Welcome Back

Since starting this blog several years ago my life has taken on a few changes, nonetheless, my views regarding the importance of early childhood technology education have not wavered. In fact, they have gotten even stronger than ever.

In the fall of 2012, I was blessed with my 1st grandchild and he is amazing. I doubt anyone who knows me will be surprised to hear one of the 1st gifts my grandson received was an iPad. In fact, the iPad was a shower present from my son…. DGS was still in utero at the time.

You might say, the Apple (literally and figuratively) doesn't fall far from the tree. :)

Over the last couple years, I have watched this newest member of our family connect his physical world and his digital world in ways I could never have imagined. One of the most mind boggling examples of this, is DGS (dear grandson) can identify all of his ABCs and he is not yet two years old. Previously, this ability might have been classified as some form of hyperlexia, but I assure you DGS is quite the social butterfly. I have seen many, many other examples of these technology learning shifts in my DGS that I cannot recall seeing when my own children were little, and I hope to share some of these future posts.


For now, I wanted to take a moment to reconnect with those who have followed my journey since the start and welcome those who are just joining me.


My goals are to still share the great apps I come across, but I feel the need augment my reviews and share my experiences; how I see technology may be shaping the minds of the youngest of learners. Additionally, I have invited others to share their experiences of how they see technology shaping the early childhood learning environment. I promise it will be an exciting journey and I hope you will share it with me.


Thank you,

Keri

Friday, February 4, 2011

Case Study: Amber

Case Study: Amber
Amber playing FIsh School HD
By: Duck Duck Moose
Meet Amber:
Amber is an observant fun-loving little girl. She likes to climb and color. Her favorite t.v. show is Diego on Nick Jr. Amber lives her with mom and her older brother. I started working with Amber about a month ago, her mom was looking for something more than daycare, but thought a structured preschool environment might be too much for this quiet little one. I must say she is a typical two year old with her ups and downs, but she is eager to learn. I first tried the iPad with this little bundle of energy about 2 weeks ago in an effort to provide a client research on which apps I felt would work best with preschoolers. When Amber was first offered the iPad she was more interested in the handle on the Griffon Standle iPad case than the actual iPad. But after 10 or 15 minutes, she started to explore the actual screen. There has been a slight learning curve for her to be able to use the iPad, having short little fingers being most of the issue. But the iPad has definitely sparked her natural curiosity. To say this is her favorite learning toy is not accurate. It is more like a toy box of her favorite educational toys. Today Amber is playing Fish School by Duck Duck Moose. With a simple tap of her finger the fish organize into ABC, numbers, and shapes. She can explore matching concepts, and colors in another mode. Her favorite mode is free play, when she double taps a fish in this mode the fish quickly swims off. Just like at the pet store. But these digital little fish grow and grow when she holds her finger on one. She giggles as she says "big...big...fishy is big". With games like this Amber has the option to play and learn in short segments perfect for her 2 year old attention span.
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