WOODEN TRAINS AND MAX'S i.POD
Took some old wooden train pieces down to three year old Max - one old too tall blue engine and two bridges that were too low for trains to go under. Max was actively playing with the old wooden trains that belonged to his father and uncle many years ago prior to this digital nation.
We got right busy and enjoyed almost an hour of play. We had numerous problems that needed to be solved as the old blue engine (we named it POWERFUL) would crash into the tunnels and bridges. The bridges would even let the smaller, older trains through. Max would have to go get his Percy engine (who has a very strong magnet) to push and pull the wrecks out of the way.
Suddenly he declared, "I need my i.Pod. What would Thomas do about this mess?" He runs to his i.Pod and starts swishing his finger across the screen, turning it first Landscape and the Portrait. He searches for the app he needs, ignores the beginning part, and goes to an episode that will tell him what he needs. He works with that i.Pod for over 15 minutes, quiet and attentive but also able to monitor what his dad and I were talking about, what his sister needed (her binkie), what the dogs were barking about, and what was on the TV (some kid movie). He could multi-task with seeming ease.
When he located what he needed, he stashed the i.Pod and returned to the wooden trains. He used the solution and rebuilt the basic layout of the track to fix the problems so his trains would not keep crashing. This very young digital native used his play skills, problem solving skills, fine-motor dexterity skills, communication skills, gross motor skills, thinking skills, and social skills. He is the complete package. What will he be able to do in the future? I cannot imagine.
If only my digital immigrant mind were wired with neurons that could put this all together, I might be able to run the remote control to our flat-screen TV and DVR at the same time. The play Max does with that wooden train is not much different that what his dad and uncle did for more hours than I can count. But he solves his problems with a different part of his brain than they did.
What do we call these young people? Digital prodigy?
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Enough?
How much peanut butter is enough? How many hours in one day at the keyboard is enough? How many times a day checking your e.mail is enough?
Buried within an article in INTERNET@SCHOOLS, the author makes a New Year's resolution to check her e.mail only three times a day. That should be enough.
Would three times a day checking my e.mail be enough? Would peanut butter only at breakfast be enough? Can I survive on only one hour at the computer keyboard a day? How does one decide what is enough?
I tried this week. I checked my in-box only in the morning after having a peanut butter rice cake with dried cranberries, around noon after having a peanut butter granola bar with raisins, and prior to going to bed (you guessed, another peanut butter rice cake, this time with jelly). Surprise to me, it was enough for keeping on top of all the information I needed to receive digitally. That hourly and sometimes more often of checking was not really necessary. Now to work on slowing the consumption of peanut butter.
But that leaves the time at the computer keyboard each day. I tried, really tried to cut that time. I found that I had little else to do with my time. Even when involved with a physical task like shelving books on library shelves, assisting a student in research, answering a scheduling problem, showing an instructional video, or entering new material into the library system, without the computer keyboard, I could not do my job.
You might be saying, "so do other tasks". My life seems void and empty if I take the keyboard out of the picture. It is a part of my life that I take for granted. Without technology, I am a flimsy, soft shell without substance holding it full.
I think while working on the computer. I plan while doing mundane, repetitious tasks on the computer. I use all parts of my brain and feel interested in life and what will happen next when occupied with using technology (either for work at school or living at home).
Enough said.
Buried within an article in INTERNET@SCHOOLS, the author makes a New Year's resolution to check her e.mail only three times a day. That should be enough.
Would three times a day checking my e.mail be enough? Would peanut butter only at breakfast be enough? Can I survive on only one hour at the computer keyboard a day? How does one decide what is enough?
I tried this week. I checked my in-box only in the morning after having a peanut butter rice cake with dried cranberries, around noon after having a peanut butter granola bar with raisins, and prior to going to bed (you guessed, another peanut butter rice cake, this time with jelly). Surprise to me, it was enough for keeping on top of all the information I needed to receive digitally. That hourly and sometimes more often of checking was not really necessary. Now to work on slowing the consumption of peanut butter.
But that leaves the time at the computer keyboard each day. I tried, really tried to cut that time. I found that I had little else to do with my time. Even when involved with a physical task like shelving books on library shelves, assisting a student in research, answering a scheduling problem, showing an instructional video, or entering new material into the library system, without the computer keyboard, I could not do my job.
You might be saying, "so do other tasks". My life seems void and empty if I take the keyboard out of the picture. It is a part of my life that I take for granted. Without technology, I am a flimsy, soft shell without substance holding it full.
I think while working on the computer. I plan while doing mundane, repetitious tasks on the computer. I use all parts of my brain and feel interested in life and what will happen next when occupied with using technology (either for work at school or living at home).
Enough said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)