Tonight we worked on Harry's slide show. I purchased a $10 digital camera for Harry from the drugstore. He has been taking photos and then using them to illustrate a digital diary. (Harry is 8 years old). I showed him the basics of how to extract the photos from the camera, how to insert them into PowerPoint, and some basic instruction on PowerPoint.
I walked away from him for about 15 minutes. He discovered a lot of stuff on his own, including how to use the drawing tool to make a drawing (see the last slide) and automatic slide transitions. Now, all I initially showed him was how to insert a photo and how type in text and how to change the background colors. This is a digital native in action. This is a dramatic difference from working with digital immigrants.
Our next task is to add some audio and I think I might use Alan Levine's 50 ways to tell a story next to teach him some web 2.0 ways of telling the story. (And yes, we also need to talk about story structure. He understands a lot of concepts on paper so to speak .. but now will work towards weaving these into the digital exploration.)
Note he also gave the photo of him that I took on our walk the correct creative commons attribution, "photo by mommy." In fact, Harry is being interviewed by a national publication next week about his thoughts on creative commons licensing. When we selected a license for the slideshare, he selected the by/nc. I asked him why, "Because commercials are boring .. "
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Awesome!
Posted by: Marianne Richmond | December 01, 2007 at 08:44 PM
This is completely and totally awesome, Beth! Tell Harry that I particularly love his drawing. It's so amazing to see how quickly and easily these kids pick up the technology and just run with it. I think it goes back to that childhood curiosity and the fact that they don't fear making mistakes or "looking stupid" the way that adults do. If only we could bottle that and give it to adults to drink.
Posted by: Michele Martin | December 02, 2007 at 07:20 AM
I'm definitely not a digital native! But in some dim ways have caught the bug that great things can be created using these new tools.
I'm always inspired by your blog--and I note Michele Martin's comment, just last night I was struggling with the question whether it was on topic to say how much her blog means to me.
I'm sure that young people will create good things. But I'm also am concerned for their safety and well-being. Something that snooping around social networks has shown me is a lot of what I think I know about kids online really isn't right. There's a logic from a digital native perspective I don't quite get. And to really do something about safety and well being we're going to have to better understand this new perspective better.
I'm very excited about the XO--one laptop per child--computer. But it's something people seem to love to hate. Some of that lack of enthusiasm, I think, has to do with a status of being digital immigrants. Figuring out how to share my enthusiasm about the possibilities with other digital immigrants is proving hard to do.
Thank you for sharing Harry and Sara with us. Part of being adults is wanting to create something good for the children. Your example shows how we can. The connections you make here on this blog are so important. You are a treasure.
Posted by: John Powers | December 02, 2007 at 02:00 PM
This is great. But at the same time... PowerPoint? Let's hope it builds to something less dogmatic and more creative, and not a life of powerpoint presentations and the jilted form of narrative and communication that it structures.
As a creative (who is quite digitally native at least since the age of your boy), I also hope that he's getting out there with pen and paper and observing the world. I have a secret hope that he rebels against his digital mother by discovering the wonder of the handmade and small batch reproduction by making a zine or comic of his own design. But that's just me.
Posted by: Inaudible Nonsense | December 03, 2007 at 08:54 AM
Hi Beth, so refreshing how you inspire your kids, after all the fear from parent I usually observe here. My kids went to do the 'sinterklaas games' online and when I came to see how things were going, they were watching the 'hoofdpiet' who was answering questions in a webcam chat. You are right about digital natives! (well with such a mother..)
Posted by: joitske | December 03, 2007 at 02:47 PM
It's been either removed or made private. How to view it, Beth?
Posted by: Wanna | December 08, 2007 at 10:36 PM