Shiv on Learning

This has been one of the top stories on the BBC news site over the past two days. John Gibson, head of Stoke College in Suffork, speaking at the International Schools Association’s annual conference stated that many children’s’ use of technology resulted in them living in a “prison-like environment” .

Gibson highlights the importance of playing away from the computer and reading. Both points I agree on. The reasoning he puts forward for this is however a bit dodgy.

“activities such as putting an oily chain back on a bike, or playing conkers, exposed children to emotions such as disappointment which would prepare them for adulthood”

Anyone with significant experience of the online world or computer games knows they allow you to experience the full range of human emotion. In the majority of cases, technical proficiency is a far more useful skill for the world of work than putting an oily chain back on a bike or playing conkers.

Children use computers to communicate, learn and do many other things that cant be done by playing conkers.

Books are far more of a prison than computers are, when reading them students are totally isolated from the rest of the world.

The story below seems relevant here. (image from http://www.dudeney.com)