We were surprised today when we came in to work with the teachers, that they brought students along to learn on the computers. In the room, we had about 5 teachers, and about 15 students.
How it went:
In the very beginning, we set the children up with TuxMath.xo . In one group, of a 5 year old, a 6 year old, and a 12 year old, the 12 year old took control and began playing. The younger children continued to be enthralled indefinitely, however after some time, the older one asked me to access a new activity.
This interaction helped us identify an important difference in how to approach various new users:
Age 5-8: Are interested in how the computer reacts to what they do in the real world. Maze, Implode, Speak, Record, Paint (though they usually aren’t able to type and get it to talk, the way the eyes follow the cursor is exciting), are activities that allow young children to explore this interaction.
Ages 8+: Are interested in exploiting the interaction between their real life actions and the digital consequences, as a way to manipulate and create. Again, once they have the basic computer interactions, Record, Paint, TuxMath, Memorize, are great activities for them to use their newfound control to make something and learn.
The most important lesson of the day was perhaps for the teachers to witness the reaction of the children to the computers, who came at them with much enthusiasm. Unfortunately, because of the students reactions, we weren’t able to spend much time working with the teachers on the ins and outs of sugar.