Child Observation

Earlier this morning I took a trip to my local mall with the hopes of observing some children using technology. I thought that to best accomplish this, I should set up shop in the food court. I grabbed some food from Taco Time and sat down at a table near two teenage boys. While trying to be as “un-creepy” as possible, I watched them for about half an hour using various forms of technology. I mostly observed these kids on their cell phones. One of the boys had a simple phone, which he appeared to be texting on frequently. The other kid had an iPhone, and was either texting or using some sort of other app (it was hard to tell without me standing over his shoulder). After 15 minutes or so, one of the boys got up and left. As he was walking away I saw him pull out an iPod and put his headphones on. The boy who was left at the table began to use his iPhone again, and he looked to be playing some sort of game on it. I would say that during the time I was observing the kids were using some sort of technology for about half the time. Watching these kids made it clear just how much interaction we have with technology on a daily basis. Portable phones and music players seem to be common among younger generations. Being relatively young, knowing how to use technology like cell phones and mp3 players comes almost naturally. Conversely, if I was to hand my grandma an iPhone she would have to clue what to do with it. Many young people today have the ability to quickly learn and adapt to new technologies. They don’t really need to learn anything else to successfully use new technologies. A lot of kids can seemingly play around with a new device for a few minutes and figure out how to use it. Children today are so good with technology. It seems like there exist many ways for new technology to be used to enhance learning. I think that technology has already aided learning. Just look at the internet. One can find information about virtually anything with just one click of a button. If I want to look something up, instead of having to go to the library and look at an encyclopedia, I can just Google it. When a kid needs to do a research assignment for school, I can assure you they’re not going to the library to check out books. They’re going online. I think one of the big challenges teachers face and will continue to face surrounds the question of how to successfully apply new technologies to enhance learning. Technology has the potential to revolutionize the way teachers teach. As a teacher, the goal is always to present material to your students in a manner which will maximize the amount of learning. How can new technologies help accomplish the goal? That is something my peers and I will have to figure out.