Teaching Kids Computers Hardware And Software
In a recent conversation with my daughter I come to learn that at her school the weekly IT lesson is spent in teaching kids how to create a new folder or to write a basic document on MS Word and other similar topics.
My Daughter is on year 5 on an international private school in Chiang Mai, (Thailand). This school is viewed locally as a modern approach, (western style), to learning for kids of Thai nationality and also for foreign kids.
While I am not discussing the effectiveness of the overall curriculum adopted in this and many other local Schools here in Thailand, I strongly believe that it is just not enough.
We live in an era in which almost everything we do is either controlled by or executed by a “machine”, and we, as humans, are the one who invented both the hardware and software that permits this machines to operate the way we want.
I am certain that our kids have plenty of knowledge on how to operate some devices, (mobile phones / tablets / game consoles), this is mostly because of the necessity to learn in order to consume large doses of “entertainment” in the sort of video games and such. However, not many of our kids do actually understand what or why machines operate in a certain way as we have not spent time on teaching them what is inside this machines.
It is a bit like learning the ‘human body’, once you know the organ inside our body you have a better understanding on who regulates what and how things do work.
In the case of computers and software we might wonder…is this necessary?
My answer is yes. It is indeed becoming a necessity. The understanding of how things work not only will make our kids more knowledgeable but also open their eyes into a future with a broader array of possibilities in terms of study and work.
I have given a lot of thought to this and started to “jot down” a way to prepare young learners into acquiring the knowledge that will be the power of their future. So I spent some time researching and preparing a sort of “curriculum” for what it could be a mini course or a “club” course to take alongside the normal studies and their school curriculum.
This course is an introduction to Computers, Software and Hardware and is aimed to young learners of ages spanning from 8 to 16 years old.
The course is entirely in English, so it can be also used as a great tool for non English speaking kids in need to familiarize more with the English Language whether they are already enrolled in International or English Programs in their respective Schools or they are already advanced English speakers and they like to hang out with other English speaking kids every once in a while and share some knowledge or taking part in some activity as part of a team.
I have called the course TK, (TechKIDS)
The TK [level 1] Course will last 14 weeks and is tailored and accessible to anyone, no matter what level of IT knowledge or how much of a “geek” the kids can be, we will explain computers, hardware and technologies related to it in plain language, using images, videos and other digital aids, ultimately we will use hardware on site and let the kids see it in action.
Young learners will interact and take part in activities and at the end of the course there will be an assessment that will help the Teacher into understanding how much the learners have apprehended and what can be done to make the course even better, ultimately preparing the kids for the Level 2, (currently on the make).
The curriculum for this course has been prepared by myself but there is room for improvement and it is actually updated frequently.
In the hope any of you are also interested in how our kids are learning and wants to make a difference I will be open to discuss, collaborate and improve.
As soon as this first level is ready, (85% done), it would be great to find a way to give it a dry run as a sort of pilot and see how the kids start enjoying learning with our course and make corrections to both the curriculum and or the teaching methods prior to present this course officially to the international schools.
This project has a temporary website here: http://binary10.space/sites/techkids/
I would welcome your feedback for anything that you might consider helpful for the success of this and future courses.
Digital Designer, blog writer and also a tech enthusiast.
He loves to write content for blogs, podcasts, design websites, logos, brochures, banners and anything that sends a message to an audience.
You can contact Daniele at the link below:
