Computers and imagination
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Just wanted to share something about our newly liberated days. I suppose I
noticed what was happening all the more clearly because the message below
dropped into my inbox:
-=- [writer on a UK based list]....but reading is far better for children's
cognitive development than watching TV or playing computer games! You
develop your imagination when reading whereas the screen does everything for
you so not much in the way of brain function going on while you watch!-=-
It made me laugh to think of using a computer as passive unimaginative
entertainment, especially because of what I've watched Jess do this week.
She's been ill with tonsillitis, so we've missed the short spasm of
glorious weather that will probably count for our English summer. To keep
herself amused, she spent a fair old time lazing on the sofa with her laptop.
She decided to sample the sounds of words generated by HalReader, a
text-to-voice processor. She then modulated and tuned the outputs to different
pitches, and slotted them into rhythmic patterns on an audio multitracking
programme to make her own music (quite funky, if you could imagine Kraftwerk
with a vaguely Latin beat). I just loved watching this creativity unfold
... and then that message popped up on my PC. I realized that if you don't
look closely at this kind of thing all you see is some zombie kid gazing
hypnotically at a screen. What a shame. And what a buzz it is to be
learning to participate more and observe more closely!
Incidentally, I'd like to add my voice to all the others who think Holly's
video is FABULOUS! (And, as far as I'd always understood, the convention
of talking to an interviewer slightly offline from the camera was developed
because most viewers find too much direct-to-camera eye contact
overpowering.) ... So confident, so intelligent, so at ease in herself.
Jude x
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
noticed what was happening all the more clearly because the message below
dropped into my inbox:
-=- [writer on a UK based list]....but reading is far better for children's
cognitive development than watching TV or playing computer games! You
develop your imagination when reading whereas the screen does everything for
you so not much in the way of brain function going on while you watch!-=-
It made me laugh to think of using a computer as passive unimaginative
entertainment, especially because of what I've watched Jess do this week.
She's been ill with tonsillitis, so we've missed the short spasm of
glorious weather that will probably count for our English summer. To keep
herself amused, she spent a fair old time lazing on the sofa with her laptop.
She decided to sample the sounds of words generated by HalReader, a
text-to-voice processor. She then modulated and tuned the outputs to different
pitches, and slotted them into rhythmic patterns on an audio multitracking
programme to make her own music (quite funky, if you could imagine Kraftwerk
with a vaguely Latin beat). I just loved watching this creativity unfold
... and then that message popped up on my PC. I realized that if you don't
look closely at this kind of thing all you see is some zombie kid gazing
hypnotically at a screen. What a shame. And what a buzz it is to be
learning to participate more and observe more closely!
Incidentally, I'd like to add my voice to all the others who think Holly's
video is FABULOUS! (And, as far as I'd always understood, the convention
of talking to an interviewer slightly offline from the camera was developed
because most viewers find too much direct-to-camera eye contact
overpowering.) ... So confident, so intelligent, so at ease in herself.
Jude x
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
By the way, I realized I didn't express something too clearly in my
earlier post: a quick clarification. When I referred to "zombie kids staring at
a screen" - I didn't mean to say I believe there's any such thing. Nor was
I suggesting any hierarchy of active to inactive screen time. I was just
trying to work out how anyone would think there's no imagination in
screen-based activities.
Jude x
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
earlier post: a quick clarification. When I referred to "zombie kids staring at
a screen" - I didn't mean to say I believe there's any such thing. Nor was
I suggesting any hierarchy of active to inactive screen time. I was just
trying to work out how anyone would think there's no imagination in
screen-based activities.
Jude x
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]