See the Learning.™

Raising a family is a full-time job – especially when both parents work, which is more typical now than when we were raising families. So, when do mommy bloggers have the time to write hundreds or even thousands of words about the details of their busy lives? At night; mommy bloggers just sleep less. Frankly, we can’t imagine how much less mommy bloggers can sleep given that sleeping less is the normal state of affairs when raising very young children. Mommy bloggers must take vitamins – or maybe the daddies are helping out with cleaning up the messes made by the young children? Now THAT is even harder to imagine – said a male who changed diapers without blinking. (Ok, some blinking.)

Why do mommy bloggers blog? Let me count the ways: To “unload before going to sleep;” to feel connected while being stuck in the house; to share helpful tips on how to raise young children or to help other mothers who are dealing with issues about which the mommy blogger has some expertise. No surprises there. But what sets today’s mommy bloggers apart from the 60’s parents is the means by which they communicate: the Internet. This blog posting has taken a week to matriculate. The mommy bloggers blasted out their posts almost immediately. Maybe that’s because we (the older generation) have become slow typists; or maybe it’s because we are afraid to cast our words out onto the Information Highway without review, reflection, more review, and more reflection. Not so with the mommy bloggers; they have families to raise; there is no time to ponder nuances – say it for the whole world to hear – and move on!

It’s long past ending time; they want our next blog posting shortly! OY! At the risk of sounding commercial – perhaps if we spent a few more days on this one paragraph we would walk that nuanced tightrope just right – the mommy bloggers who had experienced (with their children) the Tag electronic reading aid by LeapFrog were universal in their clear praise for that technological toy, which in turn, influenced the non-Tag experienced mommy bloggers to scarf up the Tag Readers scattered (literally) about the room.

The mommy blogger phenomena is a real force; these mothers are not afraid to speak their minds – from their hearts – into the Internet megaphone. And we are all the richer for it!

When we raised our children several decades ago, we didn't have the Internet. When 6-month old Daniel had a 102 fever and the physician's answering service wasn't responding, we phoned a parent from our son's pre-school. We had books by Dr. Spock and the talk radio show by Dr. Barry Brazelton. Back then we said "no more war toys" and tried to interest our boys in wooden toys. That was until 3-year old Daniel pointed a piece of toast at his mother and said "bang" -- and talked incessantly about the "transformers" his playschool colleagues begrudgingly let him play with during pre-school.

Fast forward 20 years. On Sunday, Oct 19, 2008, we, who came of age during the 60's with the Vietnam War and Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, met head-on the new way to raise a family in the Internet, social-networking era. Organized by LeapFrog at the South Loop KinderCare Center in downtown Chicago, 19 mommy bloggers and their 30 or so children (and a sprinkling of daddies) came together for a two hour face-to-face chat fueled by pizza, juiceboxes, a caricature artist, a face-painter and loads of LeapFrog learning toys.

What's a mommy blogger? They are simply moms who are involved in their children's lives, but who exchange their views over the Internet with other moms. (Hmmm: are the daddy bloggers?)

The meeting was ostensibly to discuss technological aids to learning, but what really transpired was a meeting of mommy bloggers who knew each other from their online blogs (and online invented personas in some cases) but who, for the most part, had never met face-to-face. Surprisingly, this eclectic assortment of mommies - some professionals from a varied range of professions, while others spent full-time at home - pretty much started out with the same core belief: like the 60's parents, the mommy bloggers felt that wooden and other old-fashioned toys were the right toys for their children. That is, until the real-world intruded (did we just hear a piece of toast go "bang"?) and they - like many 60's parents -- realized that technology enhanced toys could also make a positive contribution to the raising of a young child. Balance was the conclusion that the mommy bloggers pushed for; the old toys as well as the new toys all have a place in "the toy box."

Go here to check out photos of the event to see how much fun parents and kids had. If you attended this event we would love to see your photos and videos, so please add them to the LeapFrog Community.

From June 29th to July 2nd, 2008, over 17,000 K-12 educators met in San Antonio, Texas to discuss promising trends in educational technology at the annual National Educational Computing Conference (NECC). We’d like to review here two major themes that emerged from this important gathering.

In our previous entry, we identified four ways in which computing technology helps children learn. Now, for technology to do its thing, children must have ready access to computers in school. Unfortunately, the ratio of students to computers in K-12 is 4:1. Schools simply don’t have the funds to buy each and every one of the 55,000,000 students a computer. The buzz at NECC was about the possibility that low-cost mobile computers (a.k.a. smartphones) could solve the cost problem. Schools don’t need to purchase a laptop for each child—each child will be bringing a highly functional mobile computing device to school anyway so why not use it for curricular activities? Cellphones are banned from schools today, but educators might become more receptive to cellphones once they learn that they can control what students do (and don’t do) on their phones—such as turn off cameras during gym, turn off texting during a test, and so on. Cellphones can save a great deal of money and still enable each child to have an Internet-connected, multimedia computing device that supports the curriculum. Last year, cellphone was a four-letter word at NECC; this it's the buzz; next year—stay tuned!

Second theme: the world is flat. We are connected into a global community and to think otherwise is to play ostrich. This year’s conference revealed an explosion of exciting global learning activities. For example, in RockOurWorld children are creating and sharing music in dozens and dozens of classrooms around the world. In the Zero Carbon Footprint Project, children are computing their carbon footprint and sharing their findings with other children, again, all around the globe. Interestingly, these projects are grassroots efforts, initiated by teachers who feel it’s important that children communicate with others all over the world. These sorts of projects help our children see others not as strangers to be feared but as children just like themselves. Dr. Seuss would definitely approve—the Internet helps today’s children see the folly of the Zooks fighting with the Yooks.

We look forward to next year’s NECC in Washington, DC, June 28 through July 1, 2009.

The “kids these days” are deeply involved in technology. They tote around all manner of gadgets and they are not afraid to press any and all keys and buttons. Unlike their parents, kids do not take it personally when the computer crashes. Putting their comfort with technology aside, is their use of technology just so much mental candy? Or worse, is it a harmful diversion? Or, does technology provide fundamentally new opportunities for learning? As responsible parents, it is our absolute duty to ask such hard questions; thoughtful answers will guide us in protecting or enabling our children. In this and the forthcoming entries, we intend to ask plain and direct questions about technology, children and learning. Indeed, while we have a set of questions to kick-start the series, we invite you to put to us the issues that are of concern to you and your children.

A bit of introduction is in order first. Dr. Cathleen Norris is a Regents Professor in the College of Education at the University of North Texas and Dr. Elliot Soloway is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan. We have logged over 50 years between us as university faculty, conducting research, mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, and teaching hundreds of classes. Before UNT, Cathie was a middle and high school math teacher for 14 years, while Elliot—well he liked college so much he never left. That said we are definitely not stuck in our ivory towers! As members of LeapFrog’s Educational Advisory Board, we have the exciting opportunity to provide critical input on LeapFrog’s offerings. And, we are co-founders of GoKnow! Inc., an Ann Arbor-based company that supports K-12 teachers and children using mobile computing devices for teaching and learning.

Now back to our question: How does technology help children learn? From the 20,000-foot level, we see four ways technology can provide new ways for children to learn:

1. Like training wheels, well-designed technology can “scaffold” learning, enabling children to learn when they would otherwise be stuck. For example, the Tag Reading System scaffolds the reading process by helping a reader understand the letters, words and sentences in a book. Most importantly, the child is in control and decides when to use the scaffolding. This sort of scaffolding helps children develop into autonomous learners—learners who are prepared for the demands of the 21st century.

2. Unlike a textbook that tacitly assumes that “one size fits all,” well-designed learning technology acknowledges the diversity in children and affords them multiple entry points. For example, the Leapster game system, LeapFrog’s low-cost, but powerful, handheld computer, enables children to explore a broad range of learning activities, such as matching games, memory games and so on. While a child will eventually engage in most of the activities, each child can start where he or she is most comfortable and successful. Finally, then, through technology, we can design learning activities that address the enormous diversity that is an intrinsic characteristic of today’s children.

3. Computing technologies go way beyond paper-and-pencil to enable a child to express herself or himself in a broad range of modalities—textually, graphically, numerically, aurally, visually and so on. For example, children use Sketchy, a easy-to-use tool developed by GoKnow, to create animations that bring together words, numbers and pictures. The research literature is clear that employing multiple modalities in self-expression is a key strategy for effective learning.

4. Computing technologies afford children new ways to communicate—to converse, to collaborate and to compete. While there are times when a child needs to step back and grapple with issues in private, there are other times when interacting with peers, mentors, acquaintances and friends is a highly effective strategy for learning.

Taken together, the above technological-afforded learning opportunities help a child become an effective and successful learner. We often hear children report: “using technology at school is fun.” “Fun” in this context is not of the “ha ha” type. Rather, using technology to learn—and have “fun”—is a deeply satisfying and joyous experience. As parents, our primary learning technology was pencil-and-paper; for our children computing technologies are primary. As parents, we can all remember individuals who were not successful at learning. Computing technologies, with their unique affordances, are helping to make all of today’s children into successful learners.

What do you think? Let us know! See you next week.

Cathie and Elliot

Recommended Readings:

Multiple Intelligences: A Theory for Everyone

 
How People Learn