Parents as Technology Partners
-
Click the link "Resources for Parents" or click here for web sites to empower you to be a cyber-safe-home!
We are partners! Together, we should educate our children how to harness the power of technology. It is our responsibility to keep our children safe and to teach them how to keep themselves safe.
The more you "play" with technology, the more you will understand. Exposure to computers in any form (ie. desktops, Chromebooks, iPads...) will increase confidence, but we need to insure the environment in which they experiment is as safe from unwanted material as can be. Knowing where to set up the main computer in the house, learning how to customize the user accounts for each child and knowing how to monitor computer usage is important for parents to know. It sets the stage for independent use of technology and builds confidence.
We can't know everything. Sometimes, our children know more about the computer than we do. How did they learn what they know? Most of the time, it was by accident. They aren't afraid to click a button to see what happens. That kind of risk taking is crucial for learning. If we are too afraid of trying something for fear that we will "break it," we are missing the chance to learn from our mistakes. Mistakes are good! It helps to develop problem solving strategies. If something didn't work, what else can I try? Modeling how we deal with mistakes and problem solve is sometimes the best form of teaching we can do.