Children wiki

As we go through the treasure trove of conversations that have happened here over the last few months, let’s harvest the most useful information related to children in this wiki. Topics we care about:

Ideas for what to teach kids about tech and how

Top concerns for kids and tech

Research and best practices re: kids and tech

Advocacy initiatives around kids + tech for schools, media and government

Advocacy initiatives: I’m keen to start a group to put together a webpage for parents re technology in schools, with links to current research, what’s happening on the media, and a forum or Facebook page where parents can link in and not feel isolated with their views/concerns about tech in schools. I’d like to use the group/name as a platform where we can start asking questions to the media, to schools, to education boards/policy makers, and I think having a group behind it gives more weight/validity than an individual might get. I think forming an online group to share information, perspectives, research etc - and practical work to lighten the load if you have the skills -would be great if anyone else is keen? I also know a few others who are keen but don’t want to be publically identified, maybe a group would allow people to contribute without that risk? At the moment making a web page is holding me up, I’ve never made one before, and I’ll figure it out but working part-time and having a young family is limiting my time, if anyone else has those skills.

The questions I think are relevant at the moment are - what are education ministries wanting to achieve from a digital curriculum? (Presumably Computer science skills, fluency etc)
What’s happening in schools that is meeting those goals?
What’s happening in schools that are concerning to parents and why?
And probably, what changes are we wanting.
Probably starting at primary/elementary level.
I think it’s important to go with an agreement that digital skills are important, but what does this look like/what does it take to achieve this, based on evidence.

Is anyone interested?

2 Likes

Yes! Please keep me informed about your progress. I was an educator for 30 years. Parent and grandparent. I am most interested in this topic since I did a TEDx Talk on the subject. You can see it at my web site - (http://SavingTheMagicOfChildhood.com).
Challenge of course is that many have never heard about the challenges.
In the May 2018 edition of Boys’ Life they take about another challenge - cell phone and germs. They state that a phone has as many as 10 times more germs than a public rest room toilet. It is also the object people touch most in a given day. Did I say, “Wash your hands?” They seem like such a great tool. Yet, we all must be aware of the challenges.
Thanks for trying to get the word out. I look forward to being part of your effort.

Thanks @BecomingJesse, I’ll keep in touch!