From A Distance - Children, Teens and the best digital tools they can use for fun and education
A practical session on how children and teens can use digital technology tools to create fun and educational content featured in the second instalment of DCU’s Institute of Education Facebook Live Broadcast “From a Distance” presented by Denis Moynihan, Assistant Professor in Education (Primary - Digital Learning) on Tuesday, May 5th.
Denis works with student teachers at primary school level to prepare them to embed digital learning in their learning, teaching and assessment.
During this session, Denis provided tips and advice for both parents and teachers.
Here are some of the highlights from it.
Content Creation and the 4 Ps
With content creation, for example making a video, writing a digital story, recording audio, try to consider the four Ps to enable children/teens to become active participants in the process.
Project- Create a project type task with a set aim and structure around it
Passion- The project should tap into the passion of the child/teen and grab their attention and interest
Play- It should be fun and enjoyable. The amount of deep learning that is going on is very high during this phase as well.
Peers- Children want to be able to talk about it and share it with their peers and friends
Digital tools available to you
Take time to look around the house and see what digital tools you have available. For example, a digital camera or the built-in camera on a tablet or phone.
Why not create a project with the camera as the main tool. In turn, there are apps and online tools which can be used for editing and bringing the project together.
The same applies to audio tools that are available on phones, tablets etc and in turn using this for reading, singing or recording sounds from the environment.
Video camera - explore your surroundings
Get used to using the full range of tools that are available with the video camera on your phone. tablet or other digital device.
There are so many new things taking places in homes across the country right now.
For example, baking has become extremely popular! Why not document the baking project from start to finish?
Starting with preparing ingredients, choosing recipes and finally the finished product! Bringing elements together
Work on bringing different elements together with a focus on digital storytelling, where the many types of multimedia, such as audio, images, video and text can be combined to create an engaging project.
Don’t overlook the ‘well used’ tools
Don’t forget the options available in traditional productivity tools such as Microsoft Office, Google Drive etc such as the old reliables presentation etc.
The main focus should be on what is being created as opposed to what tool is being used.
Time to experiment
For teachers, now could be a good time to get your students thinking about other new digital skills to learn, such as making movies, games or podcasting.
The main thing is to tap into the child’s passion.
The same applies to parents who could encourage their children to focus on their interests and hobbies and bring them to life through digital content creation.
Click here to view the full broadcast
Click here to download resources