In 1948, the world’s first computer, the ENIAC was born. Taking up the space of a family sized car, it was large, cumbersome and could only solve mathematical problems.
Fast forward to the digital age of the 1970s to 1980s. Microsoft or Macintosh – you had a Personal Computer (PC) in your home. Today, we carry computers around in our pockets in the form of mobile devices that are far superior to all their predecessors.
Thirty years ago, the Internet was created. Twenty years ago it was made available to the public. Ten years ago it went wireless. Today, we can access the internet wherever we are by way of mobile and digital devices and free Wi-Fi.
Where will the world of technology be in 10 years’ time?
As educators, we must ask ourselves: are we equipping our learners with the skills needed to succeed in the future and for jobs that haven’t even been created yet?
The Shocking Reality
When you have a 2-year-old child who can use an iPad better than an adult, alarm bells start to ring in the education world, for if they can do that now… where will THEY be in terms of their education in the next 10 years?
As a society, we can either ‘rage against the machine’, and try to limit and suppress its development or we can ‘race against the machine’ and embrace it into our everyday lives.
To develop a teaching and learning environment that fully prepares students to be successful in the future, we must work on three levels:
Knowledge & Skills (Technical) level – how to use specific software and hardware
Application (Practical) level – its use to accomplish a particular purpose for example publishing, presentation, music and sound effects, images, etc.
Analytical (Critical) level – expression through linguistic/textual, music/audio, visual/graphical, and sometimes all operating at the same time.
Here’s how parents and educators can embrace technology and give children an advantage:
E-books. Get your child to read books on their devices. There are many different platforms that offer 1000s of e-books (and free e-books!), which can be accessed from any digital device.
Accounting. Use apps like MS Excel to encourage your child to budget and plan. This not only promotes the use of ICT, but also a lifelong skill that we should all have.
Family photo album presentation/videos. Most of us use digital cameras for their clarity and speed, now you can get your child to create interesting and creative photo albums, presentations and even videos that can be uploaded and viewed by family and friends the world over.
Design. There are many free apps available to encourage children to draw plans, draw to scale and many other forms of graphic design.
It’s a Small World After All. Ask your children to use your GPS, Waze, Maps, Google Earth, etc. to plan a holiday, journey or road trip. This, not only promotes their digital learning but also encourages them to learn about new places and cultures, enabling them to have a deeper understanding of the world around them.
At AMETIS we promote ICT and digital learning in all that we do. As a 1:1 smart school, our curriculum is specially designed to promote, encourage and encompass all aspects of technology, in order for our learners to become netizens and digiyts of the future.
