> Just think how happy they would be with an iPad or something like that.
And they would learn absolutely nothing about computing.
I think you missed the whole point of the article.
And they would learn absolutely nothing about computing.
I think you missed the whole point of the article.
The iPad allows for that
Happiness comes from our relationships, our health, our work, our marriages, and our self-concept. Technology is necessary for none of these for children.
With, that is, the possible exception of self-concept. "I know how computers work and how to use them" is a positive self-concept. Author is knocking the ball out of the park here.
If you have 5 (or 50) icons to choose from, where's the blank slate? Where's the great outdoors? Where's the "I built it myself!"?
The boys love to eat the food from our garden that they helped plant and nurture a lot more than food from a store.
If they have ownership and freedom to explore, engagement is natural.
If you don't start with the preconceived notion that the command line is too hard or not engaging enough for children, maybe you will find that it isn't.
My blank slate was an empty text file in Notepad and a browser (this was on a public computer, I couldn't install stuff).
On the iPad, I'd say the blank slate is Codea: http://twolivesleft.com/Codea/
And it's not surprising at all. You're not thinking like a small child. Children focus intently on things that would bore adults to tears all the time. They have so little context that almost anything can be deeply interesting to them.
Now that I have a one-year-old, we spent a lot of time admiring the workings of garbage trucks, examining grass, etc. I can easily see his curiosity evolving over the next couple years to the point where he could amuse himself for hours with a command line and a speech synthesizer.
And he likes the iPad too. This isn't an either-or proposition.