![]() Sometimes another child is at swimming lessons and he has to watch or because I have a really important phone call to make, I want to ensure silence. Sometimes it might be a negotiation between being allowed to play an educational game like Prodigy verse a Game like Fornite. Sometimes I want to give in because it suits the circumstance. …It goes on and on, and you get the picture. “I don’t think so, you have homework and you need an early night.” “Not right now, we have to do blah blah blah.” The minute, no second, I say “Let’s go!”, it starts. ![]() Child runs out of the classroom, barely waves hi, then rushed off to play soccer with his friends. The childhood gaming addict METHOD 1> The constant negotiation method If they are simply following instructions on Scratch in the classroom, they will never feel empowered or inspired to make their own game or translate those skills into real-world problem-solving. While kids are operating on the surface, they just aren’t able to see or access the potential of that IPAD in front of them. The surface stuff with technology is what I see as causing the biggest issues with kids and gaming addiction, as well as STEM education in classrooms. Even if you account for the physical activity on the Wii, it is all still about quick wins – surface stuff. This means they are drawn towards games and, even lazier in terms of effort for reward, tutorials that show you how to do things. The problem with technology is that kids, being kids, tend to go for quick wins in terms of satisfaction. Traditional university pathways I am sure will still exist in some form, but realistically I have come to accept that I am giving my children an advantage by ensuring they have regular access to technology, are taught how to use it properly and left to problem solve using these learned skills. If we sat them down, I would suggest that they would know more about what the jobs of tomorrow would look like than me. The latest Our children are the first generation that don’t understand life without the internet. a 2015 policy paper on coding released by the Queensland Education Department admitted they are teaching children for jobs that don’t exist yet but what they do know is that coding will be part of it. They need to be fluid with computers and technology to the level where they can look at a circuit board an innately know what it is, what to do and what goes where. Our kids are entering a future where there is a new language, and it is called coding. Sure, we find places we can go, like pubs that have playgrounds, but when we want to go somewhere for a nice eggs benedict on mothers day morning, you can bet your nelly the IPAD will come with me. Could we control our kids? For long periods of time in a strange and busy environment? Make them sit still for 1 whole hour with colouring in pencils, without pencils turning into missiles? No. ![]() It meant we could actually spend time together, outside the home. It allowed my husband and I to have dinner out and, after wrangling the kids through eating and general chitchat, we would absolutely offer an IPAD as an alternative to chaos. The IPAD was originally bought because it seemed like a good idea at the time (yeah, we didn’t think that much about it). ![]() Coding is now compulsory in schooling but it is not all-encompassing and so I think if you have a child who is enthusiastic about technology, you have an opportunity to extend that not unlike you might with dancing or art.Ģ. It makes sense that, to teach kids anything about computers of real value, really requires them to understand how to use one. If they don’t, they get the idea of it eventually, but they will be the one following instructions, not the ones moving ahead and extending their ideas. NONE! Oh sure, there is a token amount of time to show them the on switch, but generally it is expected that kids know how to use computers. When I did my teaching prac in a prep classroom, one thing stood out – there is no time to teach kids to use a computer. This is the story of how I banned technology (for the kids) in my house during the week, but more importantly why I did and what happened when I did. Family life has become a constant negotiation about technology use, and it is a negotiation that rarely ends well. He loves playing IPAD, computers, watching YouTube tutorials and, if left with no other option, my phone.
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