Computer Use vs Television Viewing in Toddlers

I'm a parent now, and even before I had kids I was always lecturing everyone around on how horrible television was for kids--especially babies, toddlers and preschoolers. The eye-rolls and clearing of the throats did not stop me, I kept on talking about statistics like:

Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 3.5

Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680

Number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school: 8,000

Number of violent acts seen on TV by age 18: 200,000

Number of 30-second TV commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000

(Stats from Calif. State Univ: http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html)

Now that I have a bouncing baby boy, I still have yet to change my mind. I do have friends whose babies are watching crap like Yo Gabba Gabba (I know, I'm inviting a storm of protests here). I read the chapter in Nurture Shock that explains that so-called Educational Programming actually teaches bullying in a more subtle and hurtful kind of way! Go sell crazy somewhere else, I tell them. We don't watch television at all and will not do so, even for a little, until he is two years old. And then, I'm still not sure. However, that doesn't mean that I eschew all technology. In fact, my 10 month old is already becoming adept at using my iPhone. We have several apps on there just for him. Things like Koi Pond, Peekaboo Barn and Doodle Kids. He will have an iPad for his 1 year birthday present.

So, how do I justify allowing "screen time" of that nature? Well, I think it's about interactivity. He is not the passive viewer in this case. He is active, controls what he sees and for how long. He is not subject to advertisements or violence or sex. I think touch-screen "screen time" is a whole different world than Web 1.0 one-way passivity. There isn't a whole lot of research that differentiates for this new medium, but I am really looking forward to seeing it. I predict it will show very different results.  

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/12738795@N00/5216468922/sizes/m/in/photostream/ 

Texting in the Modern Age

There's a reason why I have not posted since November. No, I'm not one of the blogs that goes the way of the dinosaur after a while, like so many do. My reason weighs about fifteen pounds and is learning how to roll over about now. I foolishly thought I would keep up with my reader, my posts, my tech magazines while I was on maternity leave. Ha! What I did do, however, was become intimately familiar with why kids text. It was a mystery to me before, how a kid could text so very much. I have a plan that allows 1500 texts per month and before I had a baby, I used about 200 per month on the high side. Last month, I used 960. Wow. How did this happen?

We have a dog that likes to bark. So when my husband comes home from work for lunch or at the end of the day, he texts me to tell me so in case our son is sleeping and I need to take the dog out of the room with us. Otherwise, he WILL wake the baby. It has happened. Momma bear almost served the dog for dinner a few days, she was so angry. There's also "can you bring me a pear?" while I'm breastfeeding and cannot yell down the stairs to ask for one. There's also naptime, during which my son requires me to be in the room (I know, I'm working on it). I can text my friends and family to keep in touch during this quiet time, but I can't call. Photos and videos can be uploaded to Facebook via my iPhone quite easily during naptime. Grammy and Grandpa can be a part of our lives on a semi-daily basis, although they live far away.

So all of this is to say that the Ed-Tech-Axis, for which this blog is named, is now somewhat less mysterious to me. Of course, there are still many ways that I need to learn how to marry home use of technology with school use, but I certainly understand my students a lot better in this regard. And once again, I find myself very grateful to live in an age where iPhones and other smart technologies exist. I suppose in the olden days, I would have just put the dog outside permanently!

image credit: http://textthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/texting2.jpg

The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies By Their 20s

Great article in the New York Times about a new generation gap created by even newer technologies: The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s. Greatest insight: "My friend’s 3-year-old, for example, has become so accustomed to her father’s multitouch iPhone screen that she approaches laptops by swiping her fingers across the screen, expecting a reaction." Imagine how low-tech school is going to seem to her!

Image: Oksana Badrak