what will the museum of the future be like?
How are 10 year olds learning?
In the provocative paper I gave at the Futures Forum I mentioned that we need to be on top of how 10 year olds are learning as they will be the audiences of the future and their learning world is vastly different to those of us who are programming for them.
So, I intend to pursue this idea further and will post research things as I come across them. Here's the first cool thing I found - Seven Things Marketers Can Learn from a 10-Year-Old.
Be interested in your thoughts (especially if you hang around 9-11 year olds!).
So, I intend to pursue this idea further and will post research things as I come across them. Here's the first cool thing I found - Seven Things Marketers Can Learn from a 10-Year-Old.
Be interested in your thoughts (especially if you hang around 9-11 year olds!).
Views: 10
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Brett McLennan on -
Hey Lynda
I have a 10 year old lab rat that I use to validates (and often invalidate) a lots of what I say to educators who come come to ACMI. On of the key drives for my 10 year old is the need to utilise technology and the the effect that this has on the way he both thinks works and engages.
For example he will spend next to no time in the presentation and of his written work, sloppy handwriting, unruled lines on the pages etc... however if the work is transfered to the computer he will spend hours getting to looking just so.
When younger he never engages with stuff like lego but has just started to take an interest now that lego is building a more significant online element to their product line.
He can suck down a fair proportion of our broadband quota watching video online from both youtube and specific program sites (note to self -- don't forget to reconfigure router to minimize this).
He is also a very particular audience to ACMI programs being very clear with what work and does not work.
My key observations of young kids are (and there are many exceptions to this:
* they prefer dynamic immersive experiences
* they prefer activities that enable them to be innovative and creative (often using technology)
* they expect immediate feedback – both face-to-face and from technology
* they prefer goals that incorporate defined tasks and expectations
* they prefer activities that engages/uses technology
* they prefer and seek out collaboration and teamwork
* they expect peers and adults to treat them as equals
* they are more likely to challenge and question than kids of a decade ago
Cheers Brett
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Permalink Reply by Lynda Kelly on -
Thanks Brett - a really useful summary and insights. I'm wondering if there may be a gender difference - do you have any thoughts about that?
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Permalink Reply by Liz Holcombe on -
Hi Lynda
I have 3 kids at home, 16 (male), 12 and 8 (both girls) years old, so both older and younger than your time frame. But we have lived though the 9 - 11 span twice, and made some observations, and the youngest is largely following the same path.
* they like doing things - the girls play endless games, the boy used to, but has now moved onto music (I thought I was past listening to The Cure and Talking Heads and the Saints, but no...) and sites like Instructables, mainly for inspiration.
* I disagree with Brett that they prefer activities that engages/uses technology. The computer is a just one of the tools they use to do what they want. The older ones have phones - they text a lot. They have gmail accounts, and chat and email when that suits. The girls spend endless hours drawing (with pen and paper) and playing with paper dolls (yes, really), but they also play online games and do a good deal (but not all) of their research for homework on line. The boy does a lot with electronics and metal work, and is doing an English and History major. In short, they are adept at moving from tool to tool, choosing what will best support what they are doing at the time, and don't seem to see the hardware as valuable in itself.
* As Brett says, they do expect immediate feedback - but then I am getting that way myself.
* they are adept at using things like electronic whiteboards, and seem to have been born knowing the keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft applications - the middle kid gets really frustrated when teachers/parents don't use the "obvious" shortcuts to do things
* I disagree about a them prefering and seeking out collaboration and teamwork - they do sometimes, but not always - it depends on what they are doing. One issue with that is that collaboration and teamwork are so emphasised at schools these days that I think it might be hard sometimes to decide if it is habit or natural preference.
* they have lots of questions, and want answers, and are comfortable knowing that there might not be just one answer
* they learn how to do things at school - public speaking, collaboration, team work, editing - that set them up to question and to expect to be treated like peers.
These are simply non-scientific observations of my own kids, so may not scale. I do think it is important to look at how kids this age are learning, and how they approach technology. As an aside, I recently saw a 2 year old of my acquaintance using his big sister's caluculator to "take photos" - his logic was evidently that, like his mother's phone, anything with buttons and a screen must therefore take pictures.
Last year my middle kid was asked to speak at the Learning futures conference at ANU - the website is http://learningfutures.anu.edu.au/home.php - and was part of a panel with other kids talking about how they learn/use technology. I am not sure if the session is available, but it might be worth contacting the organiser for more info
Liz
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Permalink Reply by Brett McLennan on
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Hi Lynda and Liz
As I indicated above there many exceptions to my observations and it in some ways is like trying to compare apples and oranges. With a whole gamut of variances that will effect how kids engage.
I think though I will rephrase my list a little. Read collaborate/teamwork in a formal education context (classroom), then translate this to social engagement in out of school environments. In reality I am referring to the connectedness of this generation in comparison to those that precede them. Moreover the increasing need to feel part of a group regardless of the group being geographically or face-to-face or the more ephemeral connections of txt, IM etc...
When I refer to technology I mean this in the broadest sense and not just core ICT. For example while my son will choose not to draw he will model and create claymation characters, make stop motion animations...and use mobile phones, and other portable devices as media devices as opposed to communication devices. This will most likely change as ah get older but i would assume at a slower pace than most girls who in my extended family have adopted the mobile as device of choice at a much younger age.
Environment is also a fair factor as well. In our house computers outnumber people! Also my main use of the technology is visual and tactile as opposed to crunching numbers this not doubt has a carryover effect. Dad is a bad influence...!
To look forward however ACMI is involved with an ARC with Deakin looking at the use of Computer games in Education and and part of this research includes interviews with young kids (although older than Lynda's 10yrs). This will draw out some more robust data.
brett
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Permalink Reply by Liz Holcombe on
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Hi Brett
Sounds like we are talking about the same things is essence. You have probably seen Mark Pesce's talk, "Those wacky kids" ( http://vodpod.com/watch/793677-those-wacky-kids-mark-pesce) in which he talks about the very things you and I have mentioned above, and talks about how the kids see all of this as normal, while I just feel like the world is spinning faster than ever. I'm guessing though that you are both across what Mark is saying, and that I am just starting to catch up.
I'll be interested to hear more about the computer games work.
Liz
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Permalink Reply by Lynda Kelly on
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Thanks for all this. Following Liz's link earlier to the Learning Futures conference I spent a happy half hour on a merry path of discovery that I'd like to share:
* first I came across a discussion on this blog about children and social media which led me to ...
* an awesome video interview with Danah Boyd who is researching how kids use technology which then led me to ...
* this rather depressing, yet fascinating, article about how far eight-year-olds roam now compared to the past generations. Danah speculates in her interview that perhaps the web allows eight-year-olds to roam virtually in ways they are not allowed to physically?
I also heard back from one of the Learning Futures conference organisers, Megan Poore, who pointed me to the Learning Futures EdNA group as well as her blog and Slideshare which has many useful general presentations.
What a great web world we live in!
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Permalink Reply by Lynda Kelly on
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This short paper from the EdNA site, Mythbusting Digital Natives, is really worth reading.
mythbusting_transcript.pdf
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Permalink Reply by Brett McLennan on
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Hi Lynda
Thanks for the link it is great. It is one of the common problems we all face I think when we look at issues this broadly. One of the things I often talk about with educators is that that when we look at the emerging generations we see the next step as being a precipice as opposed to being a steady incline/decline.
The issues around the Digital Natives (DN) and education is that we forget that good educational practice really requires us to engage each students style of learning as opposed to a one model fits all. I know for example that my exuberant style engages some people but others are react by closing down. If I don't observe that and follow re-engage those I have lost then their experience is much less satisfactory. Education can never be a one size fits all.
I guess if I am somewhat twee -- DN education needs to be seen as evolutionary and not revolutionary and recognise that it exists as continuum.
What I think the whole DN debate should do is get us to think about the "process of education/learning" and in many ways shift the focus from what is essentially the marketing speak surrounding the DN concept.
I am currently reading Groundswell written by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff which I can also recommend.
Although I am sure that Lynda has a better grasp of the Social Technographics concepts they talk about than me.
Brett
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Permalink Reply by Liz Holcombe on
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Yes, thanks for the paper Lynda, a good read. I think that, as you say Brett, it would be wise to look at the "process of education/learning" which in the end is far more important than the technology (gramophones or mobile phones or laptops). The good teachers I have had are memorable not because they could write neatly on the blackboard, or knew about the latest bit of software, but because they taught me things in a way that suited me.
I'd also recommend Groundswell - very interesting.
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Permalink Reply by Lynda Kelly on
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here's a good overview of Gen Z - Children of the tech revolution - that includes10 year olds
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Permalink Reply by Ellie Miles on -
Hi there,
I think it's a really interesting topic. I don't know if you guys would find it irelevant but I studied a group of 8 year olds last year for my dissertation. Looking at their reading habits in the broadest sense I found out just how able and agile some children are as cultural negtiators - and how good with technology some of them are!
If anyone would like to read a copy let me know and I can try to upload it, but I don't have a copy with me at the moment!
All the best,
Ellie
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Permalink Reply by Lynda Kelly on
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Hi Elllie and thnx. I'd be very interested in your study. I suggest perhaps that you take your conclusions chapter, turn it into a pdf and upload it. All you need to do is hit the upload files link that is below this window and follow the prompts.
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