Daily Herald: Kids and technology done right

Girl with laptop
Last Updated: April 23, 2014 5:51 pm
Daily Herald: Kids and technology done right

Daily Herald

04/23/14

Your kids are going to use technology, if they don’t already. It’s inevitable. As a parent it can be overwhelming trying to keep up with our kids use of technology. We constantly have to monitor what, when and how much they are using.

As a computer teacher and a mother, I see numerous suggestions for apps and websites that “every parent (or teacher) should be using.” Many of these apps are incredible resources, but the problem with some of them is they only require the user to practice skills such as spelling, math facts, alphabet recognition, and others.

Instead, let’s use technology to help our children create and problem solve. I encourage parents to consider the following three uses of technology.

Help your child create a private blog

Blogs are a great way for kids to start making a positive presence online. Kids want to talk, all the time. Help them share their thoughts and ideas in a private blog (such a sneaky way to get your kids to keep a journal).

Their blog shouldn’t be just a journal though. A blog is the perfect place to save photos of all kinds, like images of that giant science project you spent hours helping them create. Use the webcam. Even before your child can write, they can record themselves using a webcam. Also, make sure that you and other family members subscribe to the blog and comment (think … grandparents, cousins, friends and siblings).

You can adjust the settings in the blog so that only those invited to or with the link may view the blog. The website kidblog.org is one great resource. Google “top 25 kid bloggers” for ideas.

Have your child learn computer code

Learning to code is similar to learning a new language, which we know is beneficial to brain development. Plus, it’s fun and kids love it!

Coding is all about problem solving. There are numerous sites where kids can learn basic to advanced computer coding skills. I used the website light-bot.com to introduce my students to coding.

My coding club students use the program tynker.com. This site allows kids to create simple games and programs of their own for free and more advanced programming for a fee.

Read More…

About Tynker

Tynker enables children to learn computer programming in a fun and imaginative way. More than 60 million kids worldwide have started learning to code using Tynker.

1 Comment

  1. laura kelly 10 years ago

    great post.. I really like read this post.

    hey guys..!!

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