Is it possible that children are ever “too young” for technology? It seems as though we have entered an age where 8 year-olds get smart phones for their birthdays! Of course it all depends on the parents, but looking through an educational lens, are there certain tasks that students need to learn, that cannot be performed or assisted by a computer? (Other than the obvious hand writing and cursive.)
In a 5th grade class I observed, the class was putting together science posters, on the 5 (now 6) kingdoms on the earth. Students were broken into smaller groups, but interestingly enough, the laptop computers stayed in the corner, while students practiced spacing letters on scrap sheets of paper, attempting to get the hang of proper sizing of letters and how to center titles. Some may argue that students could print the titles out and practice spacing whole-words out, while others may find it very important for students to work on mechanics, learning to spatially and mentally predict, using their eyes, hands, and mind.
I am not saying either way is right or wrong, as I have not had much experience in elementary schools. I know in middle schools, if students had access to computers, they would likely be on them for this type of project, however, middle school students generally have a more developed ability of spacing and centering (probably due to what they did in elementary school). (So perhaps they wouldn’t have to practice this?) I would also like to point out that these 5th graders were on computers last week, gathering photos of their different kingdoms, so they did have some technology influence in their project.
Are there any other things or opportunities that people can think of, where students may be better off, completing tasks by hand, as opposed to relying (perhaps overly relying) on technology?
One last question. At what age do you teach students they can research any type of information they’re interested in, on computers? If schools have computers available, is it bad to give students “free time” on them? Do students learn as much through purely exploring, as they would in a guided and structured lesson?
Nick, I think free time on computers is a fantastic thing… especially when there is good software that allows students to explore and manipulate concepts and ideas. Students can learn a great deal through exploration and manipulation. Free time on the Internet, however, is an entirely different thing and I wouldn’t advise allowing that unless, once again, students have a choice of online activities that teachers have preselected for students to use that have high learning value.
In terms of completing tasks in more traditional ways vs. computer-mediated ways, I think such decisions largely come down to the learning goals and outcomes set by the teacher. There are certainly tools that are not always developmentally appropriate for students to be using at certain stages of development, but if the goal for kindergarteners is to develop fine motor skills by tracing letters, they can achieve this goal in many ways; Smartboard, iPad, playdoh, shaving cream, dry erase boards, pencils,… Probably the best approach is to offer your students a wide variety of opportunities that encompass many media types.
Comment by Stephen Ransom — January 21, 2011 @ 9:29 AM |
Hi Dr. Ransom,
I think that is an excellent point that it all depends on the goal of the teacher. I also agree that unrestricted Internet may not be a good choice for kids. I like the suggestion of giving students several choices of different activities to engage in, online, and leaving the ultimate choice up to them. Thanks for the response!
Comment by nscinta2 — January 21, 2011 @ 11:35 PM |