Schools in the UK are getting rid of Analog clocks

Toomuchstuff

Toomuchstuff

Member
Location
Wisconsin
This could happen anywhere, but the news reported it's happening in the UK .... they're getting rid of analog clocks because the kids can't read them ! Here's an bit of the article ----

____________________________________________________________________________________________

But some schools in the U.K. are removing the old school clocks from test rooms because students are having a hard time reading them.
According to the London Telegraph, students are being raised on digital clocks and can't figure out what time it is on the analog clock, causing them to stress about the time running out during tests.
___________________________________________________________________________


Why can't they just teach the kids instead of replacing the clocks ??? I swear ,first handwriting is getting obsolete , now this !


 

It does seem odd that in a place devoted to learning they couldn't have a few of each so the kids could learn that there is more than one way to do things.

What happened to buying replacements when things wear out.

It is nice to hear that this type of madness extends beyond the borders of the United States.
 
I always convert digital to analog in my mind first. I guess I've learned to think of time as distance. For example, the distance the big hand is from 12, gives me a better indication of how much time is left to the hour, than just a number, which you have to first subtract from 60. Does that make sense? LOL

I think they should learn both ways. They can handle it.
 
Unfortunately schools in the UK do no longer teach
a subject properly, they only teach their pupils how
to pass an exam and no more.

I was studying Spanish in an adult learning class
and it was the same there, the teacher told us that
we can have as many tries as we need to pass any
exam as they only get paid by passes!

When I was in work, I hated getting graduates as
I had to train them on the job, I am an Electrical
Engineer and everything that I and my colegues
did could be fatal if done wrongly.

A friend took a degree a few years ago and he
told me that the pass mark was 45%.

Mike.
 
Oh, they haven't been taught?
Well, by all means, get rid of it!
No fair asking anyone to teach children a simple concept that hasn't been included in the almighty curriculum.
They can't even count change back, anyway.

Good grief.
 
RadishRose said:
Oh, they haven't been taught?
Well, by all means, get rid of it!
No fair asking anyone to teach children a simple concept that hasn't been included in the almighty curriculum.
They can't even count change back, anyway.

Good grief.
Click to expand...

That is one of my many pet peeves!!!

I attribute much of this to the idea that we are not supposed to correct young folks and keep after them until they learn some basic things by rote.
 
Just to clarify, the UK Curriculum Stage 1 states that children must be taught to read a clock face and be able to draw the hands on a clock face to show different times. I have three grandchildren aged 9, 10 and 12 and all can tell the time using an analogue clock.


However, this still leaves us with the deeper question as to why this change in timekeeping technology has caused such a furore. Nobody is suggesting that children have no idea what time is; the sense of outrage seems to be because the devices children are using aren’t the ones in common use 40 years ago.



I experienced the same exasperation when I was at school and my maths teacher discovered that none of us could use a slide rule. I remember the sneering dismissal of us as hopelessly stupid, the sigh that worried what the world was coming to.



https://www.theguardian.com/comment...e-clocks-students-cant-tell-time-during-exams
 
Reminds me of a college class my eldest daughter took years ago for teaching students to learn to read by memorizing words instead of learning to sound out letters in the alphabit--something like that--and I asked her, "What if they come across a word they've never seen before?" She had no answer.
 
Pam said:
Just to clarify, the UK Curriculum Stage 1 states that children must be taught to read a clock face and be able to draw the hands on a clock face to show different times. I have three grandchildren aged 9, 10 and 12 and all can tell the time using an analogue clock.


However, this still leaves us with the deeper question as to why this change in timekeeping technology has caused such a furore. Nobody is suggesting that children have no idea what time is; the sense of outrage seems to be because the devices children are using aren’t the ones in common use 40 years ago.



I experienced the same exasperation when I was at school and my maths teacher discovered that none of us could use a slide rule. I remember the sneering dismissal of us as hopelessly stupid, the sigh that worried what the world was coming to.



https://www.theguardian.com/comment...e-clocks-students-cant-tell-time-during-exams
Click to expand...

You make a great point!

eco-family-comic-strip-sundial.png


I suppose that in an examination room a digital clock would end any disputes about times up pencils down. They do still have pencils I hope!:playful::eek:nthego:
 
I can tell you that,having had well over 20 kids,all age 10 or over,come into my home over the past 5 years,that not a single one of them knew how to read an analog clock. It absolutely blows my husband`s mind. And they have absolutely ZERO desire to learn. We have clocks all over our house and I am constantly being asked what time it is. They now know better than to ask,because we tell them that we won`t tell them the time but will be happy to teach them how to tell time. They just end up going in their rooms and checking their digital clocks or their phones. It`s crazy.
 
This reminds me of them phasing out cursive handwriting. I have 3 analog clocks, a small one in the bathroom, another small in basement and a larger wooden one in the den. I love my analogs when the power goes out, or daylight savings time rolls around. :yes:
 
They may be wishing they had learned one day if their power is off AND their cell phone isn't charged. Just a few years ago, my power was out for a whole week and if it had not been for my analog clocks, I would not have had a clue as to what time of the day it was because I don't have a cell phone. As for the lack of teaching cursive in the schools today, there was one year I sent one of my grandkids a birthday card with a written note in cursive. Their mother told me that they asked her, "What is this" because they had not learned cursive and couldn't read it.
 
Pam said:
Just to clarify, the UK Curriculum Stage 1 states that children must be taught to read a clock face and be able to draw the hands on a clock face to show different times. I have three grandchildren aged 9, 10 and 12 and all can tell the time using an analogue clock.

However, this still leaves us with the deeper question as to why this change in timekeeping technology has caused such a furore. Nobody is suggesting that children have no idea what time is; the sense of outrage seems to be because the devices children are using aren’t the ones in common use 40 years ago.

I experienced the same exasperation when I was at school and my maths teacher discovered that none of us could use a slide rule. I remember the sneering dismissal of us as hopelessly stupid, the sigh that worried what the world was coming to.
Click to expand...

Thank you Pam for landing the space craft.

The article is a beat up designed to push the buttons of old people who want to reverse the march of time. It has done that in spades.

During exams teachers try to help the students manage their time so that they can maximise their chances of success. They used to draw clock faces on a chalk board and would usually announce "You have ten minutes left". This would often catch some students by surprise, especially if they had their head down writing the whole time. They would be quite stressed to learn that they had only 10 minutes to write a whole essay.

I am in favour of any measure that relieves that stress and if the old analogue clocks are adding to it, then I say do away with them IN THE EXAM ROOM.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pam
Every one of these changes seems to bring about much frustration, eye-rolling, grumbling, etc., among the old folks. "What, no more sundials? Hourglasses are passe?" And as others have pointed out, what about slide rules and other instruments of torture we grew up with?

I imagine the manufacturers of watches are even more upset. Since the ubiquitous phones that are universally carried around and stared at by young people provide the time right there on the home screen, there is no longer any need for watches. A whole industry gone down the drain overnight! (Unless someone manages to make a "retro" fashion statement out of watches.)

I remember with much fondness the Mickey Mouse watch I got for my sixth birthday. And I still have the watch I got when I was 12. It still works, and I occasionally wear it. Yet, I must admit that I use my phone to see what time it is as often as I consult a watch.

Times (excuse the pun) change. Numerals change also. Somewhere along the line, we did stop using Roman numerals. Mostly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top