Teaching Technology to Kindergarteners
"Brad Flickinger has been an elementary, middle, and high school teacher, as well as the director of technology which gives him a perspective of teaching all ages of students and what it is like at both the classroom and district levels. He focuses his experiences on designing technology curriculum for students from kindergarten to 5th grade." (Brad's website)
In this podcast, Brad discussed what he teaches his kindergartners in technology class. He feels that although some schools do not allow younger elementary students in the computer lab, the younger the better to get the students learning 21st century skills. Brad begins the school year by teaching the rules of the computer - turning it on and off, naming parts of the computer (mouse, monitor, etc). Once that is taken care of, students practice keyboarding (Typing Tots) . One struggle Brad finds is gtting the students used to the idea of using the computer as a tool and not as a game to play on. Another application he uses in the lab is a drawing application called Pixie.
Finally, at the end of class, the one and only website the students are allowed to visit is PBS Kids . This is a great educational site for kids.
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