The digital age for our children is truly here. Just the other day I walked into the classroom of one of our 4th grade teachers. She was in the middle of using the Promethean Board (interactive board) to teach adjectives to students. I sat there observing the little faces of the students and couldn't help to be mesmerized by how intently they were watching the board.
That same night I was putting my son to bed when he asked for me to read a book to him. I told him to grab a book, but instead he came back with my iPad. He crawled next to me in bed, slid his finger across the the iPad to unlock it and selected a Dr. Seuss app. The app read the One Fish, Two Fish to him. What I found most fascinating is that a two year old understand hows to navigate through a piece of technology such as the iPad as if it were second nature.
My son will never really understand what it means to dial a rotary phone or use a public phone for that matter. But what most scares is that if I were to allow him to use the iPad to read a book regularly he will never have an interest in reading a traditional book or read book where you don't touch the pictures and expect them to sing and dance. I suppose too much of any one thing is a bad thing. Balance is key.
Tamara,
ReplyDeleteI so agree with your comments of how important it is to balance out technology with the old fashioned materials. I love books and always buy the younger kids in my family those for Christmas and Birthday presents. I want them to realize how much fun reading can be so it will continue for the rest of their lives. But, I also want them to learn the newest technology so they can be on the cutting edge. I think it is super important to have both of them. We were just playing Yahtzee and when it was time to calculate , I used my head and the younger girls in our family got out their phones and used the calculator on there. Nothing wrong with either way as long as you don't lose the ability to use both.
So is it printed words and pictures on a paper that we want to preserve, to the desire to read or be told a story? I love books but I have done so much more reading and interacting with media since getting my iPad last Spring. I think that physical books will continue to be beloved, but we can't let our nostalgia get in the way of our students quest for knowledge and understanding.
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