Your First-Grader and Technology

"I echo the coments from 1/15/08. Well said. More and more information points to the fact children, particularly of this age group, need real life expereinces not vertual ones. Let's remember these are children who are developing their bodies and social behaviors. Learning to write and draw is important. Giving them 'keyboard' skills before perfecting necessary skills is damaging. I hope the schools your children go to do not rely on technology but rather relationships with other children and teachers and the experiences that develop life long learning skills. Including stories, handwork and physical movement with traditional tools. If your are interested in schools that provide this kind of opportunity over technology I suggest you look into Waldorf School programs. "

"Very informative article. I went to all the websites mentioned in this article and it gave me some really interesting ideas to make science and learning fun for my daughter."

"I find it curious that at no point in this article is there a mention of the reasonable option of NOT including technology (as defined by electronic media devices) in the classroom at all. Every subject that a 1st grader would 'need' to learn about (and I would bet the majority of the optional subjects that a teacher would want to teach) can be richly covered using 'traditional' tools and like art supplies, models, stories and creative teachers. I don't buy that technology aids are required at that age. Even the most advanced, interactive computer teaching tools resort to bright lights, sounds, animations and other gimics to reward students in order to maintain their attention -- the same gimics long utilized by TV commercials, cartoons and video games. Just because they are packaged as an 'educational' tool doesn't mean they are any less damaging to a child's creative or emotional development. Interaction should be a LOT more than clicking and dragging. No technology ! tool yet can even remotely approach the richness of interaction that a student has with even a good set of Legos or a xylophone, let alone a living puppy, or God forbid, another student or a teacher. First graders need to be immersed in their lessons -- not just connected to them by a mouse button. We already know that kids have a predisposition to sitting idly by as the addictive TV or computer soaks them with images and sounds -- why reinforce that behavior in the classroom? Kids who are not exposed to television tend not to even ask for it, let alone expect it. Why not encourage them, at the tender age of 7 or 8 yrs old, to get out into the physical world and have a truly immersive experience? Compare a group of students who never watch TV to a group who watch even an hour or two a day, and you'll immediately see a difference in their speech and play and they way they treat each other. Do we really believe that it's necessary to start a kid using technology in 1st grade in order for him/her to understand the tools, or become technologically literate? I have no doubt that a student who sees a computer for the first time in 4th grade will be every bit as skilled in its use, by high school graduation, as a student who starts in 1st. And I would bet that first kid is much more likely to be emotionally mature, independently creative, caring and respectful. And please note, this is not the ranting of a Luddite who shuns modern life. I have degrees in computer science, communication theory and learning theory, and have spent the last 15 years developing commercial websites and interactive training systems. I fully understand the power of technology to provide rich interactions far beyond what is available to most people in daily life. I just don't believe it has any place in a child's life until they have developed a strong sense of themselves and their place and role in the world. Technology certainly has a place in school -- it's just not in 1st grade, and maybe not in elementary school at all."