I didn't get a chance to see Josh Stumpenhorst's Keynote at ISTE 2015 but he sent out this clip to watch:
After my husband and I watched it, my husband said he was frustrated because Mr. Stumpenhorst never answered the question. Now, I'm sure he did during his presentation but it led to a thoughtful discussion. My husband argued that Kindergarten was too young for Chromebooks and Ipads because they need to develop their fine motor and communication skills. Now, I agree with my husband but I love to play devil's advocate. My husband loves when I play devil's advocate too. (sarcasm)
Anyway, here are my thoughts:
Yes, right now, in 2015, we need those interpersonal skills to hold face-to-face conversations with people. Now, 20,000 teachers get together and discuss Education Technology. However, almost everything that was exchanged at ISTE could have been done electronically. BUT - we HAD to have the convention because we are children of the 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's. We still like to do that face-to-face "thang". It's powerful to sit across the table from fellow teachers and share ideas. However, children today might think about planning ISTE and say to themselves, "Well, that's a huge waste of money. Let's just put all the speeches and share all of the information online. Wow, that will be easier!".
So, yes, maybe we do need to put those Ipads and Chromebooks in the hands of Kindergartners. Or, maybe we just need to let them eat the playdoh and glue macaroni onto paper.
What do you think?
