Let Children’s Play (with Technology) Be Their Work in Education
To summarize, the key areas of the change nature of play as identified by Lego are:
Children are still playing in this age of technology but the type of play and results are evolving. Lego, with its introduction of the new Mindstorm, created an infographic that describes the changing pattern of kids and young peoples’ use of technology and how it is affecting their development. Of special note to educators is the section on the changing world of children at play.
To summarize, the key areas of the change nature of play as identified by Lego are:
- The future will see the creation of more diversified playful relationships due to the ease of creating an online persona and free networking sites like Tumblr and Youtube.
- Children will continue to demand more control over complex outputs. Children are creating computer games, movies, their own content.
- Visual instruction is the way of the future. Kids go to Youtube to learn. They create videos and complex stories via gaming platforms (Mindcraft, Scratch).
- The boundaries between digital and physical interaction will continue to blur. Kids are growing up with augmented reality toys and body-gesture systems.
- Customizing one’s toys and play will be an integral of child development. Creative expression via the DIY movement is rapidly growing.
- Children with share an increasingly amount of humanity with their toys and play. Technology enables children to create, navigate and perform their emotional lives.
