...UNESCO report on How Children Learn
One area not covered by the 2002 UNESCO report is the place for information technology in learning. This has moved on a lot since 2002 and the report acknowledged the potential at the time,
“We have not dealt with a subject that is becoming very important in the schools of today—the use of information and communication technology to support learning. We have done so because this area is too vast and we believe that a special booklet needs to be devoted to it.”
How little we knew back in 2002 about where technology development would take us! And where might the future take us? There can be no doubt that out children are growing up in an ever increasingly technological world. Not only do they need to be able to use technology for learning but they need to know how to use it for life; something we parents already know, even if we seem to fight against it when it comes to our children’s experience. If we apply the 12 principles to technology, we can leverage the best technology has to offer while simultaneously guarding against any potential negatives. For example:
Children react well to the external influences of a well-constructed educational video that relates the learning topic to the real world with video footage.
Cartoons can help with generalisation (abstraction) of concepts and ideas.
The videos are watched over and over again by children, thus assisting with the requirement for repetition to memorise. Children often repeat words, phrases and gestures while watching videos and sing the songs they hear even when not watching the videos.
The interactive nature of the technology interface, especially touch screens, enables the child to be in charge of [to some degree], and responsible for, their video choices and therefore learning opportunities, within parental controls frameworks.
Above all, if the videos are both educational and engaging or fun then the child is more motivated to use them and thereby learn the lessons embedded in the videos.
Additionally, it is useful for parents to be present as children love to discuss what they are watching and sometimes require assistance to understand or repeat verbally what they are watching. The parent does not need to be fully focused on what the child is doing and indeed it is better if the child has some level of independence.
Action:
Seek out valuable well-constructed and trustworthy alternative sources of education to supplement your own parental teaching and that of formalised school education that will enable leverage of the 12 principles of how children learn and additionally provide them with controlled exposure to the information technology that will be so much a part of their future.
At Little Wriggler we believe the optimal video structure is one based firmly on educational objectives but with real world context and above all a strong element of both fun and the satisfaction of children’s natural curiosity. We favour this mix over standalone classroom educational techniques applied to video format or simple explainer videos. Where topics allow, we create supporting printable workbooks to support the concept of learning by doing [see our Workbooks section in this website for free downloads].
Educational videos and interactive Apps should be complimentary to traditional, formal teaching and should leverage educational concepts like the UNESCO twelve principles for how children learn. Technology is a support and enabler for learning and not a replacement for in person learning, whether in classrooms or via home-schooling.
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