Reaching Digital Natives

 5th Grade, Elementary, Parents, Preschool, Technology, Volunteers  Comments Off
Feb 072012
 

The best solution payday loans

Our Crossing Kids staff have been grappling with a few questions over the past few years.  How do we best reach kids who use technology everywhere they go? How do we teach lessons that engage our learners rather than tune them out? These are questions a lot of educators are asking as well.

According to an article “Teaching Digital Natives” written by Jennifer Hooks in Children’s Ministry Magazine, a “digital native” is a term coined by Marc Prensky in 2001.  He says a “digital native” is a child to whom a digital world is indigenous and completely natural. They were born into an existence where technology evolves at an ever-increasing rate. They interface with one another and with their world through digital means.

He also defines “digital immigrants” as those who weren’t necessarily born into a digital existence but who must adapt and assimilate to function in such a world.  A digital immigrant is someone who isn’t digital by nature; for instance, one who steadfastly prints hard copies of emails or calls to ensure an email has been received.

You may have seen the new TV’s we installed in our classrooms recently and you may be asking the question, “Why? What’s the purpose?” We have been searching for ways to incorporate more digital media into our Crossing Kids lessons in order to engage the “digital natives” that God brings us every week.  We researched several ideas on how we could make that happen in our current space and allow for the widest possible usage.  Installing these new televisions with dvd players and internet capabilities turned out to be the most cost and space effective way.

Below are a few of the ways we plan to use the new technology in our classrooms.

Workshop lessons in elementary can incorporate:

movie clips

Youtube clips

visuals of art, objects or images

music videos that kids create

games we create that all kids can view at one time (i.e. Sheep/Shepherd Jeopardy)

google images/maps

cultural illustrations

The 5th grade curriculum “Grapple” has several interactive digital teaching elements

Live streaming for Kids Club

Kids Club and Family Events

Showing movies for childcare events in smaller settings

Adult classes (Women’s Bible Study and Night Crossing classes)

Our commitment to excellence in our curriculum and learning will not be narrowed but expanded. Our heart is to use these new digital devices in a way to win children to Christ and help them grow in their faith.  Like Paul, our desire is to do all this for the sake of the gospel.

1 Corinthians 9: 19-23

19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pull of Technology

 Family, Parents, Technology  No Responses »
Jan 312012
 

Rachel Johnson raised a great issue in her recent blog Alive Enough about how much time we spend “plugged in” and not engaging with our children.

I must admit that I struggle to find the right balance in our home. With four children ages 9 to 16, all of us are constantly on some form of digital device (computers, cell phones, Itouch, kindle – you name it). It’s how we read our books; it’s how we communicate with each other; it’s how we stay connected to the world.  Even as I write this blog on my computer, one child is writing a paper on another computer while texting her friends, one is playing games on his Ipad and the other two are playing Xbox all while watching the Mizzou basketball game.  So how much is too much and when do you say “turn it off” and let’s talk?

Now just an hour ago, our family was sitting around the dinner table talking about our day  without a single “tech toy” in our hands. We laughed together, shared stories and just enjoyed being with each other. Interestingly, children still prefer talking in person over communicating via some digital media.  Read about a survey taken in the UK here that shows just that fact.  But we all feel the pull that technology has on our family. How do we as parents think about it and how do we lead our kids to think about it?

I’ve read several other blogs recently that have given me some good perspectives on how to stay engaged as a family with all your technology and yet also find ways to “unplug” and relate to one another.

Here are a few of my favorite links written by Carey Nieuwhof on a blog for parents:

Is Technology Killing Your Family?

Preparing Your Kids for Life Online

Disconnect to Reconnect Your Family

I’d love to know how your family handles technology in your home.  Do you find it a struggle to put down the electronics and just be together?  What ideas have worked for you?

Alive Enough?

 Family, Interviews, Technology  Comments Off
Jan 212012
 

On Wednesday morning, Eleanor was contently playing with some toys on her blanket. After grabbing my coffee, I flipped open my laptop to quickly check my email inbox. Only two new emails popped up, so I decided to check Facebook. After looking at random status updates and photos, I clicked on my friend, Holli’s, new post on her blog. She included a link to an American Public Media interview with Sherry Turkle, director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self and author of Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. I clicked on the link to start listening to the interview, and went back to checking Facebook while I listened. But, suddenly something Turkle said made me stop, look at my daughter, and close my laptop.

Tippett (interviewer): “We talked a minute ago about somehow carving out in your child’s life an experience of solitude so that they know how to be alone, and this idea of being present, but if we ourselves are not modeling those possibilities…”

Turkle: “Absolutely. I mean, I think the greatest gift you can give your child is to walk out of the house without your phone. I mean, to pick up the newspaper, to pick up the bagel, to go out for coffee. Don’t take your phone. Show your child what that looks like, that you’re willing to step out of the house not open for communication…You know, I’m not like a romantic or I don’t have like a crazy nostalgia for, you know, an unplugged life, you know in cabins in the woods, not at all. I’m just saying that we have to ask ourselves really what is served by having an always-on, always-on you, open-to-anyone-who-wants-to-reach-us way of life? Because in my research, I’ve found that it actually cuts off conversations as much as it opens out conversations.”

I realized in that moment that as I interacted with technology in front of Eleanor, she was watching and learning from me. Not only that, I realized that a quick checking of my inbox had easily led me to spend over a half hour on my computer while Eleanor played by herself. Is it a negative thing to spend time on the computer in front of your child? Absolutely not. Technology is very much a part of the world we live in and our children should be exposed to it. However, Turkle’s comments made me consider how much I am using technology in front of my daughter.

How often does she observe me text, talk on the phone, surf the web, check Facebook, watch Youtube, pin to Pinterest, upload photos, and post to my blog? In using technology am I cutting off conversation in real life with my daughter in exchange for opening up digital conversation with Facebook friends? What is the cost of this over time? Are there consequences?

I spend about an hour or two a day on my computer or phone.  I often feel a compulsive need to keep abreast of all the Facebook updates, new blog posts, and text messages. At times, I think this does keep me from being fully present with my daughter and husband. When my computer screen is between me and my family, I am missing out on being fully there with them.

All of this has just given me food for thought. I am still going to be a part of the digital world as it is an important part of living in today’s culture. I am still going to use technology in front of Eleanor and when she gets older I will show her how to use it herself. At the same time, I am now sensitive and aware of the amount I choose technology over time with my family.

At the end of her book Turkle quotes Thoreau: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately…I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear.” Then Turkle writes, [Thoreau’s quest] “inspires us to ask of our life with technology: Do we live deliberately? In other words, what is the path, beyond opting out, to integrating technology into genuinely robust, meaningful living?”

Certainly as parents who want to leave a legacy of faith in Christ with our children, we must “live deliberately” as Turkle suggests. We have limited hours with our families, limited hours to talk and share and laugh and create memories with them. We have limited hours to pray and worship and read our Bibles with our children. If you’re at all like me, technology can sometimes get in the way of that.

Perhaps this week, we could all make one small step to “live deliberately” so that we can have more time to leave a legacy. Maybe that’s leaving your cell phone in another room during dinnertime, reading a book with your child instead of reading blogs, or doing a craft with your little one instead of pinning on Pinterest. I’m not sure what this will look like for you and your family, but it seems this is an issue that we are all going to have to think about more as the digital world becomes more ingrained in our family culture.

So, in summary remember…technology is good. We will and should use it in front of and with our children. We should also monitor when it is coming between us and our family and keeping us from spending concentrated time leaving a legacy of faith with our children.

Listen to the full interview with Dr. Sherry Turkle.