What are the education problems of today?

(This blog forms part of a series. Please check the previous entries on how to use computers wisely, how much time in front of the computer is healthy, what is better: the library or the Internet>)

At first glance, the question “What are the education problems of today?” seems far too generic. Surely the education problems in USA must be different from those in Africa, India or New Zealand?

Naturally, every country will have its unique problems. In some countries, women are allowed to go to university. In others, children don’t have access to schools, textbooks, teachers who speak their language, learning tools. Some education systems are criticised for pushing children too hard, making them too stressed by exams and too busy with homework. Other systems are criticised for not monitoring the students’ progress closely enough or comparatively enough.

However, some education problems are shared by numerous and often seemingly diverse countries:
· Students leaving school without gaining an adequate level of literacy and numeracy.
· Discipline problems at school.
· Students who dislike school and consider learning a chore.
· Students who battle with homework.
· Drop-out rate.
· Students who are mislabelled as “learning-disabled”, or “learning-challenged”, or ADD.

Please feel free to post a comment on this blog and list more education problems. The ones I’ve named above are the first that came to mind because I work with them every day... and because I know the solution.

That’s right. The solution is called “Letting children learn according to their Learning Styles” or “Learning Styles” for short. Please have a look at http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/default.asp?page=lsas to find out more.

While I know I can’t solve the education problems in a single blog column, here is an interesting article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6360517.stm about what makes for happy children (stay-at home mothers, open channels of communication with parents, lack of peer pressure, high level of education with a simultaneous lack of unreasonable demands from teachers). And here is another article about why Learning Styles are important: http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/downloads/Here to Stay.pdf.

The library or the Internet?

(This blog entry forms part of the series: “Is Technology the Answer to our Education Problems?”)

Your child has a school project to do. Should you invest in a Cyber Nanny program and introduce the child to the search engines on the Internet, or take her to the local library instead?

The advantages of the Internet:
If you have access to the Internet at home, at school or at work, checking information online is faster than browsing through catalogues and finding the right books on the shelves.
The latest, most up-to-date information.
Usually more points of view can be found on an issue than in an officially approved reference book.

The disadvantages of the Internet:
You have no way of knowing whether the information you find is correct or just somebody’s opinion.
References are usually absent, so is the date of publication.
You can experience information overflow.
Because the computer and the Internet itself offer many fun pastimes, it’s very easy to get distracted from your research topic.

Realistically speaking, children will need both skills in life: that of library navigation as well as that of safe Internet browsing.

But did you know that some children prefer to see information on the computer screen, while others need to touch the book for better information assimilation? Or that some children might prefer the busy library environment to the quiet of the house? Find out what your child needs in order to learn new things: visit us on http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/default.asp?page=lsas.

How much time in front of the computer is healthy at any age?

(This entry forms part of a series about IT and learning. Please see the previous entry about how to teach your children to use computers wisely.)

How much time in front of the computer is healthy at any age? Or perhaps a more prudent question would be “What’s the maximum time you can spend in front of the computer without it being unhealthy?”

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer.

There is no doubt that spending time in front of a computer is not the best thing you can do for your body. Even if you’re sitting or kneeling in a special ergonomic chair designed by posture experts, you will tend to hunch your shoulders, bend your neck, strain your spine. Even the best computer screen, with minimal or no flickering refresh rate, will eventually tire out your eyes (although LCD screens are much better than CTR ones - see http://www.homeandoffice.hp.com/hho/cache/7361-0-0-225-121.html). Typing is bad from your wrists and mousing is bad for your dominant-hand shoulder.

Then of course come all the disadvantages of a sedentary pastime instead of a kinaesthetic one, and the psychological dangers of spending too much time in cyberspace, like going to chat rooms instead of parties all the time. (To see whether you’re in danger of becoming addicted to the Internet or lured by electronic casinos, etc., please visit us on www.clc.co.nz and fill in your Learning Style Analysis.)

It’s a researched fact that preschoolers are beginning to spend time in front of the computer at the cost of other activities. “Children aged 6 and under spend an average of two hours a day playing video games, using computers, and watching TV and videos, about the same amount spent on outdoor activities, the Kaiser Family Foundation reports in a study released Tuesday. That amount is about three times the average 49 minutes spent reading or being read to.” (source: http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/parenting/10/28/tv.kids/index.html)

Can too much time in front of the computer harm my child? Yes, according to a reputable parenting advice forum: http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/expert/bigkid/ggames/71259.html.

But not only children are at risk. Japanese researchers surveyed 25,000 office workers over the period of three years. They discovered that people who spent the most time in front of a computer screen suffered most from such symptoms as back pain, anxiety and insomnia. Workers with the worst symptoms spent five or more hours a day computer-bound.

To improve your health, then, it makes sense to eliminate or limit all the non-essential tasks you perform on the computer (surfing the Net for the fun of it, checking emails too often, playing games, chatting).

Starting now. :-)

Teach Your Children To Use Computers Wisely

The previous blog - “Is Technology the Answer to our Education Problems?” - resulted in several astute comments. I will therefore spend more time discussing these ideas in depth:

- How early should children be introduced to computers?
- How much time in front of the computer is healthy at any age?
- The library or the Internet?
- What are the education problems of today?
- Is there a silver bullet?

Today’s entry will concentrate on the first question: how early should children be introduced to computers?

Naturally, as parents, we want our children to excel. So if we see somebody else’s 2-year old bang away on the computer, we will naturally wonder whether it’s time to introduce our own toddler to the wonderful world of colourful pixels.

Most 3- and 4-year olds are capable of working a computer mouse and understanding how to use programs aimed for children: colouring, simple action games, computerised versions of open-the-flap, and so on.

But how early is too early? And how early is too late? Will we stand in the way of our preschooler’s becoming a computer genius if we deny them the opportunity to play with computers?

Many people, especially those who don’t consider themselves computer-literate, are in favour of teaching their children computer skills as early as possible. But the irony is that our attitude as parents really counts here more than early exposure. If we approach the computer with a mixture of fear and awe, chances are, our children will subconsciously mimic our behaviour. If, however, they see us use a computer as though it’s an ordinary tool (a screwdriver or an encyclopaedia), they themselves will feel confident to try it out.

There is research suggesting that preschoolers who use computers are smarter and better prepared for school: http://webcenter.health.webmd.netscape.com/content/Article/88/99862.htm. The same article argues that too much computer time - at any age - may have negative effects.

Another article suggests that children under 3 are too young to use computers because their learning style is mainly kinaesthetic: http://www.kidsource.com/education/computers.children.html.

(If you’d like to find out more about learning styles, please visit Creative Learning on http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/products.asp?sub=LSA.)

In general, experts seem to agree that computers help children make progress in such areas as nonverbal skills, structural knowledge, long-term memory, manual dexterity (mousing, action games), verbal skills, problem solving, abstraction, and conceptual skills.

Of course, computers are not the only way to help children fulfil their potential. There are songs, rhymes, piano lessons, climbing frames, trampolines, colourful paints, clay modelling, cooking lessons, swimming, stories, books, nature walks and most important of all: parental love and attention.

To paraphrase one of the earlier comments:
- Computers CAN stimulate young minds.
- Computers don't necessarily stimulate young minds.
- Computers are not the ONLY thing that can stimulate young minds.

Moderation seems to be the key. Computers are a tool, but a computer is neither sufficient nor necessary to grow happy, stimulated, creative children.

As children grow older and change from preschoolers into school students, you can also check their individual learning styles to find out whether they would benefit from computer-aided learning. Please see http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/news.asp?page=whatsnew&article=lsa_mini_press_release for more details.

(In next week’s blog: How much time in front of the computer is healthy at any age?)

Is Technology the Answer to our Education Problems?

In the 1980s and 1990s, we all thought that computers would bring in the new golden millennium, a millennium characterised by greater efficiency, greater productivity and fewer work hours.

We are now older and wiser. We’ve lived the IT paradox: the faster the computer, the longer the office hours. Instant communication (email, mobile phones) demands instant results, all of them spell-checked and cleverly formatted. Work pressures result in increased stress levels. Deadlines cost us our family life. Internet browsing can cost us our marriages.

So, the question that I’d like to pose is this: if computers are so fraught with danger, why do we still introduce them at the lowest possible age at school and at home? As parents, we still spend money on educational computer games, and we judge the local school by how many computers it has in its lab.

The proponents of computer-based education claim that:

- Computers stimulate young minds by making learning fun.
- The Internet allows students to explore whole new worlds in real time.
- Resources available on the Internet make researching new topics enjoyable.
- Tedious drills like times tables can be rehearsed on the tireless, patient computer.
- Technology makes it easy to communicate.

What do you think? Is it a good idea to teach a 3 year old how to use a mouse? Do computers stimulate or stifle creativity? Should a computer be doing a teacher’s job? Oh, and while we’re at it, what do you think a computer’s Teaching Style might be? (To find out more about Teaching Styles, visit us on http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/products.asp?sub=TSAEDU.)

We look forward to reading your comments.

Learning Styles and Personalized Teaching Pocket PAL

"As teachers generally teach the way they learn best themselves, they will often not be aware that more than half of their students learn very differently and need different approaches. It's a sad truth that a mismatch between teaching methods and learning styles always leads to discipline problems, reduced academic achievement and often comes with a high social cost.

It is possible for both teachers and students to become more flexible in using analytic and holistic approaches but teachers need to lead the way by practicing certain strategies.”

That’s an excerpt from Barbara Prashnig’s latest book, “Learning Styles and Personalized Teaching Pocket PAL”, published by Network Continuum 2006. If you’re an educator and would like an express introduction to Learning and Teaching Styles, this is the book for you. Its slim dimensions (10cm by 20cm) allow you to carry it with you for easy on-the-spot consultation.

Although aimed primarily at teachers, the book is also an invaluable resource for parents who are interested in helping their children achieve their learning potential.

Full of illustrations and supporting graphs, bullet points, overviews and summaries, this book practices what it preachers by catering to the diverse Learning Styles of its readers.

The book is available from our website, www.creativelearningsystems.com.

Creative Learning would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a wonderful learning new year.

Train your brain to stay sharp

I was not at all surprised to read that the latest research into brain functions advocates exercising your brain in order to retain its aptitude. Whether you dress it up in fancy terminology or rely on the old “if you don’t use it, you lose it” joke, the message is clear: practice makes better.

What did surprise me, however, was the fact that just 18 hours of training still benefited the brain 5 years later. While it is good to exercise your brain every day, for a couch potato like me who shivers at the very word “exercise”, it’s comforting to know that a single training effort could have such a vast impact on the brain.

So, while making those New Year resolutions, let’s put Brain Training on top of the list. (If you don’t use lists, let’s put Brain Training as a 2007 goal.)

But what Brain Training is best for you? Is it crossword puzzles, making up rhymes, solving jigsaw puzzles or learning a new language? Doing your Learning Style Analysis (LSA) can help you decide what works best for you and your brain.

Please visit us on http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/products.asp and give yourself a gift of learning this Holiday Season: your very own Learning Style Analysis.

On behalf of everybody at Creative Learning, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for reading our blog this year and to wish you a happy and prosperous New Year.