What age for child to own a kindle/tablet device?

bitemebankers

ringo_24601 wrote: »

I was coding my BBC Micro B at 7 or 8 years old, so I don't think my kids stand much chance of not geeking out too

Ahh, I always wanted one of those when I was a kid. We had a Texas Instruments TI99/4A instead. It had a fast processor but the BASIC interpreter was glacial.

bitemebankers

Tropez wrote: »

That's likely why "IT" was updated to "ICT" a decade ago. Communications technology is as integral a part of modern courses as information technologies.

Still, that said, tablets can still be utilised for more traditional information-related pursuits and given that they remain in relative infancy it is ill-advised to dismiss their uses in more traditional computer-related fields at this present time. They will likely evolve, just like laptops did after being viewed in a similar manner a couple of decades ago.

Still, tl;dr.

[Deleted User]

Tropez wrote: »

That's likely why "IT" was updated to "ICT" a decade ago. Communications technology is as integral a part of modern courses as information technologies.

ITC ditched the 'IT' part though. It taught kids to be admin assistants using technologies that would be quickly outdated. We lost our cutting edge when that decision was made.

I still remember chastising the head of IT (and deputy head) for his decision to buy Acorn Archimedes when he could have bought some pretty decent Windows 3.1 machines for the same money, and kids might have learnt Office rather than the tools we were taught.

Tablets are exactly the same - a technology that is 'consumer' and not business relevant. If you can't touch-type on it, you can't write code/documents/spreadsheets on it properly, and no use to learning IT. I'm sure it's a great teaching tool for other subjects though.

Tropez

bitemebankers wrote: »

Still, tl;dr.

Yet you still feel the need to comment. Odd that.

Tropez

ringo_24601 wrote: »

ITC ditched the 'IT' part though. It taught kids to be admin assistants using technologies that would be quickly outdated. We lost our cutting edge when that decision was made.

I still remember chastising the head of IT (and deputy head) for his decision to buy Acorn Archimedes when he could have bought some pretty decent Windows 3.1 machines for the same money, and kids might have learnt Office rather than the tools we were taught.

I can't really comment on the current standards of IT or ICT teaching in schools as it has been a while since I've attended school.

When I went to secondary school though (possibly, based on the systems you're talking about, a few years after you) we did focus quite heavily on using Microsoft Office, as well as communication related technologies. I'm sure budgetary constraints played into the fact we were using Windows 3.1 at a time when 95 and 98 SE was the most widely used OS. This was a nuisance to me as I was already using software more advanced than what we used at school.

The major problem we encountered is that we were taught too late, although as I had grown up using computers (I did my earlier programming using BASIC on an Amstrad 464, before upgrading to an IBM PC running MS-DOS 3.1) it didn't hold me back. Our teachers hadn't adequately kept up with technology updates either (our college lecturer denied the existence of the ZIP 250 drive).

I've found that my exposure to technology at a young age has allowed to me to keep up with the evolution, thus far at least, in comparison to my peers.

samtoby

My son has a kindle and I find it great we don't have space for books. It is a reading device its not like its a tablet for going on games or websites.

carolan78

AlexLK wrote: »

Absolutely agree with this. Furthermore, I bet these same tablet buying parents wonder why their children's written English is woeful.

My DD's written English isn't woeful thank you very much She also spends any daylight hours playing outside too.

Why are people so judgemental!

carolan78

hgotsparkle wrote: »

Young children though get very attached to devices as its something grown up, I've seen kids endlessly playing on their parents iphones and when its taken away, they scream and have no idea how to interact with other people. Yes this is probably the minority but why do children need technology? For homework yes, if thats what schools are doing now but they why can't that be done on the parents computer with supervision? Children should be children.

Children don't need technology but equally why shouldn't a child enjoy technology? They are growing up in a totally different era to us technology wise, parents need to face that fact and help their children to safely embrace it.

I'm 35 and like Tropez I had computers my first one was a commador 64, I was 7 years old when my parents bought me it second hand. From there on in I have never been without some kind of computer. I still played outside, socialized and went to various clubs.

I will never understand why people think a child that has access to technology will become some kind of couch potato recluse, or they'll end up not been able to write ect.

notanewuser

carolan78 wrote: »

Children don't need technology but equally why shouldn't a child enjoy technology? They are growing up in a totally different era to us technology wise, parents need to face that fact and help their children to safely embrace it.

I'm 35 and like Tropez I had computers my first one was a commador 64, I was 7 years old when my parents bought me it second hand. From there on in I have never been without some kind of computer. I still played outside, socialized and went to various clubs.

I will never understand why people think a child that has access to technology will become some kind of couch potato recluse, or they'll end up not been able to write ect.

Did you do that deliberately?!

FBaby

Haven't bothered to read the whole thread but am puzzled to how we got from Kindle to tablets. The basic reading kindle is just that, a different reading mean to a book. You get the same out of it.

I was one of those people who was reluctant to get a Kindle to my husband disarray as he was desperate to find something to get me for Christmas. I kept telling him that I wasn't interested, liked my books and would miss the notion of holding a good old fashion book. Then one day, I had received bad news, feeling a bit down, and thought why not, every one says it's great. The first time I used it, I didn't like it much, I couldn't get into the story as well, but I persevered. 6 months later and I LOVE my Kindle. My mother got me a book over the summer (despite telling her not to), and I ended up having to buy it again on the kindle because I wasn't enjoying it as much.

If my kids asked for a Kindle at Christmas as their main present, I would get it for them without a doubt, but that's because I think they are now responsible enough to look after them.