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    Joined: May 2011
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    I feel strongly that one way to challenge our gifted kids is by empowering them... give them a laptop computer and teach them how to use it for work and play. Teach them how to demonstrate their learning in a more creative way. Encourage them to bring the laptop into school and watch the way it changes the learning environment. How many kids (ages 8-13) do you think own a laptop? Do you think parents would be interested in after-school computer classes that do just this in a "club" like fashion that is fun for kids?

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    If the school wasn't very high tech, I'm sure the idea would be a hit and fill a required need.
    DD's school is very computer oriented; the kids do power points in grade 1 and all the classrooms have smart boards, so I'm not sure many parents at our school would be interested, but it never hurts to ask!
    My kids love to learn anything new on the computer, especially if the task was to take it apart and study it LOL!

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    My DD10 has her own laptop for her birthday since she goes to charter gifted school and do a lot of paper. I can say that she is technology savvy since she is using power point for presentation or word document for school work.
    It think it's a great investment so far for her even though we still limit her internet and games time.
    DD's school also computer oriented, now they have several laptops in the class thanks for fundraising. They teach the kids how to type 10key since 4th grade.
    So personally it's a good thing.

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    My daughter has been using the computer since she was a preschooler. She is extremely technologically savvy, having begun building her own web content, etc. by the time she was about 10-11. Certainly she finds it liberating to be able to type rather than laboriously write out research papers, and to use the multimedia capabilities of powerpoint and other programs to create presentations. She loves to use the computer to produce animated short films.

    It has been somewhat freeing for her. BUT.

    I'd also caution that doing things without technology is important, and just like using a calculator to do basic mathematics, the technology can actually prevent kids (even gifties) from learning some of the skills that they need to develop.

    Neuroscience has shown pretty clearly that computer 'writing' is definitely not the equivalent (biochemically) of doing so manually. It is for this reason that I still insist that my daughter MUST do note-taking on paper.

    The difference in what she retains is astonishing.

    I'll also say that when you are dealing with an HG+ child and technology-- oooooooooo.... it's a VERY scary (virtual) world. We all recognize that adolescents frequently do and say things on the web that are inappropriate/dangerous-- but remember that our gifties are intellectually more capable... and often as not, emotionally and executively asynchronous. That's a VERY toxic mixture.

    In other words, I have a 12yo who has the ABILITIES of a college sophomore with the impulse control and life-experience of a 12 yo. It just doesn't really occur to her that there are child-predators in the world, or that other people would LIE in chat rooms and on message boards.

    She's entirely capable of defeating any and all parental limits/controls on her computer usage, and that virtual world is extremely seductive, because it opens up the world of ADULT communication and on-level interests/information to her without the "you're just a kid" judging from others that can come in real life.

    I guess what I'm saying is twofold:

    -- a computer is no substitute for alternate methods of real-world discovery, but it can become so preferred as a tool that it's easy to discard the others entirely (which is a costly mistake in the long run),

    and perhaps more importantly,

    -- we as parents may have trouble placing controls on usage because our kids have the skills to do things to work around them, but not the maturity to know why they shouldn't.


    Last edited by HowlerKarma; 05/24/11 10:40 AM.

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    Originally Posted by HowlerKarma
    Neuroscience has shown pretty clearly that computer 'writing' is definitely not the equivalent (biochemically) of doing so manually. It is for this reason that I still insist that my daughter MUST do note-taking on paper.

    The difference in what she retains is astonishing.

    My twice-exceptional son with dysgraphia retains more when he does not write notes himself and instead listens to the lesson. He is a very strong auditory and visual learner and trying to take notes only distracts him.


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    Having a computer or access to a computer was a requirement for my son's writing composition class. The teacher said it would prepare the kids for college. He had to write a story and either draw or use pictures from the internet in his book. He had to create a portfolio for his poetry, short stories and business letter. Creativity was part of the grade. He chose artwork that he found online for the cover that fit some of his poetry and he made 100 on the assignment.

    His dysgraphia and lack of ability in handwriting and drawing would have made it very difficult for him to do quality work. I am so glad that his teacher encouraged the use of technology.

    I don't think most of the kids in our small town would be interested in after-school computer classes. They are too busy with sports. The homeschooled kids would be very interested.

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    Originally Posted by Lori H.
    My twice-exceptional son with dysgraphia retains more when he does not write notes himself and instead listens to the lesson. He is a very strong auditory and visual learner and trying to take notes only distracts him.
    I don't have any 2eness, but I also find that taking notes reduces the amount I retain, especially if I have to take extensive notes. Lectures at university were pretty much a waste of time for me, back in the day when they didn't provide handouts, because I couldn't both write and think, and I had to write, so... These days, I take either a computer or a small piece of paper on which to write not more than a few words or a URL.


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    I used to not take a lot of notes.

    But I now type up short synopses of my work, what I read, etc.

    It really helps a few years down the road to recall the details.

    The smartest person I know is a compulsive synopsizer and I learned to be disciplined about it from him.


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    Originally Posted by Lori H.
    I don't think most of the kids in our small town would be interested in after-school computer classes. They are too busy with sports. The homeschooled kids would be very interested.

    Sneak in their homes, install Scratch, and see what happens smile. Seriously, children may not need computer classes before middle school, but many will teach themselves rudiments of programming just by playing with something like Scratch.

    Last edited by Bostonian; 05/26/11 02:45 PM.

    "To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle." - George Orwell
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    Dissenting vote here. I don't think tech in schools is a good idea at all, much less tech for young kids, or kids at all, because it's too early and their brains are still developing. My feeling is if we want to encourage creativity, what's less creative than mechanical formulas and the dull-mindedness of YouTube videos?

    Along with that, I would urge any educator(s) or system thinking of bringing Nintendo DS or iPads or iWhatevers into the classroom to read -- read! And not on an e-reader, but in print! -- The Shallows, by Nicholas Carr; iBrain, by Dr. Gary Small (who also designed the groundbreaking Alzheimer's Prevention Program and wrote the book of same name); The Winter of Our Disconnect, by Susan Maushart; Alone Together, by Sherry Turkle, and perhaps some of the most notable classics on divorcing ourselves (and consequently, our kids) from industrial progress and domination and to channel creativity through nature and each other, rather than the superficial (and often dangerous) connections brought about by machines. Civil Disobedience, Silent Spring, The Jungle, etc. ...

    I'm not saying to read these to the kids, but rather to have a well-versed background in the concept that the iPad as babysitter is no better than the TV as babysitter or any substitution for human interaction as electronic "babysitter." Rosie the robot from The Jetsons rather than Jane the human mom? That's not a direction I'd want my kids, if I had any, to head in, and nor do I want the world's kids in general to head in that direction. Unfortunately, with technology, and an expansion of education in this capacity, comes the potential for future profits, from the potential for future engineers (or at least the ones who'll work the factory lines). Which is REALLY the reason why the STEM disciplines are so attractive to the American school system. Defense contractors, probably, Big Pharma, actively recruiting the Future (German) Engineers of America already before preschool. I'd react to my kid coming home with an O'Reilly guide like Otto Frank probably would to Anne coming home with little "Ich liebe Adolf" hearts drawn all over a copy of Mein Kampf. eek

    I sure wish J. Robert Oppenheimer had grown up a farmhand instead of building the H-bomb. That China was more about noodles and kite-flying than running democracy advocates over with mechanical war machines. Tanks for the memories...

    Teachers and parents need to take time, the most important and precious time that nowadays, is "nano"-fleeting, more so than ever, and sit down to interact with these kids rather than just sticking them in front of a video game or Facebook. I worry that the rise in anti-social behavior is a byproduct of the fact that a lot of anti-social so-called "nerds" run society today, the Zuckerbergs and Gateses of the world who love technology and all it supposedly "creates," without being concerned for what we're losing because of it.

    Emotions.
    Social cues.
    Individuality.
    And... childhood. frown

    Not to mention how all the sit-down time and the crackdown on P.E. and recess is contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic. Why not play outside and run and jump rather than staying indoors hitting buttons to make Mario jump on a toadstool? Technology is creating a world of Big Bang Theory-esque recluses who don't feel the need to go outside, since the whole world (wide web) is at their fingertips, and Second Life far more interesting than what's out there in society!

    I say give these kids coloring books and Crayolas instead of Photoshop and a stylus. Read them a story and let them physically turn the pages instead of letting Siri do the voice-over or text-to-speech on a Kindle. Play-Dough over programming; Legos over Linux; baby dolls and teddy bears over A.I. and Firefox. Real words over "LOL" and other abbreviations. Let them play pretend, using their own imaginations, rather than having them apply some pre-fab scenario to a stock list of avatars on Club Penguin. Let them have a real-world encounter with some real-world animals at a petting zoo or the class pet rather than bobbing their heads mindlessly to some incoherent babble about "Lol Cats." Really, is that what we want for the children of the future, "Old McDonald" and "Bingo" replaced with "Never Gonna Give You Up"?

    Forgive me if I sound backwards and outdated or if I've offended anyone by sounding intolerant of engineering as a viable outlet for creativity, but I just don't think giving school-age kids laptops and iPads is doing anything but harm. I've seen The Terminator enough times to know we have to protect little John Connor from the Schwarzenazis at Micro$oft and their sociopathic 'ceps of steel. shocked


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