Tech Toys
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2009-12-22/tech-toys
Maybe a child in your life has been begging for a certain electronic toy hamster. Or your partner has the latest smartphone on a holiday wish list. You may have even splurged on a new e-reader for yourself. But you may not be prepared for the challenges once you get these gadgets out of their boxes. Join Kojo as we explore how to get the most of this season's tech toys after they're unwrapped.
Guests
Lisa Guernsey
Director of New America Foundation's Early Education Initiative, journalist, and author of Into the Minds of Babes: How Screen Time Affects Children From Birth to Age Five (Basic Books).
Jason Oxman
Senior Vice President for Industry Affairs, Consumer Electronics Association
Warren Buckleitner
Editor, Children's Technology Review
Comments
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my husband and I were driving south (for the winter) on route 301. We listened to your very interesting program until we lost the staion. i wanted to call and ask about what the future holds for VERIZON (our cell phone provider) and a iphone type means of communication?
Any idea?
we really enjoyed your show and being from boston had never heard it-----thanks!
Kojo-Love your show but was very disappointed by today's guests and their very cavalier attitudes about the different 'reading experiences' available today to most kids. There seemed to be general agreement that reading is reading no matter where it is-one guest said that the brain doesn't know what it is reading or where. While the brain may not be able to distinguish the physical location of reading, the brain can distinguish the content that is read. A child would learn a certain amount by reading a phone book or the advertising in a newspaper, but in most cases a child would learn more by reading narrative stories or just about anything written with a sense of purpose.
I know, I know, games and on-line content have logical movements, even if they are short. And logical hierarchies are not necessarily the most important facets of certain works. Or so some say.
The problem with these arguments (and even larger arguments about the utility of the Web in general and projects like Google's attempt to digitize every book) is that there is a sense that all content was created equal, whether it is Moby Dick or a fishing game on a Leapster that makes you spell a word for every ninety seconds of play.
All content is not created equal and the brain can tell the difference. That accounts in some way for why we read Moby Dick today but not Typhee.
If you want your kids to learn to read (or learn any other thing for that matter) sit down and share it with them. You want your kid to do well in math? Sit down and do math with them. Don't do it for them, help them do it for themselves.
No gadget will ever replace the parent.