Here’s a video which looks at how to learn the alphabet in a new way. Has anyone tried this method with kids? I’m interested to find out if this works.
The report published by Cranfield School of Management (UK) concludes that technology addiction amongst teenagers is having a disruptive effect on their learning.
The study of 267 pupils aged 11 to 18 found 63% felt addicted to the internet and 53% to their mobile phones.
They found 62% first used or owned a computer before the age of eight, 80% first used the internet between the ages of five and 10, 58% first used a mobile phone between the ages of eight and 10 and 58% have had access to a social networking sites between the ages of eleven and 13.
Over half (53.2%) indicated they spent up to around 30 minutes a day on their mobile, while 17% said they spent at least three hours on their mobile.
Over 30% reported spending between one to two hours a day using the internet and 26% said they spent up to six or more hours a day.
Over a third (39%) admitted that text shortcuts damaged the quality of their written English, particularly when it came to spelling.
And 84% openly admitted copying chunks of information from the internet into their homework or projects on a number of occasions. Pupils said the internet was by far the largest source of information for such work, with over 90% saying they used it compared with 43% who said books.
Their report concluded that modern gadgets worsened pupils’ spelling and concentration, encouraged plagiarism and disrupted lessons.
Yet nothing was reported about the positive impact of living in a highly connected, information rich world. It is easy for us to take this research and harp back to a time gone by, but is it really a bad thing that children today can readily access vast amounts of information? Shouldn’t education be about how to use this information and the technological tools available to enhance their learning? We have to find out what motivates the learner, provide meaningful content in “their world” and help them to use all technology available to them.
I came across this research report recently. It is still shocking to me that despite all the research available that there is a lack of awareness that reading to children and spending time on literacy activities between 3 – 5 years old is vital for their future success.
According to the survey 95% of Americans consider early childhood literacy an important problem, but they do not know that reading to children between the ages of 3-5 has long-term consequences for a child’s academic achievement and life-long success.
75% of the population is completely unaware that nearly 61% of low-income
families do not have any age appropriate books in their homes.
63% did not know that poverty is the best predictor of whether or not a child
will achieve in school.
53% are unaware that nearly one-half of children from low-income
communities start first grade up to two years behind their peers.
Research proves that children who enter kindergarten behind their peers will most likely never catch up and are three to four times more likely to drop out in later years. However, this new survey data shows that only 18% of Americans know that children who lack early literacy skills are less likely to succeed as adults.
The facts are staring us in the face. We need to read to our children. We need to make it part of their everyday routine to give them the best start we can.Find different formats to expose children to reading as much as you can. Make it a fun and enjoyable experience for everyone. Read, read and then read some more!
Great video showing how kids are engaging and learning using technology. We should be harnessing this enthusiasm and encouraging children to learn using the great applications that are available. If learning is fun and engaging kids are more open to learn. What do you think?
The NPD Group, in the USA, has released a new study called “Kids & Cross-Entertainment Behaviour Report”. Some findings;
* Households that have kids under 12 account for 45% of total videogame industry sales.
* 57% of kids ages 2 to 12 play videogames.
* 62% of kids ages 2 to 12 use a computer for leisure activities outside of school work.
* There are 53.4 million kids ages 12 and under in the U.S.
* Kids under 12 account for 17% of the population of the United States.
* 75% of the tween group play videogames.
* 81% of the tween group use a computer for leisure activities outside of school.
60% of children ages 6-10 ues the internet across Eurpope – this is as high as 87% in countries such as the UK.
By 2008, 6-17 year olds in all EC countries were much more likely to use the internet at home (65%) than school (57%) or anywhere else, and 34% are now going online using their own computer.
Livingstone, S, and Haddon, L (2009)
EU Kids Online: Final report. LSE, London: EU Kids Online.
(EC Safer Internet Plus Programme Deliverable D6.5)
So we might as well face up to the fact and start providing these kids with educational resources where they can learn whilst having fun. With the ever increasing rise in young children using video games, technology and the internet we must strive to engage them on their ground. Let’s work with them not against them.
For me, literacy is a concept that is not easy to define in the 21st Century. At a basic level, it could be defined as the ability to read and write. Reading and writing used to be a relatively privileged activity not that long ago. Yet we expect, and indeed should expect, that today every child should be able to read and write. But is that enough in the 21st Century to be really literate?
Massive advancements in technology have led to the need for new and different type of literacy skills. How are we helping children to keep up with this? Is it by chance or design?
At the click of a mouse, it is possible to retrieve information on the World-wide web, connect with people across the globe, research, investigate, comment and contribute on an extraordinary range of sources from all over the world. Are our children in danger of growing up in a world of information overload?
They will need the ability to access, process, filter, evaluate, combine and use the information to their advantage which depends on a different set of skills. These include using different technology mediums, keeping up-to-date with ever increasing new technologies, exploring new ways of working, assessing vast amounts of information and screening it quickly to assess its relevance, interacting with new communication technologies and styles, or networking in a virtual world. How are we preparing our children with these skills?
The UNESCO definition of literacy is: “Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts.”
Does this definition go far enough to ensure our children are literate for the future? E-literacy starts with the basics of being able to read and write. Without this the information available is inaccessible. However are there other skills we should be teaching alongside the basics? And when does this become a standard part of the curriculum?
School blogs can transform virtually every aspect of school life. I appreciate that’s a bold claim but I’m going to back it up with some illustrations. I am also going to show you how easy it is to set up a complete school blogging platform with no technical knowledge whatsoever.
Before I go any further though, let me define what I mean by school blogs. Although blogs may have started out rather like online diaries, software such as WordPress (yes, it’s a version of WordPress that I am going to recommend) is quite capable of creating complex websites incorporating multimedia elements. The WordPress platform makes the production of engaging content as simple as using a word processor, allowing users to focus on content. It also allows readers to interact through comments and this is one of the main reasons why school blogs can be so powerful.
So think of a blog as an interactive personal website.
What I am suggesting is not that the school has a blog but rather that everyone IN the school has a blog - teachers, students, administrators - even parents. Here are some examples:
# Lessons - let’s imagine a teacher, Mr Geography. His next few lessons will cover the Amazon jungle. So he transfers an outline of his lesson plan to a blog post and adds in some images, a couple of videos from YouTube showing some Amazonian wildlife and links to the National Geographic website. For homework, the students will visit his post, possibly leave some comments, and then create their own posts answering the questions he set. (Don’t worry, there are many ways to stop plagiarism.)
The students have thus had a much richer and creative experience than simply reading a text book. Their work will remain online for future revision. It can even be made public and form part of a showcase of what students are achieving. Not only can this inspire children, it is a wonderful way for parents and grandparents to share in a student’s progress. This increased involvement can have many dividends in fundraising.
# Sports - the latest results and performances of the school teams can be shared online through reports, photographs and videos. Again, a much broader community can share in the school’s activities.
# Special Interests - this is a broad catch-all category for all the other activities that students may engage in, from dance, drama and music (reviews of theater visits, progress on their own productions etc.) through to IT, photography and debating clubs, The blogs of participant students help their development and publicize what they are doing to a wider audience. The school becomes a much more vibrant place.
# Field Trips and Holidays - parents can be kept informed of what is happening and the whole experience enriched and captured for posterity through blog entries.
I have only hinted at some of the incredible possibilities for using school blogs. I would like to emphasise a few points. Firstly, most of what is produced is almost a by-product of current activities - this is a different way of working rather than extra work. Secondly, much of it is created by the students themselves. Finally, despite the stunning results that can be achieved, this is actually very easy to implement.
I mentioned the WordPress platform earlier. There is a mutli-user version of WordPress, WPMU, that provides the basis for my recommended approach to school blogging. If you are considering how to set up school blogs with maximum effectiveness and ease-of-use, I would suggest an out-of-the box solution incorporating a number of plugins. This will allow you to focus on the benefits the system can bring rather than spending days tweaking settings to achieve an inferior solution.
Paul Taylor, MA(Oxon), MBA, member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and creator of the School Blogs website - a resource outlining the benefits of school blogs and the technology available.
