Consider the Children

For much of the last few months, I have been working on creating audio and video media in instructional design--making podcasts and learning Adobe products and OBS-- and getting to know the world of Open Education Resources--listening to stories of teachers creating curricula and generally getting lost in the wonder of working with all these new possibilities in the digital world, particularly in the upper levels of education.

I’ve also been watching my grandkids, age 1 and 3, via Instagram posts and with pictures from their parents at their darling Montessori school. I see the 1-year-old in the sunshine, playing in the dirt, and dancing to music. I watch the 3-year-old paint moons and stars with different sponges and brushes, dig around in and help plant the school garden, and play with his trucks with his buddies. I’m in love with the whole-person education they have no idea they are receiving.

These two worlds collided last night when my class had a Zoom meeting with Heather Morin, a Georgia middle school librarian who sits on the think tank for the CK-12 Open Ed Resource group. CK-12 is an already-created, digital K-12 Open Ed Resource (completely free to use) with loads of different subject areas and grade levels. Heather shared her experience of moving her school's Science department to an all-OER based Science curriculum, and how that change has continued to expand throughout her school. Ms. Morin’s crew replaced the e-book’s pictures with pictures from their own school, replaced scenarios with students and teachers’ names in the school, and added their school’s weather station information and other relatable, real-time, real-life pieces into the curriculum. In return, the engagement and ownership of the students as well as the teachers increased exponentially. Pretty terrific!

While I found Ms. Morin and all of the digitally-engaging ideas right up my own passion-alley, I thought of my grandkids and of the many elementary students whom I have taught and felt the ethical quandary arise:

1. Studies have shown that, particularly during the developmental years, children should not have long exposure to screens.

2. Remote teaching during the pandemic has forced a frustrating level of more screen time onto these kids.

3. The power of playtime in development has been shown through research to be vital for children.

Though I love creating digital, engaging instruction, and I think Heather Morin’s use of OER in CK12 is groundbreaking and useful at the older ages, for younger kids we’ve got to consider something different.

It is vital that elementary educators consider a careful balance of play, time in nature, and hands-on learning with wise and minimal use of screen time. OER for elementary ages will look different. It may look, as Ms. Morin suggested in answer to my quandary, like teachers using CK12 as simply a virtual “teacher ‘s folder” rather than for student-use, as a resource holder for each lesson, with reminders to gather those items from home, supplemental worksheets, or favorite short videos to introduce an idea. It can still replace the cost of a textbook, and be of more use to a teacher. But most importantly, it must provide a more ethical, engaging learning experience for children.