This past week, NewTechKids taught a class about interactivity. Students created interactive systems using the Makey Makey learning tool. This meant that the students had Internet access and had to navigate to Makey Makey’s Web site to access the coding apps.
Unfortunately, one student figured out a way to play games without coding the Makey Makey microcomputer. We observed a physical shift in him during which he went from being immersed in the Makey Makey learning experience with one of his peers to mindlessly playing the video game and ignoring his partner. When our teacher asked him to focus on the Makey Makey class assignment, he completely ignored her because he was so focused on playing the game. Our teacher asked him several times before she gently took away the computer. The student yelled which made our teacher very uncomfortable.
It was a big lesson for us. While we use tablets and computers for almost all of our classes, we use specific learning apps and software and hide Internet browsers during classes involving younger students. We do grant Internet access for older students but carefully monitor usage.
This has taught us that not all students have the concentration and discipline to only use the Internet for our class assignments and many struggle to follow screen usage rules. Many kids are not learning how to regulate their emotions when it comes to tech usage at home or in the classroom.
NewTechKids firmly believes if parents, caregivers and educators don’t work closely together to gatekeep kids’ screen time and usage, we will see even more of this type of behaviour. This and many other observations have led us to avoid putting younger students in the position of having Internet access during our classes. However, this is not a long-term solution as education is incorporating more and more technology.
Image by Thomas Breher from Pixaby