Before reading on, watch these two fascinating YouTube videos. Not only are they very entertaining, they are so very true.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEFKfXiCbLw&feature=related
As most of you know by now, I am a firm believer in Educational Technology (thus, my major!) and practice this in my own home, with my own children. My 3-year-old can use the iPod Touch faster than my husband can. My 6-year-old can conduct her own Google searches and find what she’s looking for. She mostly plays on educational websites, Uptoten.com is a big one that has been in our lives for quite a number of years, but my daughter just found a new one at school the other day and I love it, ABCya.com. I haven’t spent a lot of time on it yet, but the kids were on it quite a bit yesterday. My daughter was practicing her money skills (introduced in school this past week) and everytime she put the correct amount of money on the screen, she got a new fish in her fish bowl, and boy, let me tell you, that was exciting!!! My point is, that the above videos are so true. Students learn so much more through technology than any one person can teach them. And one of the most important things I feel they are learning? That they have a world of knowledge at their fingertips and can learn anything they want to know. We have this “game” in our family where one of the kids picks something they want to Google. We Google it and find out all we can about whatever subject it happens to be. For example, one time it was seals (the animal), another time it was Paris, and so on. Obviously we try to stick to kid-friendly facts, but the point is, it’s showing them that we can learn anything. It’s a wonderful age for students to grow up in, with all the information available to them. My local school district has undergone a complete turn-around over the last few years. They have a new computer lab and elementary students go two times a week in addition to the computers they use in their classrooms. When I began my first master’s program, I did so because I was actually scared to send my daughter to this school, so in a few short years, they have transformed themselves, and I must admit, I’m impressed. See, I know we are already in the technology age, and I need to make sure my children are technologically educated and ready for the world ahead. They are learning reading and writing at school (not that we don’t practice this at home as well), but I make sure they are getting all their “technology-world-skills” at home. It has become my life’s mission, at least for the next 20 years or so!
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