the screens!

Parents send their children to school and trust the judgment of the teachers regarding their progress and their character development. So if the teachers are going to have to make use of technology to figure out who is paying attention, where is the human element/interaction?  What will happen to see your kindergartner with that heartwarming smile when he or she receives a golden star for good behavior?

Not to mention, what would happen when the students see their teacher periodically using his or her iPhone to check on them. I would much rather he or she would go round the class many times and meet a student’s eye, talk and listen.

Teaching is not an easy profession. Teachers deal with all kinds of students: attention seekers, attentive ones, disrupters, quieter ones, but as a parent I would like my child’s teacher to know my child. Not track my child’s behavior using an app.

http://http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/app-school-discipline-app-33918094