Do they still use pencils and paper?

Our current age is one of the most exciting the human race has faced.  We struggle with the issues of pollution and climate change, and we also face a future of unprecedented change, innovation and creation.  Our challenge is to prepare our children for an ever-changing future, with career paths looking very different from ours.

Frequently we hear parents comment on the use of technology in the classroom. They say they didn’t have it as children and they ‘turned out okay?’. However, we are now aware that comparing our childhoods and lives we are living to that of our children, is like comparing apples and pineapples - similar to our grandparents comparing forms of transport or telecommunications to the advancements and access we currently know.

Jan Owen AM, the CEO of the Foundation for Young Australians, in one of the largest surveys ever undertaken, collected data from large companies around the country and world, to see what it is they are looking for in prospective employees.  The message was employers are ‘Recruiting for mindset, and training for skills’.  Larger companies are employing undergraduates straight from high school, and offering them training and education purposefully designed for their company with their specific needs in mind. They are looking for presentation skills, creativity and critical thinking with digital literacy being the number one skill (and self-regulation being the number one attribute). 

 

At Peregian Springs, we are intentionally developing these skills with our learners, and no better program does this for us than our mLearningprogram.  From Prep our children have the opportunity to develop and build their 21^st Century Skills, as they build independence to problem solve, creatively discover and present their learning, whilst becoming a digitally literate learner.

Every year parents ask about pencils and paper, fine motor skills, screen time and face to face interactivity and how the use of a device impacts this.  Each of these elements have never been replaced within our classrooms, yet enhanced with the use of technology. 

Fine Motor Skills - our Early Years classrooms are resplendent in artwork hanging throughout the spaces to know that fine motor skills of cutting, drawing, painting etc. are still very much alive and valued.  And with the use of devices, our students can record, digitally collect, share and bring to life the drawings or paintings that were once static.

Screen Time – Screen Time as a negative impact is referred to when a person is sitting with their brain in idle mode watching a movie, video or simple game.  At school this rarely if ever happens.  When students are using devices they are creating, making, interacting or adapting content.

Interacting with others – devices are often used to collaborate on tasks with others. Students FaceTime experts around the world, or interacting with blogs and written content. And, in the classroom, students are creating with another student alongside.  Their conversations lead to deeper learning and greater challenges.

Your children are not missing out in this new age - in fact the reverse is probably true.

And some questions parents could ask instead are

·      How will they use the device to create?

·      How can we interact with what our child is doing to help them deepen their learning?

·      What questions should we be asking our child at the end of a day to hear their learning or extend their understanding?

(This blog post is a collaboration between Clair Allan and the Gwen Sands using the latest technology and our digital literacy skills ☺️ )