Children and Technology
Posted under parenting, Witterings
My Megaboys snuggled up this morning. Looks like they’re engrossed in a book doesn’t it? They’re not. They’d filched MrSpud’s iPhone, turned it on, broken the password and, having engaged in a little light movie snack, they are hard at work with their spelling using an app. Later they got busy with phonics on an iPad. It’s all oh..so…very 00s isn’t it? Who needs flashcards and tracing the letters when you can load up an interactive app on an iPad? There’s no replacement for 1:1 learning, and paper and pencil work…but the appeal of the ‘whizzy’ way is plain to see. Although it occurred to me, whilst watching them hard at work, that we’ve returned to the days of slate and chalk. Only the slate is a tablet of Apple loveliness and the chalk is our finger. What goes around comes around and all that. MrSpud told me that Diggy, puzzled at something not working whilst practicing his letters, looked at his finger and frowned. That tickled me…his immediate assumption that his finger was faulty. Hope he’s got it covered by an Apple Care Protection Plan ;-)
I often ponder about whether my ingrained passion/obsession for ‘being connected’(for want of a better expression) will stay with me all my life. Or will it wane as the years get the better of me. When will I stop knowing and engaging in ‘the latest’, whether it be ‘puter, phone or gadget related or social media and whatever else is coming our way? Will I ever be like our grandparents’ generation…afraid of the VCR never mind a DVD player, unable and unwilling to use a mobile phone and referring to the internet as the “WWW DOT” as my grandad did?
Or has the technological revolution (shudder) over the last 30 years or so meant that we are the first generation of the Techno Tribe…who have been comfortable with technology and ‘being connected’ for so long that old age won’t defeat us? As octogenarians, will we still be doing the 2050s versions of Twitter, Facebook (I do HOPE that’s long dead by then), Foursquare, Spotify etc etc…and showing off our latest gadgets to our slightly alarmed great grandchildren?
It’s very rare that I’m truly curious about the future, I much prefer to wallow in the past and enjoy today for what it is. But I would LOVE to know if my love love of CyberLife will stay with me for all my years. Or, when I’m old and crusty, will I idle away my hours crocheting, reading trashy novels and wondering why the hell I spent so much of my life glued to a computer. And was it worth it?
LOL… That sooooo reminds me of my two with their respective DS’s…. They’ll both sit the totally engrossed playing in their joint Animal Crossing worlds… Mind you I was quite pleased today when my eldest asked me to teach her how to play chess, so I guess technology doesn’t always win out… Simply wonderful shot too btw Spud… No denying that… :)
There’s so much more to come. Mine love their ds’s and they love to get online with Webkinz and Club Penguin and Ashley asks me to get her on the websites she uses at school. However, take them to the library or out into the great outdoors and they couldn’t be happier… it’s all in the balance.
i’ve seen grannies with their iPods at the Y… God only knows what they’re listening to!!! lol
Your boys are soooo soooo cute. I’m cracking up about Diggy and his finger. hehehe…yup, we are totally techno now. I had to laugh while on a photo job last week… I saw a computer in a public place with a sign taped on it that said, “This is NOT a touch screen”. HA, we have become so spoiled ;)
Spud – there’s a youtube vid of a toddler’s first encounter with the iPad –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT4EbM7dCMs
It’s a good one to watch. Amazing how fast they pick up new technology.
I’m glad its not just mine – Toddlergirl demands Mr’s iphone (or big iphone… sigh) every morning and has hacked his password – scary how good they are with technology