https://drgabormate.com/book/hold-on-to-your-kids/

Even with all this, it's obvious that the influence is very strong

The biggest problem with my kids' math studies that I've noticed since COVID has been having the kids solve problems exclusively using the computer, with no prompting to work things out on paper. They just stare at a screen and try to think of what their next step should be so they can type it into MathSpace.

I love math and do very well at it, generally, but trying to do it without writing it down and lining up the numbers and operators on the paper in a way that makes sense, crossing off items that have been reduced away, and regrouping the problem as my understanding of it evolves is maddening for me as an adult. I can only imagine what goes on inside my 13 year oldest head. I'll always grab a sheet of paper to show him how I would approach it, but he won't do it for himself. He's more likely to ask the DESMOS calculator site for a hint over and over again until it basically solves the problem for him. Who can expect actual understanding and retention when that's possible? He just wants the homework over with.

I think the push for technology in the classroom has been too aggressive. It's great that the tech is increasingly available. How to build and implement it for the optimal results still needs more time in the oven.

In college I did sports medicine as an extracurricular activity and spent lots of time preparing and rehabbing athletes, talking with them, and also watching the sports right from the sideline, and I developed an understanding of the stakes and passion and decisions involved.

I've developed a board gaming obsession over the past few years, so I notice strategy in a lot of areas now, and I can firmly say that I can respect and enjoy the strategy in a game now. I also have become a huge fan of youth sports as a parent, seeing how desperately they need activity and time with their peers for their development, even more so than when I was their age.

The only thing I just don't really get about sports is the fervor. I don't have it in me to commit to a team or player and track entire careers, have arguments, refer to the home team's performance in the second person ("we", "us"). I will gladly watch a sports movie or documentary, though, and occasionally a game (preferably as close to the field as possible)

https://imgur.com/gallery/U3n0yxu

I'm in my late 40s and the book reads to me as a nice time capsule of how computing has reshaped our society, and sets good context for considering the effects of AI, the pandemic and our more connected and increasingly-remote world overall, and looking to the future.

I see a lot of early criticisms of his research in book reviews, but I have a tough time dismissing the observations in the book, based on what I've seen