Serving as the epilogue of his book, 'Building BrainPower: Turning Grey Matter into Gold', Dilip Mukerjea writes:
"Technology shapes the evolving mind. Today's children are exhibiting amazing electronic precocity. Computers have become ubiquitous in their lives. This does have some benefits, one of them being faster reaction times to visual stimuli.
Yet, there is much evidence that demonstrates how computer "learning" of young children is far less brain building than spontaneous play, indoor and outdoor games with older children and adults, adventure trips, and activities such as hide-and-seek, tree climbing, or catch-me-if-you-can.
The growing proliferation of educational software does not guarantee quality in quantity. There is alarming evidence of over ninety percent of such software being brain-numbing, not brain building, crafted solely for the gratification of the software creator.
What is worse, some of the most popular "educational" software may even be damaging to creativity, attention and motivation.
The American essayist and poet of the mid-19th century, Thoreau, was prescient in his warning that if we aren't careful, we could all become the "tools of our tools".
Most successful toddler-to-teen technologies are the offspring of innovators that did not grow up with computers; what they had in abundance were rich, fertile imaginations, raw material for incessant creativity.
Today's children have an attention span that ranges from eight to twelve seconds. In order to retain focus, they seek constant novelty. Our brains are malleable masses of protoplasm. New technologies are altering societies by altering our mental skills and the brain's synaptic structure of people using them.
Rapid-blast television and computer displays have largely replaced sustained attention to verbal input, such as reading and listening, with faster-paced visual stimuli. This has created a severe imbalance, and many "screenager" are barely able to complete a sentence articulately, or perform simple mental arithmetic.
The media has much to offer beyond mere techno-stimulation. Today's children still need close adult mentoring and educational projects that offer values reflective of mental, physical, and spiritual harmony. Technology can be a worthwhile partner in this venture.
Moral:
Children never stop learning, but they're not always learning what we think they're learning, despite their link with technology.
Check:
Does the software stimulate imagination? Does it encourage original thinking? Is there a gender bias? Both male and female characters should be portrayed as active problem solvers. And is the software connecting well with the quiet intelligence of the child's thoughts?"
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