This week on the Spark blog we’ve been having a discussion about kids and tech gadgets, and whether or not parents are shoving more tech into kids’ hands at the first hint of boredom. And if so, are we leaving them no time to daydream and therefore contributing to a decline in creativity? Heavy questions, mom! Tech writer Jeana Lee Tahnk thinks our inability to be idle thanks to our devices, means we’re filling our kids’ empty spaces with them too. She writes the Screen Play blog over at parenting.com
You can hear the full, uncut interview below, or download the MP3. [runs 17:43]
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I see the iPad (or equivalent) as the slate of the 21st century. At the beginning of the 20th century the tools for learning include a piece of slate and a piece of chalk. The iPad is about the same size and can if we choose can perform the same function – it is a tool to educate. But it can also be used as a random idea generator… think of all the content children can access. broadening their exposure to ideas. Did kids stop day dreaming when they were given a slate? No. Will they stop day dreaming because they've been given an iPad? I doubt it.
The NYtimes article on media and Waldorf schools clearly made the distinction that they were not against media and hi-tech rather they know that the best time to introduce media into the educational system is in high school. The Waldorf curriculum aims to produce students that will one day, if they choose to, create a set of programs, procedures, algorithms and documentation for a new computer software rather than be passive users. Our alumni from Waldorf Academy, here in Toronto, have been very grateful for this media free period in their education because it allowed them to really build upon their own imagination. It does not in anyway exclude them from society and or hinder them from learning and using technology. Too much emphasis has been placed on media as a tool for learning when in fact dedicated, passionate teachers who understand child development are the answer.
Certainly technology has it's place in our ever changing modern world. However, I do love the silly songs, contemplative questions and anectodal stories our kids come up with on those long car rides when the DVD player is off, hand held games put away, and yes, the radio too is off. It really is important to simply be bored once in a while, to day dream – it's relaxing if nothing else. What more reason do we need in our rushed society than that?!