#dumbingusdown — Public Fediverse posts

Student #ReadingAbility Spikes After Removing Tech From Class

"Remove all the #distractions and we can get our kids back."

By Frank Landymore
Published Jun 15, 2026

"Would you believe it: a teacher and her students say their reading ability soared after banning tech in the classroom.

"Maureen Mulvaney, an AP Literature and English teacher at Washburn High School in Minneapolis, started the low tech experiment last year after becoming frustrated with plagiarism, distracted students, and plunging literacy rates.

"And so, with the enthusiastic support of parents, she banned phones and laptops, requiring all coursework to be done with pencil and paper. The turnaround was quick and resounding, and despite some initial resistance from students, they quickly fell in love with the old, analog ways of doing things.

"In September, before the experiment started, just 46 percent of Mulvaney’s students said they felt confident about their reading ability. By February, that share shot up to 95 percent.

" 'We’re having a lot of trouble in education and I think what my kids told us was that there is a solution and the solution is to go #LowTech. Go back to the old ways of doing things,' Mulvaney told local TV news station KARE 11. 'Remove all the distractions and we can get our kids back.'

"Mulvaney let her students ease into a tech free environment. First, they started with just ten minutes of silent reading and writing by hand. Still, the first day was 'rough,' she wrote in an essay in The Minnesota Star Tribune. Most students quit after just half a page of longhand composition.

" 'I told the kids this is like lifting weights,' she told KARE 11. 'You don’t go in and you don’t start with 80 pounds.' "

Read more:
https://futurism.com/future-society/students-reading-improves-no-tech-class

#LudditeClub #NoTech #NoPhones #NoAI #Reading #Writing #Humans
#Smartphones are #DumbingUsDown #SolarPunkSunday #Handwriting #NeoLuddites #SmartphoneBan #Longhand

So, taking off to run a few errands. I'm thinking that this afternoon/evening I'll be posting about a topic that's been on my mind for a while -- is #AI #DumbingUsDown? A lot of you won't be surprised at what the studies say. AI and #DataCenters are NOT worth the price to the #Environment or our #BrainHealth!

#AISucks #AIIsDumbingUsDown #NoNukesForAI #NoNukesForDatacenters #ElectricityHogs #WaterUsage #WaterIsLife #NoisePollution

I imagine that #WomensStudies, #GenderStudies, #NativeAmericanStudies, and other history / anthropology studies will be next on the chopping block. #BlackHistory already is!

New York's governor orders college to remove #PalestinianStudies job listing

February 28, 2025

"The job posting at Hunter College had called for a historian 'who takes a critical lens to issues pertaining to Palestine including but not limited to #SettlerColonialism, #genocide, #HumanRights, #apartheid, #migration, #climate and #infrastructure devastation, health, race, #gender, and sexuality,' according to screenshots published by the New York Post, which first reported the job announcement."

https://apnews.com/article/hochul-palestinian-studies-genocide-cuny-hunter-04f5e9bf1b718bf0441f9b6cde260141
#Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #SignsOfFascism #Resist #ResistFascism #Censorship #Universities #HigherEducation #DumbingUsDown #DenyingHistory #DenyingReality

Some headlines from the #ChronicleOfHigherEducation [unfortunately, the articles are behind a paywall]

‘It’s Creating Chaos’: College Presidents Weigh Responses to Trump’s Upheavals

By David Jesse

"The opening weeks of President Trump’s new administration has leaders asking how to weather the consequences of early executive orders — and how to plan for future actions."

An Order to Deport Protesters Leaves International Students Shaken

By Karin Fischer

"Here’s what students have to say about the White House’s plan for revoking visas."

'FACULTY ARE SCARED'

Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Sparks Panic, Protests, and ICE Impersonators

By Alissa Gary and Maya Stahl

"Most institutions already have protocols in place to respond to law enforcement. For some faculty and students, campus guidelines aren’t going far enough."

How Florida Scrubbed ‘Identity Politics’ From Universities’ General-Education Curricula

By Emma Pettit and Megan Zahneis

"A sweeping new law required vast curricular change, leading to a confusing implementation that has professors contemplating the limits of their autonomy."

#CharacteristicsOfFascism #HigherEducation #DumbingUsDown #Fascism #SilencingDissent #SignsOfFascism #ResistFascism #USPol #Colleges #Universities