Kids Dull Homework Transformed in Online Fun

My kids always surprise me with their digital awareness. They are still little ones, but I guess that this new generation who some call “the digital natives” seems to have been born with a chip that tells them exactly how to pick up things easily in the online world. No need for further instruction. They just know it! Even if I work with educational technology, I still watch in awe how comfortably they click from one place to the other, use their bookmarks (my youngest doesn’t even know how to read, but he can identify the links he wants in his bookmarks!), understand what the digital world holds…At home, I’m a mother, not a teacher. So, I generally don’t preach about the wonders of technology, nor do I really teach my kids how to use online tools. We just go over the basics of safe online surfing.
However, the other day I was working on the computer while my oldest son was doing very boring, repetitive homework. What’s is the point of boring, mechanical homework, any way? Dudu had to memorize some spelling and sight words and make sentences with them. This is an activity he has to do every single day. He was complaining about how dull that was. I didn’t say anything, though I didn’t agree with the jurassic methods that I see in the American schools my kids go to. Then, it gave me a click. Why not assisting my kid to go from just a digital easiness, awareness to going through the basics of digital literacy for a 1st grader. Of course I could help my kid go further as I could see the school was not going to take that step into the technological world that enchants our little ones and could be so helpful in their learning process.
I showed Dudu how to copy and paste, how to look for images in Google, how to open a Google Docs and write a text. He was hooked. I lost my working space! He sat on my computer, found a photo that interested him, a rescue dog, added to his Google Doc and started working on a story. First, he had some sentences. I highlighted words with some spelling problems. He corrected himself. Then, I asked questions about the story. He expanded his ideas and changed the position of some sentences. Finally, we worked together on punctuation. It took some days for him to finish his story, but when he finally finished it, I could see the sparkling eyes of accomplishment and the smile of a well-succeeded endeavor. He told me he wanted to send his story to his grandparents and dad.
And I kept thinking of how easy it was

to get a kid hooked

to keep him happily on task

to engage him in creating content which was meaningful for him

to work comprehensively and inductively on the grammar areas he was focusing at school

to explore vocabulary that was relevant to his story and was part of his own reality

And I dreamed that one day

more educators will awaken to the fact that technology is a supporter of our teaching/learning journey, not a monster that scares us

my kids will have in their curriculum the literacies (media, information, ICT literacies) they REALLY need to face their personal, professional challenges in a very near future.

I’m always optimistic!
By the way, here’s Dudu’s text:

http://flickr.com/photos/bunchofpants/205793491/

There are dogs saving the world here there everywhere.There are many kinds of dogs dalmatians, Weimaraners, Labradors and much much more. This dog is important because he keeps the world safe like the other dogs. His name is Gator.

He saved an old lady that could not see.The old lady that could not see had a beach house like me. Anyway, she was walking outside. She couldn’t see so she kept on walking. She walked and walked till she fell down in the sea.The rescue team saw in the radar so the USS rescue boat’s bell rang. They went to the old lady’s house. Then Gator ran to the dock and jumped in the water. Then he saved the old lady’s life.

And don’t forget to take care of your dog.

The original photo he used can be found at http://www.utahpets.org/img/events/2007-superadoption-sep/img03.jpg (I didn’t publish it here due to copyright issues. Next time, I’ll teach Dudu how to use “Creative Commons” in Flickr!)