Who could pass up a title like "A 12-year-old Apple Developer"? Not me! Thomas Suarez is a very bright, adorable kid who probably knows more about technology than most adults do. He started his presentation (he held an Ipad in his hand rather than note cards - a sign of the times) by saying that kids used to like to play video games, but now they want to do more than play them, they want to make them. I think this answers the question, "Has technology changed the way our kids play and learn?" This 12-year-old boy may not be the "typical" 12-year-old, but I think that he is probably one of a growing number of students who not only want to play the games, but who want to know how games are created and who want to create them themselves. How the world has changed. A child not only has the ability to do such a thing, but the opportunity to do it.
I think the most telling thing that Thomas said was that students usually know more about technology than their teachers do. He got a laugh from the audience with that statement, but it is a sad reality. So many teachers are afraid of technology or live by the "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" theory. I see this every day in my working environment. I love technology and love using it with my students. I am always amazed at how much they can do if given the equipment and the opportunity. I teach them a lot, but they also teach me a lot and I love that. When a teacher says to me, "I love what you do with your kids, but I couldn't do that." And then the statement they follow with is: I'm too old to learn that. I don't know how to use that with my lessons. I don't have the time to do those things in my classroom. I don't want to redo my lesson plans to incorporate the technology. I wouldn't know what to do. You really can't do those kind of things with my grade level. Etc. Etc. I think the message Thomas Suarez is giving us is that times have changed and we need to keep up with those changes. The fact that a child his age can make apps for the Iphone and then speak about it to an adult audience says a lot. Schools need to make sure that they are keeping up with what our kids can and are doing as far as technology goes. I think it is changing the way we teach and will continue to do so. It is the world that our children are moving into and we have to make sure that we prepare them for that world.
Gayle you seem like such a creative teacher. I wish one of my children could have been in your class. You make learning fun. You embrace technology and are not afraid of it. I was so impressed with this young man. So many of the things he said, I see in my young students. We just attended a field trip at UL and while we were waiting for the play to start, most all of the students were playing games on their parent's I-phones. This has changed so much even from last year. Times are changing and we as teachers need to change our methods to match our student's new learning style.
ReplyDeleteMichelle, My two-year-old grandson plays games on my Iphone. Imagine what he will be doing when he is twelve years old like Thomas Suarez. I always go back and forth between not wanting to totally let go of things like books and magazines - the ones you hold in your hands - and moving into all of the fabulous technology that exists with ebooks and Nooks, etc. I know our librarian struggles with this because she has a love for the printed book and doesn't want to ever see it go into extinction. Will it go into extinction? Who knows. But technology seems to evolve so quickly - even more now than ever before. It is an exciting time, but it is still a bit scarey. BTW, thanks for the kind words.
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