Digital natives: how to teach modern children?

They master the language of the latest technologies almost from the cradle and often cause confusion among parents and teachers. But can today’s children learn the way their parents did?

It seems that a program for mastering a computer and other digital devices has been built into the brain of a modern child since birth. At two or three years old, modern children are easily controlled from the iPad. At five, they help adults master gadgets. And when this generation, already called digital natives, comes to a traditional school, it often confuses teachers.

Here is a typical post on a teacher forum: “I don’t see a solution yet. After all, the fact that they cut off information does not allow them to use it creatively and develop intellectually in the future. And also the lack of motivation: they don’t need it, no matter how you stand on your ears. That is, it’s funny while it’s a show, but immediately boring as soon as you say: decide or do it yourself. Each lesson is like from scratch. Typical complaints: children cannot concentrate for a long time, comment on what is happening in the classroom, as if they were sitting at a computer monitor, they have a bad memory. Another topic that worries teachers: how can they, “digital immigrants”, catch up with children, “digital natives”?

Psychologists also recognize that modern children are very different from us. “Everything seen and heard on television or on the Internet, we, adults, call pseudo-reality,” says children’s analyst Anna Skavitina. – But for the mental world of the current generation, this is a real reality. The rate of assimilation of information in children is now many times higher than in adults. This is the requirement of the time. At the same time, the children’s memory became “worse”. But the fact is that now they store information like computers – on external sources. They remember not information, but directories. Reading children are rare because reading is too slow for their dynamic brains. They learned to do everything at once: listen to music, prepare lessons, reply to messages and post photos on the Web. But their concentration of attention on the object falls, it is difficult for them to capture the meaning of long sentences.

Whether we like it or not, these are the realities of our day, and we as adults need to learn to respond appropriately to them. Here are some tips to help both teachers and children.

Read more:

• What do we expect from the school?

Stimulate their critical thinking

Ten-year-old Anton is bored in class, quickly distracted: “I think about many things at once. The teacher talks for so long, I can’t finish listening, I’m not interested.” Psychoanalyst Serge Tisseron advises: “Children need to be encouraged to think critically. Teach them to think about their own actions and the actions of others. For example: why does the teacher explain slowly? How he does it? By observing the teacher, the child may become interested in pedagogical strategies. Then the time in the lessons will not drag so slowly.

Discuss their experiences together

Jeanne is 9 years old, she is a good student. But she, lively and direct, finds it difficult to control her speech. The words flow like a waterfall, she does not even have time to pronounce them clearly, as if she is afraid that she will be interrupted: “I always need to say something to my girlfriend. And the teacher tells us to shut up.” In front of a computer monitor, children experience very rich emotions, and in the classroom, time seems to freeze. According to Serge Tisseron, they should be asked to talk about their experiences: this is how they learn to organize their thoughts, look at events from the outside, develop the skill of reflection.

Read more:

• How to help your children?

Develop mental alertness

In many schools, lessons are conducted in the old fashioned way: teachers and children write with chalk on the blackboard. But a modern child is closer to a personal computer, which allows him to feel the dynamism of life and save the correct version of the work, in which there are no more errors. “There is no need to be afraid of quickly switching attention in a conversation or while surfing the Internet,” says the psychoanalyst. “On the contrary, let’s use it to develop mental alertness in children.”

Encourage search

“When our teacher doesn’t know the answer, she tells us to find it ourselves,” 12-year-old Zhanna shrugs her shoulders, in fact, she doubts the teacher’s competence. “The connection between teacher and student is now more important than ever,” says Serge Tisseron. – A teacher is a pioneer, a conductor. It should inspire and inspire confidence. Explain to the children that adults do not know everything and that this is normal. Tell them how amazing it is to step into a world where nothing is certain and where much can change because of them. The kids love this idea.”

Help them find their place

If a child is used to sitting alone in front of a computer, it is not always easy for him to get close to his classmates. Starting at age 9, our experts advise prioritizing group computer games with parents or friends so that children can learn to find their place in the group: “Ask them to talk about their successes and failures. This is how they can realize their skills, knowledge and skills.”

* See on the forum of the Intel educational portal edugalaxy.intel.ru