Preschoolers and Mobile Technology

A November 2010 report describes the affects of new media and mobile technologies on young children and their families. The report, Learning: Is there an app for that?, touts the educational benefits of well-designed mobile apps for preschoolers. It also cites the reality of preschoolers using mobile devices--often, their parent's device passed to them in the backseat, a phenomenon labeled the "pass-back" effect. I'm familiar with the practice.

This Tech & Learning article summarizes the findings of the report and provides additional information. For example, a 2009 content analysis of the iTunes App Store (education section) revealed that 60% of the top-selling paid applications targeted toddlers and preschoolers.

When I upgraded my smartphone recently, I removed the sim card from my old iPhone and Magda set it up for Lucy to use as an iPod Touch. When I commented about this recently in a backchannel during class, one of our students (future teacher) asked what does a 3-year old need with an iPod? Well, Lucy loves to...

• Take pictures--even photo essays of sorts of her dolls and environment. 
• Swipe thru pictures she has taken and also of our family and friends
• Watch movies--home movies from our Flip camera, episodes of her favorite shows, movies downloaded from YouTube (her channel and others)
• Record and listen to herself singing songs--sometimes to recall the melody of a song to begin singing it. 
• Listen to music
• Play--some apps support cognitive development while others build fine motor skills (psychomotor) or appeal to her emotionally (affective domain).
• Explore. She's just curious to figure out what the device can do. I believe this is particularly important, because she is developing a fluency with new interfaces and input devices (gestures, voice recognition, etc.). 

Now, we just need to mount one of these interactive displays on the wall in her preschool classroom!

Update:
Lucy's teacher, Donna, just directed me to this related Sesame Street video. :-)

Help me choose new glasses

It's time for a new look. Please help me choose from these three frames. Use the poll in the sidebar to the right to vote for your preference. Thanks!

Update
The results are in. With 44 votes, it seems Frame A was the favorite. Thanks to everyone who participated! I'm still not convinced to go with Frame A--seems a bit boring to me overall. But your input is persuasive. I think you might be a better judge than me. :-)

Introducing Lilian and Vivian

Introducing Lilian and Vivian, weighing in at 6 pounds 12 ounces and 6 pounds 14 ounces. Everyone is doing well, and Lucy is proud to be a big sister! We hope you enjoy these pictures...

Potty-Training

Potty-Training

Trying whatever it takes today to potty-train our digital native. :-)

2.5 year old discovers virtual world

It began innocently enough--Lucy was trying to play with mommy's laptop, I thought maybe she'd like to see some pretty pictures on the computer, and I'd been meaning to check out the latest SecondLife viewer (I haven't been using SL much at all lately). Together, we arrived in Iowa (virtual Iowa) to see what's new at Dr. Z's place in world. A few minutes later, my 2.5 year old daughter had figured out how to walk, turn and fly in a virtual world. What just happened?

I realized that I had just witnessed something remarkable (I think). I had observed how a digital native makes sense out of a virtual world--a totally new and different environment. In a span of about 15-20 minutes she had discovered how to navigate this virtual world--how to walk, turn and fly. She expressed real emotion (humor, curiosity, frustration, reward, and even a bit of fear that she was up too high or going to get in the water). Through trial and error, she very quickly learned how to manipulate the avatar on the screen and make him not only walk about in open areas but travel in and out of buildings. And she wanted more!

Amazing (I think). Watch... (and listen)...



Afterward (about 30 min), I put Lucy down for her nap and my head filled with questions...

1. Am I a horrible father? 
2. Is there anything very novel about this? Is it really much different than watching a child learn how to use a remote control car? 
3. Will Lucy think she can fly now? Will she try to jump off a building or something? 
4. If she can do this at 2.5 years old, what will she be capable of (and what will she expect from media and technology) when she is 5, 10, or 15 years old? 
5. How much will she remember tomorrow? She had no trouble remembering that the E key made the avatar fly and the C key made him land. That's pretty abstract. Will she go right back to those keys the next time we play in Second Life? 
6. Did I just violate SL's terms of use? 
7. There's a Second Life Teen Grid. Should there be a Baby Grid? Or do WebKinz and Club Penguin have that covered?  
8. What would my students think of this? (maybe they'll blog about it)

Lucy on the phone

Happy New Year from Poland!