While working through my readings this week I kept thinking of a presentation I saw about a year ago "Your Brain on Technology" by Joe Du Fore. I found a TEDx talk he did on the same subject about a year before that. The readings discussed Congnitve Load and comparing pedagogy to digital pedagogy. I zeroed in on the part of the Tedx talk that talked about the brain making connections to other learners and learning and how connections help the brain grow.
I got to thinking of a discussion I was having with my sister about curriculum being pushed down and how many kids are missing out on just being Kindergarteners. I wonder how online schools educate Kindergarten kids? Do they miss out on finger painting and dancing like different animals? Do they get to negotiate with other kids about which one gets to play the waitress in the class play kitchen? Do they ever get to see their neighbor sneaking a taste of the Elmer's paste? If children miss out on early learning experiences like these, how different will their schema be? Will online modules of today be able to teach the online kindergartener in 20 years when she is working?
Hi Meagan,
ReplyDeleteMy son started using my iPhone and iPad when he was 2. Now that he is almost 4 and in daycare he is a wiz at locating and using the apps. His class also has a computer with age appropriate apps that help the children learn ABC's a 123's. Don't get me wrong, technology is a great tool but should not take away from real engagement.
My son still enjoys playing with legos, drawing, and fingerprinting. I don't think technology will take the excitement away or harm his creativity. I do believe it is still important that parents (family) and teachers engage these young minds to help them learn and explore new things. Technology is just a tool, not a substitution.
I agree, it is a great tool. I just can't imagine being a child in an online Kindergarten. Isn't it amazing how children pick up technology and figure it out so quick?
DeleteThis is something that I think about a lot. I am in a community that is very polarized about young children and technology. Some allow their kids to use iPads, phones, and computers and others act like technology will make their children evil. I agree with Jason that technology is a tool and not a substitution. I think there are many ways of learning and using technology is just one of them. Young children need tactile, physical and creative exploration away from technology and I don't see that going away. I do think that the emphasis on standardized testing will do more damage to children's learning development than computers ever will. I have young children and allow them to experience technology in controlled amounts of time.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see the affect all the standardized testing has on this generation. I agree that, as with most things, moderation. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteI was sent this (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000355.htm) article from one of my professors this summer as an argument to limiting the amount of time I allowed my 1st graders to use a computer during the school day. It argues that research shows that children should spend less than two hours per day in front of a screen. When I think of K-3 students in online schools I definitely worry about the missed socialization, cooperative play, and schema they will be missing out on but this research brought up some concerns even beyond that. Should online schooling even be offered for children this age? Especially when public tax dollars are being used to support it? I think that it is such a new avenue for education still that there definitely has not been enough research to support the positives and negatives. I think your idea of seeing what one of these online students will be like in 20 years is going to be exactly what researchers are going to start asking very soon.
ReplyDeleteThis is a bit of a tangent - but relevant nonetheless...
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a horse trainer/show coach I was also moonlighting building website (actually coding). One morning I heard an interesting show on NPR about cognition and 'exercising' the brain so I called in with a question. This was it:
"One morning after I had done quite a bit of computer work I had to 'school' one of the horses over some jump courses. Typically it is my job as a trainer to set the horse up by counting the number of strides between fences and helping the horse to understand the expectation of how many steps to take. That morning I literally had zero spatial orientation - essentially my depth of field was waaaay off. Why?"
The man - an noted and published cognitive scientist whom I cannot remember the name of - said it was because they two tasks uses much different sides of the brain and in fact I was doing a good job keeping those connections firing. Doing this type of differentiated activity will help with the aging brain. What I cannot recall is what he said about why I couldn't 'switch gears' very well.
The lesson? Perhaps that balance is very important - but also - how does that work with the type of activity that is done at home?