Workshops "Intelligence in the Web" at the Primary School No. 97
Hate, dangerous sites, viruses, addiction...
These are the most common responses of students to the question of threats that may happen to them on the Internet. Once again, we have started cooperation with the school, and we run the "Intelligence in the Web" workshops. This time in Leon Kruczkowski Primary School No. 97 in Warsaw. The first workshop took place on May 22, 2019. By the end of the school year, we plan to conduct workshops in classes 4-8. We talk not only about threats, but also about all the benefits we get from the Internet. Each lesson, every class, every student is different - there are different needs. We try to adapt to each individual, and the most we care about is that our recipients are safe on the web.
“I REMEMBER THAT I FORGOT"- about supporting children's memory
Memory researchers show that person can remember experiences even when he was still in his mother's belly - newborns prefer mother's voice to the voices of other women, and they definitely prefer to listen to their mother’s rather than a foreign language. Knowing the impressive possibilities of human memory does not make it easier to understand why our seven-year-old needs two hours to learn ten English words. What is worth knowing about the child's memory to help the child manage it effectively?
Do not ask an eight-year-old to remember
A child in the name of a higher value (or play) launches memory processes and can easily recite the principles of a playground game or arrangements for playing at home. At the same time, he cannot cope with the task in which he was asked to remember a series of pictures or words. This is because in case of younger children the involuntary memory is the most effective, i.e. the one that creates memory traces during non-concentrated activity on memorizing. It is not until around the age of 10 that any memory, i.e. one that can be started "on demand", dominates. What is the conclusion for the youngest students? Tasks that require memorization are worth organizing in a way indirectly related to learning by heart. Instead, you can suggest playing with the material to be remembered.
Trust the schoolboy, check the preschooler
Show preschooler a collection of pictures, and he will take a look at them and ensure that he remembers all. Children of this age are not yet able to assess their own memory competences, overestimate their abilities. If the circumstances require a four-year-old to remember certain content, it is worth organizing the activity that facilitates memorizing and then checking the acquisition of the material. When asked about "Remembering?" preschooler, regardless of the actual state of his knowledge, will probably answer "yes".
Shape the strategy as far as possible
The teenager will remember more content than the preschooler, because he will use more sophisticated methods of memorizing. For example, from elaboration, that is, creating associations between passwords. The use of a complex strategy is conditioned by the appropriate stage of development - up to the age of 7 children do not use any memory strategies. Even if they know the names of the objects they want to remember, they do not call them and they do not repeat them - despite having resources, they cannot use them yet. Memory strategies appear gradually - seven-year-olds begin to repeat, ten-year-olds organize content, teenagers enjoy the benefits of associations. It is important to fit the technique to the possibilities. For a child who can already name objects, we can suggest repeating, but do not expect to use more demanding methods. Therefore, it is worth creating new learning methods based on the current capabilities of the child. It is worth remembering that the development of strategy is accompanied by increasingly better effects in memorizing. Monitoring and supporting this process can bring many benefits - educational and not only.
Bibliography
Jagodzińska, M. (2013). Psychologia pamięci: badania, teorie, zastosowania. Gliwice: Wydawnictwo Helion
23. Science Picnic
Our Foundation had the pleasure to participate in the Science Picnic for the fourth time. This year, the Picnic was held on Saturday, May 11, and the theme was "Machines and us" The Foundation’s booth was located in the "Future" zone, and our task was to present inventions that change the daily lives of people.
We have prepared 4 shows for visitors:
1. Telephone of the past - the idea of this show was to present how traditional fixed telephony works. Our guests could independently connect using the local battery and hand-operated telephone. Thanks to the supervisors, they could also learn a lot about traditional telephony. The show enjoyed great interest.
2. Integrated communication - we presented the possibilities of VoIP technology and new solutions for fixed-line telephony.
3. New opportunities in the old delivery - visitors had the opportunity to make video calls between landline phones and could experience the compatibility of a landline phone with websites.
4. Creative communication - this show was prepared for the youngest participants – they could design and make their own unique phone. The effects of the work of our brave, small designers are presented in the pictures.
Our booth was very popular, which was a great joy for us. Thank you very much for the huge help and running the shows to our colleagues from the company Intelligent Technologies S.A. You were wonderful! We also thank all volunteers for their commitment and creativity! We are very happy to participate in the Picnic and we hope to meet again next year!
How to learn?
One is justified by the surprising form of the test? Or maybe "overlearning" as the main culprit of weakening motivation and low results? This may be the result of incorrect selection of learning strategies and lack of knowledge about how to learn effectively. It is worth knowing what to suggest to a child who is less willing to look at books.
School is focused on learning and acquiring skills. Often, however, students do not know what instruments to use while studying. They use very ineffective methods that can lead to reduced motivation or learned helplessness. In less extreme cases, they simply extend learning time and take away the chance of pursuing a hobby or meeting peers. Fortunately, a parent who knows the basics of the learning process can be a great consultant on effective learning.
An individual approach maximizes profits
This time it is not about the individual approach to the child, but about ... the material to be absorbed. It is worth teaching the child the habit of assessing the content they intend to learn. Are they difficult? Extensive? Can science be exhausting? Depending on the specific material, the optimal method should be chosen. The fact that a lot of time should be reserved for long and difficult material should not come as a surprise. However, a longer working time does not mean longer breaks, on the contrary - the more difficult the content to master, the shorter breaks should be made.
How to remember better?
The fact that a child has problems remembering can mean using an ineffective strategy. Repetition itself can prove itself at the beginning of a career in elementary school, then the complexity of the material requires more sophisticated techniques. When looking for a good strategy, it is worth knowing what improves the process of remembering. First of all, it is independence - doing the task yourself significantly increases the memory achievements compared to the situation of watching the task performed by someone else. Instead of presenting how to solve a math problem, support the child in an independent performance - you can praise him for involvement, ask questions to help organize work or indicate the sources in which he can find help.
Good answers - to recognize and produce
For many students, information about the form of checking knowledge is very important - especially the elders know that you can learn differently to the test with open questions, and differently to the one with answers to choose from. What is the difference? Even if the child only reads his notes, during a closed test, he will probably recognize among the unmasking answers the ones he saw in the texts he read. On the other hand, it may have difficulties in extracting unfixed content from memory and failing on tasks requiring reproduction - that is, giving a creative answer in an open question. Reproduction is a multistage, effort-intensive process that takes place on the basis of traces other than recognition. It is worth realizing to a young adept of science that reading (i.e. relying on image marks) is not equivalent to learning (creating verbal traces).
Bibliography
Jagodzińska, M. (2013). Psychologia pamięci: badania, teorie, zastosowania. Gliwice: Wydawnictwo Helion.
Who can replace the smartphone?
The fast career of smartphones has pulled round many specialists who pay attention not only to the benefits, but also to the risks associated with them. The term “phonoholism” or addiction to the phone, quickly gained popularity. However, it is worth knowing what the more subtle symptoms of the incorrect relationship with the phone are - and how to respond to them.
Friendship or toxic relationship?
It is difficult today to expect a child to only use analog toys. In the end, he observes parents who are replying to emails with their smartphone, making appointments to the doctor and paying bills. Vibrating the phone reminds you to drink a glass of water or make birthday wishes. In many cases, a smartphone is a convenient and quick way to manage our reality - an important task for a parent is to teach their children how to use their phone wisely. What if you use it in real needs? Such as:
• a reminder for the test at school,
• instant messaging contacts with friends,
• maybe some photo editing application for a small fan of graphics and photos,
• learning languages, learning about new cultures.
They will be useful for sure. It is important, however, that a young smartphone user, bewitched by his abilities, does not allow his / her addiction to be completely dependent on a flat screen. It is worth talking to your child if the phone will actually make it easier for him to learn or to pursue his passion or to fill time with no benefits.
How many hours means addiction?
The time the child spends with the phone in front of his eyes is not always reliable information on whether his relationship with the smartphone is within the normal range or whether he should pay attention to the parent. It will not be a bad thing either, if the daughter once happens to sink in the blue screen for the whole afternoon, watching photos of the rarest Asian toads. When an eleven-year-old, tired after a very hard day, throws himself on the bed and slides his finger across the screen, we can assume that he really has no strength at all for anything else. However, if it begins to become his everyday life, and a few hours a day with a smartphone is a new tradition, it will be useful to talk about why the phone has become so important.
Phone-therapist...
If the child regularly begins to spend more time sunk in the blue screen, his smartphone can barely cope with the number of applications downloaded, and other areas of life (learning, friends, home duties) begin to go down into the background, it is worth to intervene. It may be helpful to reach the cause of the change in behavior. Some children spend a lot of time with the phone because they cannot organize their own time - instead of planning activities, they count the next steps of the favorite game. Those little ones who started using the phone early may be used to flickering effects on the screen and to quickly change the composition, which is why fewer stimulating ways to spend time may seem boring to them.
... and Parent-Lifeguard
Cutting off the access to the network or setting an hour a day to use the phone will not solve the problem - because the phone is often only a way to express the problem, but it is not in itself. It is worth teaching a child to actively solve problems or creative organization of time, and technology should be treated as facilitating the implementation of needs. Thanks to this, the child will be able to enjoy its benefits without risking that the digital world will keep it too deep.
Speak like children - why do not children understand us?
Sometimes you have to repeat something twice. The noise in the next room, poor coverage, temporary articulation indisposition caused by an unexpected yawn? Peanuts. It's frustrating when you say something with a smile, and you do not see any sense of understanding. You say something for the third time, slowly and clearly, and the child looks as if he saw you for the first time. How to get rid of the superpower of invisibility and talk so that the child understands?
Simple solution
The ability to understand increasingly complex content develops with age and the richness of speech. Therefore, from the first days of life it is worth talking to a child (speech in case babies develops only in contact with another person! Songs for children and audiobooks with fairy tales will not help in that case). As you grow up, it is worth giving a good example, using a varied language and creating the opportunity to learn new words. However, when we come to fulfill duties or situations requiring concentration, we all prefer simple messages. Instead of a lengthy monologue full of stylistic figures and digression, it is better to hear three sentences full of content, but in a cost-effective form. Children are radical fans of simple messages.
Polite - what it means?
In our adult minds, certain words, even if not necessarily transparent and understandable, can be given meaning, which makes them useful in conversation. Everyone has a general idea of what the word "polite" means, although the word is very broad. For some, cleaning up may be more important in politeness, for others opening doors to women or giving way to the elderly. Often this word is simply adapted to the situation.
Do not do it here. Do it somewhere else
Bans that are to be a hint for a child's behavior can also be embarrassing. The behavior to which we try to discourage the child is worth replacing with another, more adequate. If you are taking your child away a possibility to do something, offer him another one. A careful parent warns "Do not wipe your hands on your pants." Okay, so what? There is also a tablecloth. "Wipe your hands on a napkin, lie on the table" is much more helpful.
Formulating appropriate, adequate for the child's ability and age, messages not only save time and avoid frustration, which in the event of a misunderstanding will affect both sides. It is also an easy way to avoid banning your child. By dressing our advice in the form of tips, and not sentences starting with "No", the child will avoid the impression that everything is wrong - but it will be able to take our advice as help and support.