How should children learn in the digital age?
Understanding technology is essential in our modern world, but parents are also told to restrict their childrenB次元官网网址檚 screen time. How do you do both?
The trick, Stella Fleming says, is to teach kids to be producers, not consumers.
As Primary Team Lead, Fleming mentors elementary school teachers at on the latest science-based education techniques.
B次元官网网址淲hen technology is used as a babysitter children are usually consuming without any thought. ThatB次元官网网址檚 not necessarily a bad thing, but they wonB次元官网网址檛 be learning or discerning.B次元官网网址�
Students at are encouraged to ask questions when using technology.
B次元官网网址淵ou canB次元官网网址檛 just give technology to a kid and expect them to work it out. It takes schooling to become a producer.B次元官网网址�
Lego robots, stop-motion mathematics
Primary school students at Lighthouse Christian Academy learn to code using . Students develop fine motor skills and cognitive abilities while building with Lego blocks, then use play-based learning to explore the app and discern what different coding icons do.
B次元官网网址淵ou can build a road map for your robot then program it to navigate the map or build a working Lego guitar,B次元官网网址� Fleming says.
That makes students active instead of passive while using technology, and that drive to produce will affect the way they engage with the world for the rest of their lives.
The school uses student mentorship to share knowledge across education levels.
B次元官网网址淥ur Grade 5-6 class was doing great work with stop-motion animation, so we brought them into the Kindergarten-Grade 2 classrooms to teach technology and mathematics,B次元官网网址� Fleming says. Younger students told stories about subtraction and older students created videos to demonstrate the mathematical concept.
The 21st century child
You donB次元官网网址檛 need a lot of technology to make this learning possible. A digital camera is enough to get kids engaging in the world in a different way.
Students in younger grades have e-portfolios, and initially teachers photograph student projects. But as students develop they take charge of documenting their learning, which helps them understand that B次元官网网址榣earningB次元官网网址� isnB次元官网网址檛 a negative thing. Students in Grade 2 recently engaged in place-based learning by exploring Westhills and photographing things they were curious about.
B次元官网网址淚t was a great project for teachers to get their studentB次元官网网址檚 perspective,B次元官网网址� Fleming says, B次元官网网址淜ids are shorter than adults so they notice different things. You get to see how they see and what theyB次元官网网址檙e interested in.B次元官网网址�
Back in the classroom teachers guided students to ask questions like B次元官网网址榃hat does that sign mean?B次元官网网址� or B次元官网网址榃hy do we have that in our neighbourhood?B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭he 21st century child is bombarded with so many images. Which ones should they pay attention to and which ones should they discard? That takes schooling.B次元官网网址�
Want to learn more? Visit the Lighthouse Christian Academy on Jan. 14 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
