Posted by
Cliff
on from the improving-the-K-experience dept.
andres32a asks: "I currently run a private preschool located in Latin America. I have been always interested in finding new ways of giving kids a legitimate educational advantage through fresh applications of technology. What technology would you like to have seen applied in your kindergarten?"
Certainly! We got lots of stuff for Kindergarten
by
gd23ka
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
We got ID cards, chip implants, GPS tracking, polygraphs, MRI scanners, iris scanners, highly sensitive mikes, DRM coded Sesame Street and to top things off we have George Monbiot to read to them his latest rantings on man-made global warming and against all the 911 "conspiracy theorists".
Tell you what, kids don't really even belong in Kindergarten. They should spend their time in intact families than in the arms of the state.
Nothing at all
by
squisher
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Since you are running a kindergarten, I really believe there should be no technology at all. There could be educational games, sure, but nothing that involves technology. This is entirely unscientific, but I have a gut feeling that a lot of the autism and similar developmental problems stem from the fact that people these days are not getting enough social interaction anymore. Technology should not be in a kindergarten, the time when children have the cognitive abilities to take an advantage of that will be later on.
On the subject of Kindergarten...
by
EvilCabbage
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Many years ago I was setting up some spiffy new computers for a local kindergarten.
At the time I had fairly long hair, a goatee and was dressed head to toe in black. Black shoes, black trousers, black long sleeve business shirt, black tie. Not so much trying to make a statement, but I kept most of my wardrobe black so I always had something that would go with everything else. I lacked imagination, ok?
Anyway, I'm setting up one of these machines and I turn around to find a small girl sitting on the table watching me. She was probably five years old.
I said to her, "Hello sweetie, could you please hand that to me", pointing to the mouse sitting next to her and flashing my most pleasant smile.
She looked at me with a really miserable look and said "No."
"Oh" I remarked. "Why is that?" I asked, expecting her to tell me that teacher had instructed her not to talk to strangers, or some other good moral learning.
"Because, you're the bad man." I held back a bit of shock and proceeded to grab my own damn mouse and finish the job.
I wasn't just any bad man, I was *THE* bad man. Knowing I scared children so much kinda broke my heart. The next day I trimmed my goatee, got a haircut and started wearing Hawaiian shirts to work.
So I guess my advice is: When improving kindergartens through IT services, wear Hawaiian shirts.
Toy Computers
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 1, Interesting
When it comes to preschoolers, I'd teach what you are already teaching: reading, verbal communication, sharing, motor control, imagination, all the usual stuff.
If you can use technology to do that better, great, otherwise don't bother.
Whether or not you use "real computers," I WOULD put "toy computers" or "pretend computers" in your classroom so the kids will have something that "looks like a computer" that is OK to drop or abuse as kids will do. Also, with toy computers they can pretend to draw and pretend to do other "computer things," exercising their imagination without waiting for a real computer to become available.
Back when I was growing up we had non-functioning toy sinks, toy phones, etc. to help my generation use its imagination. We also had real Speak-And-Spells and other electronic toys that actually worked.
If you have one computer in your classroom, consider buying a handful of cheap digital cameras (under $20 in USA at Wal-Mart, possibly available at walmart.com). These cameras do not have an LCD screen. A handful of cameras and a computer and printer can teach photography, sharing, cooperation, patience waiting for the printout, plus give them something to take home to mom and dad. Combine it with a simple picture editor and you can teach spelling, keyboarding, saving and retrieving files, and some photo-editing.
Re:Back to Basics
by
mrfrostee
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Truthfully, I think that it would be better to let the kindergarteners play with blocks, color with crayons, and generally let them act like little kids.
This is exactly right. Let them build with their hands and socialize for a few years.
After a few more years, when they are ready to move from blocks to a computer, try Scratch
A helpful answer
by
viewtouch
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I see lots of useless comments here that offer you nothing but sarcasm. That's unfortunate. What I'd like to suggest to you, however, is this: You can provide children software without putting any computers in the classroom. All you have to do is give them displays which have a network connection. These are available from an Australian company called ThinLinx. You won't need to put network cables everywhere, either. You can use wireless networking. All you need for this is a wireless router, about $50.
You can add touchscreens to the displays at a very low cost by going with any of the Chinese touchscreen manufacturers. This will give you the ability to provide software that the children can interact with by just using their fingers. This software can teach them virtually any subject that you want to teach them. I have several such programs for children. They are fast learners and typically master interacting with the software in just minutes.
Foundations love to give money to educational institutions and educators looking for ways to apply technology to helping children learn. I'm willing to bet that you can get the small amount of equipment you need (since you don't need computers) from any foundation with children and education as their primary target. This describes most foundations. Any individual with a few thousand dollars could also provide enough money to properly equip your classroom.
With your Internet connection you will be find that anyone in the world could remotely manage, update and support a computer located in, for instance, your office, and that this computer would be more than adequate to support ALL of the wireless touchscreen displays that the children would be interacting with.
Re:Web cams?
by
andres32a
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Actually we've got that already. Parents just love it. And we run the entire system on linux! We actually got the idea thanks to/. a couple of years ago.
Re:I am curious
by
ElectricRook
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
The bane of technology, is the isolation it causes.
Communication via an avatar is impersonal, and often involves rude insults and poor behavior... Read/. with a filter of -1, and take a look at the first few posts.
Consider how people often use the cel-phone, palm-top or music-box, as a shield to ignore others.
Observe that regular TV watchers, equate viewing their favorite TV shows, the same as visiting friends. They begin to lose the distinction between reality and TV. Call them on it, and they become very irritated. But watch their conversations, telling others about the exciting things they saw on TV, almost as if they were there. Their real lives have little excitement or reality, because they spend the majority of their time in a pretend life.
Yes, I have three kids, and it's pretty hard to keep the reins on the Technology Genie, let alone try to get the damn thing back into the bottle.
I did kick the TV's and computers out of the house for three months (June-September) a few years back. Sibling fights went to zero... But I knuckled under to the threat of divorce.... I considered that a broken home would be worse on the children, than an intact home under the rule of the technology genie.
-- - High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.
Slashdot Mirror
We got ID cards, chip implants, GPS tracking, polygraphs, MRI scanners,
iris scanners, highly sensitive mikes, DRM coded Sesame Street and
to top things off we have George Monbiot to read to them his latest
rantings on man-made global warming and against all the 911
"conspiracy theorists".
Tell you what, kids don't really even belong in Kindergarten. They should
spend their time in intact families than in the arms of the state.
Since you are running a kindergarten, I really believe there should be no technology at all. There could be educational games, sure, but nothing that involves technology.
This is entirely unscientific, but I have a gut feeling that a lot of the autism and similar developmental problems stem from the fact that people these days are not getting enough social interaction anymore. Technology should not be in a kindergarten, the time when children have the cognitive abilities to take an advantage of that will be later on.
Many years ago I was setting up some spiffy new computers for a local kindergarten.
At the time I had fairly long hair, a goatee and was dressed head to toe in black. Black shoes, black trousers, black long sleeve business shirt, black tie. Not so much trying to make a statement, but I kept most of my wardrobe black so I always had something that would go with everything else. I lacked imagination, ok?
Anyway, I'm setting up one of these machines and I turn around to find a small girl sitting on the table watching me. She was probably five years old.
I said to her, "Hello sweetie, could you please hand that to me", pointing to the mouse sitting next to her and flashing my most pleasant smile.
She looked at me with a really miserable look and said "No."
"Oh" I remarked. "Why is that?" I asked, expecting her to tell me that teacher had instructed her not to talk to strangers, or some other good moral learning.
"Because, you're the bad man." I held back a bit of shock and proceeded to grab my own damn mouse and finish the job.
I wasn't just any bad man, I was *THE* bad man. Knowing I scared children so much kinda broke my heart. The next day I trimmed my goatee, got a haircut and started wearing Hawaiian shirts to work.
So I guess my advice is: When improving kindergartens through IT services, wear Hawaiian shirts.
When it comes to preschoolers, I'd teach what you are already teaching:
reading, verbal communication, sharing, motor control, imagination, all the
usual stuff.
If you can use technology to do that better, great, otherwise don't bother.
Whether or not you use "real computers," I WOULD put "toy computers" or
"pretend computers" in your classroom so the kids will have something that
"looks like a computer" that is OK to drop or abuse as kids will do. Also,
with toy computers they can pretend to draw and pretend to do other "computer
things," exercising their imagination without waiting for a real computer to
become available.
Back when I was growing up we had non-functioning toy sinks, toy phones, etc.
to help my generation use its imagination. We also had real Speak-And-Spells
and other electronic toys that actually worked.
If you have one computer in your classroom, consider buying a handful of cheap
digital cameras (under $20 in USA at Wal-Mart, possibly available at
walmart.com). These cameras do not have an LCD screen. A handful of cameras
and a computer and printer can teach photography, sharing, cooperation,
patience waiting for the printout, plus give them something to take home to mom
and dad. Combine it with a simple picture editor and you can teach spelling,
keyboarding, saving and retrieving files, and some photo-editing.
Truthfully, I think that it would be better to let the kindergarteners play with blocks, color with crayons, and generally let them act like little kids.
This is exactly right. Let them build with their hands and socialize for a few years.
After a few more years, when they are ready to move from blocks to a computer, try Scratch
I see lots of useless comments here that offer you nothing but sarcasm. That's unfortunate. What I'd like to suggest to you, however, is this:
You can provide children software without putting any computers in the classroom. All you have to do is give them displays which have a network connection. These are available from an Australian company called ThinLinx. You won't need to put network cables everywhere, either. You can use wireless networking. All you need for this is a wireless router, about $50.
You can add touchscreens to the displays at a very low cost by going with any of the Chinese touchscreen manufacturers. This will give you the ability to provide software that the children can interact with by just using their fingers. This software can teach them virtually any subject that you want to teach them. I have several such programs for children. They are fast learners and typically master interacting with the software in just minutes.
Foundations love to give money to educational institutions and educators looking for ways to apply technology to helping children learn. I'm willing to bet that you can get the small amount of equipment you need (since you don't need computers) from any foundation with children and education as their primary target. This describes most foundations. Any individual with a few thousand dollars could also provide enough money to properly equip your classroom.
With your Internet connection you will be find that anyone in the world could remotely manage, update and support a computer located in, for instance, your office, and that this computer would be more than adequate to support ALL of the wireless touchscreen displays that the children would be interacting with.
Actually we've got that already. Parents just love it. And we run the entire system on linux! We actually got the idea thanks to /. a couple of years ago.
The bane of technology, is the isolation it causes.
Communication via an avatar is impersonal, and often involves rude insults and poor behavior... Read /. with a filter of -1, and take a look at the first few posts.
Consider how people often use the cel-phone, palm-top or music-box, as a shield to ignore others.
Observe that regular TV watchers, equate viewing their favorite TV shows, the same as visiting friends. They begin to lose the distinction between reality and TV. Call them on it, and they become very irritated. But watch their conversations, telling others about the exciting things they saw on TV, almost as if they were there. Their real lives have little excitement or reality, because they spend the majority of their time in a pretend life.
Yes, I have three kids, and it's pretty hard to keep the reins on the Technology Genie, let alone try to get the damn thing back into the bottle.
I did kick the TV's and computers out of the house for three months (June-September) a few years back. Sibling fights went to zero... But I knuckled under to the threat of divorce.... I considered that a broken home would be worse on the children, than an intact home under the rule of the technology genie.
- High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.