School Age: Computers
When your child has an idea, she wants to learn more about it, to give it voice, to see it built. This exploration is a key part of your child's development. A computer can spur it along.
Like libraries, the web is a great place for your child to explore and learn. As your child uses the internet for homework, you can help her form good ‘habits of mind’ – the practice of asking critical questions. Establishing a routine of asking questions, rather than copying and therefore accepting information, teaches your child there is no single expert, no single source of information and no single way of doing something. In using the web, you can also help her learn to organise information and develop successful search strategies.
4 ways to make the most of computers
1. Introduce your child to the librarians at your local library
Librarians know how to sort information. They can help teach your child how to search the web to find answers to her questions.
2. Encourage your child to recast internet information in her own words
If your child uses an electronic picture from the web, have her write an original caption describing the action in the picture – and what it means. Also, teach her to credit the source when she uses something - a quote, a picture or an idea - that isn't hers. One common way to do this is to reference the website address from which she pulled the information.
3. Stress the importance of online safety
Help your child become a savvy internet user. Introduce her to sources of web safety information such as the Australian Government website NetAlert. As you talk about the value of personal information, discourage her from sharing her name, address, phone number or any other details that could identify her to someone else online. Show her how to select and use a screen name – never her real name.
4. Introduce your child to kid-friendly search engines and directories
By introducing your child to a few starting points written at her vocabulary level, you can help her explore what interests her. Good places to begin include:
- Net Alert
- The American Library Association's 700+ Great Sites
- Museums such as the Questacon
- Search engines such as Kids Click
- Education resources such as ABC's Education Resources website
- Links to homework resources such as BJ Pinchbeck's Homework Helper
You can visit these sites (and any others related to your child’s interests) yourself; then bookmark the ones you both like and that you approve.
Key questions to help your child scrutinise online sources of information
- What is the main idea?
- Who is speaking? Is it a person, an organisation, a company, a government agency?
- Why is this information here? Is there a purpose? Is the website trying to sell me something? Make me believe something? Get me to do something? Is there an ‘About this Site’ page?
- Where do the facts that support the main idea come from?
- How is the main idea communicated – in words, pictures, personal histories, opinions or as research?
- How does the format change what I think about the information? (For instance, are pictures and personal stories more believable than wordy facts?)
- What is missing? Can you think of any information not covered by the website? Are certain people and opinions absent?
- Who cares? Why does the information on this website matter?
Read more about online gaming in Video games.
Content supplied by:
PBS Parents
© 2002-2006 Public Broadcasting Service. Reprinted from www.pbsparents.org with permission of the Public Broadcasting Service.
