Can we cultivate the collaboration and communication of the children with the digital world based on appropriate apps and ethics? Can we provide children with environments for «being active builders of knowledge» and of their artifacts? Can we encourage their active involvement and social participation in meaningful activities, engaging in self-regulation, being creative and reflective (namely «how children learn»)?
Digital literacy, has a direct impact on children’s progress and learning. There are several ways to make this connection, the most common being to focus on the development of 21st century skills or competencies. Models can be found in ISTE Standards for Students, 8 Key Competences for Lifelong Learning, developing pupil competences through eTwinning and the widespread digital taxonomies based on Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy (such as the Padagogy Wheel).
In this context, the opportunities for learning are limitless. Every child would be able to enter into the digital world. This means that underprivileged children, who would not normally have access to technology, are the ones who stand to benefit most from existing low-cost digital devices. Each child could henceforth be able to assert its individual right to access the digital world (with adult guidance and without acting as a substitute for the real world), in which he/she will be:
- Observer/Operator: To read, to take and highlight notes, to photograph, to video, to listen to music, to watch videos and films, to record snapshots of reality, to operate digital instruments.
- Inquirer/Explorer: To be informed and to search, to explore and to travel all over the world, with or without maps.
- Thinker/Solver: To drill & practice, to solve/code problems and to play.
- Creator/Connected: To process multimedia content, to create artifacts (e.g. to draw, to construct documents, diagrams, slides, mind maps, posters, comics, blogs), to communicate, to collaborate and to share through social media.
The “Open Sesame” model, implemented by the “Network for Children’s Rights”, a non-profit organization to promote the rights and well-being of children and member of the Eurochild, defines 4 groups of 3 action verbs each, which correspond directly to the apps that appear on the screen of the tablets of the «Network».
The child is able to have its own diary, calculator, alarm, watch, torch, chronometer, compass, radio-music-video-player, recorder, game-machine, gamepad, fitness tracker, digital telescope, sensors and many other tools, all in a single low-cost tablet containing the relevant free apps. These 100+ apps were visualized in an interactive infographic-poster, attractive to children.
“Open Sesame” can easily connect all children with programs that make use of technology (Opportunity for All?). So far related programs have only been available to pupils in a handful of schools. Pilots have already been carried out amongst groups of children (including the so-called “third culture kids”), parents and teachers, in deprived areas of Athens. It is also applied to school communities and to remote areas that lack extensive cultural information and stimuli.
Integrated the presented concept into the daily curriculum, with each child’s aptitude in mind, and in conjunction with local and cross-regional networking, collaboration and educational programs, we can offer significant support for the development of 21st century competences. Furthermore, it can offer the feeling of belonging to a community with a broad outlook, one that has embraced differentiation and rejected geographical and other boundaries, with expansion ideas in wider areas (e.g. Models of Competences, LAB-ADA Mapping Frame for SLA).
Yannis Kotsanis, May 2023
PS: This post was used as content for the development of the video «Creating a post» of the LAB-ADA «Toolkit of the Remote Co-Design Activities«.
Selected References (as inputs)
- Papert on Piaget (S. Papert, 1999)
- How children learn (S. Vosniadou, 2001)
- ISTE Standards for Students (ISTE, 2016)
- DigComp Framework (EU-JRC, 2010-22)\
- pen Sesame, Infographic, PPT (2004-23)
Selected References (as outputs)
- Eurochild Network (2004-23)
- Opportunity for All? (Sesame Workshop, 2016)
- eTwinning Education Platform (EU, 2005-23)
- Models of Competences (Y. Kotsanis, IGI 2018)
- LAB-ADA Mapping Frame for SLA (Erasmus+, 2022)
Acknowledgement: The project had the full support of Myrsini Zorba (a former President of the Network for Children’s Rights and Culture Minister of Greece, passed away at the age of 74).
ΨΗΦΙΑΚΕΣ ΔΗΜΙΟΥΡΓΙΕΣ 