Tech Kiddie: The Awesome Blog for Techie Kids

Children going digital: What the studies show

2012-11-25T19:55:00.002+08:00

Today we have some interesting studies to talk about, and what this means for children and devices today. Note that this research comes from UK and the US. Of course, there will be differences in how these statistics play out in your country, but we can get some valuable information from these studies to help understand the state of children using technology today.

The first study comes from the event organizers of Gadget Show Live Christmas. They estimate that children in the UK gain access to devices as early as nine years old. Between the ages of eight to nine, they get their first cellphones, laptops, TVs, mp3 players, digital cameras and game consoles.

To put all this in perspective, children aged eight to nine years old are experiencing middle childhood. Most of us know and associate this with puberty, but this is also the time when children go through the phase called adrenarche, which affects their mental growth. At this age range, children are better able to think for themselves, and ready to understand the world in their own terms. In other words, children at this age are at about the right age to start owning these devices.

However, this study only refers to averages and we can assume that children have some access, even ownership, of devices earlier (or in some cases later) than this. If your child is not yet eight, but is already playing with your iPad or using social networks like Moshi Monsters or Club Penguin, that is not a bad thing. You will want to control those interactions so that they can learn and develop from them the best they can. Outside of that concern, if your child expresses interest in devices at a young age, you should encourage that interest but set proper limits.

Some speculation on this data is that parents are more willing to give their children devices at a young age because they demonstrate that they master these devices quickly and with great facility. I think it is actually common sense to assume children will quickly learn how to use the latest devices in their generation, in the same way that children in the 1980s were quick in learning how to use Commodore 64 and Apple ][gs computers. It should not be a concern for parents, in the same way that the earlier generation of parents should not have been worried about their children quickly learning how to use the first personal computers.

Another recent study, this time coming from US research company Nielsen, made a survey of the most sought after devices for children for the next six months. They publicly released results for children surveyed from ages six to twelve as well as ages thirteen above. Please note that the survey limitations do not specify that children prefer the iPhone 5 over the 4S, nor does it name nonphysical brands like Windows 8 or Facebook.

Overall, interest in devices is moderate and relatively spread out, with the Apple iPad being the most popular device. The iPad is sought after by 48 % of children aged six to twelve and then 12 % of children aged thirteen above. Both age groups still display a high interest in the general heading "computer", which we can sagely assume refers to both desktop and laptop computers.

In both age ranges, Apple devices like the iPad, iPod Touch, iPad mini and iPhone are the most overwhelming favorites. Interestingly enough, the Wii U also ranks very well, coming in as the 2nd most popular for ages six to twelve, and the fourth most popular for older children.

Apple does not necessarily sell their devices to children, however, they get a lot of interest from children because of the inescapability and strength of their branding. As those children get older, they become more discriminating, and that interest in devices gets spread out more.

If we're looking at new devices launched this year, the big winners are the iPad mini and the Wii U, while the Microsoft Surface (RT) and the Playstation Vita falters. All have received mixed reception, so it is worthwhile to look at each device in some detail if they are good devices for your child.

The iPad mini is the first tablet in the iPad line to come in a smaller form factor. Apple says it retains all of the iPad's functionalities in a 7.9 inch form factor. The smaller size does not make it that much cheaper, and Apple did not make it any more kid-friendly than the regular sized iPad, but for being an Apple device, it is still a premium product.

The Wii U is Nintendo's latest video game console, and the latest console to come out in six years. It has innumerable unique features, like a touchscreen controller, social network, and media streaming, but is arguably at the same technological level as current consoles. Early reception has been mixed thanks to some issues at launch, but it is still sold out.

The Microsoft Surface RT is Microsoft's first foray into the PC hardware market. Microsoft describes it as their take on tablets, and this one runs Windows on ARM architecture. The Surface also has enticing exclusives, such as extremely durable VaporMg casing and bundled Office software. However, it has seen negative critical reception and limited sales. The Surface Pro, which will have all the features of a laptop, will be launched this coming March.

Lastly, the Playstation Vita is Sony's latest portable gaming device. The Vita is brimming with high end technical specs, control options, and some good games, but suffers from steep entry costs. Unlike these other products, the Vita has been in the market for a while, and failed to sell well, at what is a bad time for Sony. In response, the company launched initiatives like Playstation Mobile and Playstation Plus.

This survey gives more proof that children are highly tech savvy. Of course, they are also oblivious to the high cost of entry for these devices, between $ 250 (Vita standalone or in a bundle) and $ 700 (64 GB Surface RT with Type Cover). Even if you have the money to buy these devices, at their current prices, you need to consider them as long term investments. When talking about buying these devices for your children, consider if they are ready to learn taking responsibility for them.

What do you think about these surveys? Do you have a child you think is ready to own one of these devices? Would you get them one of these devices, or something else? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Windows 8 and its new Family Safety features

2012-11-13T21:16:00.002+08:00

Windows 8 has come out, in OEM computers as well as the Microsoft Surface RT. It has received a mixed recption, but a lot of it is positive buzz on many things Microsoft got right and is innovating on. Windows Phone 8 has also been unveiled, with much of the same qualities and features the Windows RT OS has.

While Windows 8 is still too raw and untested to recommend, it has one noteworthy feature of interest to parents. Whether you are getting a Windows 8 phone, tablet, computer, some or all of these devices, you will get the benefit of its new Family Safety features across the board.

Windows Phone 8's safety features are simplest to explain, so we'll start with that. As ably demonstrated by Joe Belfiore, Windows' new Kid's Corner feature makes child safety in smartphone child proof, not to mention parent forgetfulness proof.

Kid's Corner was conceived in the most commonsense way. Microsoft noted how parents often share their phones to their children so that they can play games with them. Curious children might try to explore the phone, but most of the time they really only use a few select apps. You definitely don't want kids shopping around for new apps and buying them on your own.

Kid's Corner is accessible by a swipe to the left and up. Children can access it even when the phone is locked. You, the parent and phon user, get to choose what apps are accessible to your child via Kid's Corner. It is so well thought out that it makes you wonder why Microsoft or its competitors had not thought of it earlier.

For Windows 8 and Windows RT, Parental Controls have been rebuilt from the ground up, and rebranded as Family Safety. Unlike Kid's Corner, Parental Controls offers more flexibility for older children, and adds new monitoring features.

In previous versions of Windows, Parental Controls were limited to making new user accounts for children and then placing limitations on what other user accounts are able or unable to do. In this way, parents were already able to enable web filtering, limit access to programs, files and folders and even remote monitoring.

However, this approach could be inconvenient for families, as every time a child needed to download, install or access a program they needed to get their parent to use administrator accounts to do so. Not all children need to be monitored so closely, and this has surely caused problems, especially for children who bring their laptops to school. Optimizing Parental Controls often required downloading more programs as well.

In Windows 8, Microsoft takes it one step further and allows parents to monitor their children's computer activity. When you make your children their user accounts as administrator, you just have to check a tick box to indicate that it become a kid's account.

When you set a user account as a child's account, Windows will start emailing you activity reports for said child account. You are told which websites they go to, how much time they spend on the computer, which programs they use the most, et cetera. No need to constantly be at your child's shoulder anymore since you will easily get this information automatically.

The reports are intuitive and easy to understand, but more notably, have links for configurable settings built right into it. Yes, administrator accounts can make changes to user accounts remotely, thanks to Windows 8 accounts being connected online automatically. You do not even have to go to your child's computer to change Family Safety controls on it.

In this way, Microsoft wants to encourage parents to adopt a 'monitor first' policy with their children. Children are allowed to explore their computers and use it freely first. If you find that children are using their computers too much, or find other activity you want to control, you can then make changes in their accounts. Microsoft has set it up in such a way that you can afford to wait until your child makes a mistake. This is great for children too; they get the benefit of the doubt and allows them conditional freedom to use their computers.

Between Kid's Corner and Family Safety, Microsoft has established new standards for making device usage family friendly. I sincerely hope Apple, Android, Ubuntu and its many other competitors copy these features as close as they can, and Microsoft allow them to simulate them unfettered. These are fantastic new ways of thinking of and implementing parental controls, that provide both parents and children more options and convenience.

What do you think of these new parental controls? Are there other features you think tech companies should add? What issues have they yet to address? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Should you get your child NOOK Kids?

2012-10-29T20:30:00.000+08:00

Introduction

One exciting opportunity children now have with modern technology when it comes to learning is children's ebooks. Although several companies provide their own versions of this service, we will be focusing on NOOK Kids, which has become extremely popular and succesful particularly in publishing children's books online. This article will not be a review of NOOK tablets, or the NOOK ebook service in general. We will get into the differences between ebooks and real books for a little bit, but we will be talking primarily about the NOOK Kids service.

What is NOOK Kids?

NOOK Kids is a publishing platform for children's books under retailer Barnes & Noble. Originally exclusive to NOOK devices, B&N has expanded the service to work on Apple devices, Android, PC, and even the open web. NOOK Kids books use B&N's proprietary ePib format, developed by Automata. This format adds various interactive elements to ebooks appropriate to early reading levels.

As a major retailer, B&N's portfolio of books is extensive. From Diary of A Wimpy Kid, Harry Potter to Richard Scarry, you are sure to find a book that suits your child, regardless of age or reading level. B&N has signed up the big children's book publishers like HarperCollins and Random House and has access to 12,000 books.

Although B&N as adopted multiple platforms, NOOK Kids is designed to work best on NOOK tablets. Some books are only available there, and some features are also removed in certain platforms. For example, highlighting and adding bookmarks, and abilities like pinch and zoom, are available in the NOOK tablet, as well as the iPhone and Android tablet apps, but not in the web.

ePib

Use of ePib comes with a price, and that price ranges from $ 0.99 to $ 25. On average, books cost around $ 5 to $ 6, although you may find yourself paying top dollar for classics like "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", which currently retails for $ 9.99. You can get these books cheaper in stores, especially if you buy them used.

So what do you really pay for when you buy books in NOOK Kids? For one, Nook Kids allows you to make profiles, personalizing libraries and setting parental controls per child. There are also additional features exclusive to ePibs, and you really would not be able to duplicate outside Nook. Books labeled "Read To Me" will read the book aloud. "Read and Play" Books go a step further and come with small games and activities built right into the story. However, the most useful feature is "Read and Record", which allows families to record themselves telling the stories. Parents can retell stories over and over, and kids can even add their own voices in.

Unlike regular NOOK or other online bookstores, you cannot lend out ebooks in your NOOK Kids library. It also does not have rentals, or a Spotify model which would let you pay a monthly fee for instant access to several books. You can only pay full retail for these books.

Barnes & Noble does have seasonal promotions that offer great value. For example, this year they had a Summer Reading Program, which gave new purchasers of Nook Tablets free access to several summer books, including bestsellers and classics. There are also some free books along with $ 0.99 books.

eBooks versus real books

This is where we get to the crux of the matter. Choosing to use NOOK Kids is a decision between real books and ebooks. You can of course continue to buy some real books while using a NOOK Kids account, but the decision you are really making here is if it is worthwhile to use the NOOK Kids service at all.

ePibs provide real value. Some features it adds, like Slide and Find, duplicate functions kids could do on real ebooks, while others, like pinch and zoom to focus on pictures, are only available on the new platform.

Of course, it should be abundantly clear that NOOK Kids cannot duplicate certain features of real books. Pop-up books, Scratch and sniff books and sticker books are just some examples of books that cannot be duplicated on a tablet, not really. Beyond that, even if your child has become very familiar and used to reading off LED screens, they will have to be accustomed to reading on paper as well. And of course, some people have nostalgia for the act of collecting and owning books, although this experience varies.

In the end, eBooks are an entirely new entity compared to physical books. The convenience of having multiple books available from an online library will make book collecting convenient, and you can cherry pick titles you will give to your child as physical copies. There is a high possibility that you will end up buying your child's favorite books in their NOOK Kids account physically as well.

Final Word

As is the case with other new tech and media services, you should get NOOK Kids only if you can afford it. NOOK Kids is a great platform on its own, giving you reasonable access to a wide library of titles, and with many new features. However, there is nothing wrong with still buying and using real books. In fact, children also stand to learn from the experience of collecting books and building up their own libraries.

Also remember that your ownership, or your child's ownership of these ePibs, is in the same shaky legal ground that ownership of your iTunes library is in. You should think of NOOK as a service more than a product. Although you will generally have control over the books that you have purchased through NOOK Kids, remember that there is always that possibility that you will lose access or control over those books. Read the Digital Content provision under Barnes & Noble's Terms and Conditions so you have a better understanding of what you would be signing up for.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/include/terms_of_use.asp

NOOK Kids is new and has many limitations, but it is already a great service. For parents, it's worth purchasing a NOOK Tablet to access all its features, but you can opt to use other platforms you already own.

What do you think of NOOK Kids? Would you buy children's books online? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Should you get your child an iPhone 5?

2012-10-09T19:46:00.004+08:00


iPhone Girl. picture by flickr user merfam / Jason Meredith

Bear in mind that this is not a conventional review of the iPhone 5, rather, our focus here is if it is a good device for children. We won't go through all the new features the phone has, or if it's a good value at its price and compared to its competitors. There is no lack of that information on other technology sites. Now that that's been cleared up, here we go:

What's in a smartphone?

The iPhone 5 is the latest in Apple's series of smartphones. As a smartphone, it features a touch control interface, a sleek and practical design, cameras, and what amounts to a microcomputer inside a phone. More than making calls or sending text messages, smartphones can access the internet wirelessly and download applications from a proprietary store that handle practically any task you can think of. The iPhone comes with incremental and significant improvements from the iPhone 4S, including a bigger screen, a lighter build and a new custom SOC/integrated circuit called A6.

Parental controls

Every new iPhone comes with improved features every time, but when we're talking child safety, changes are subtler, but still good to note. From iOS 5 to iOS 6, parental controls are significantly improved. iOS 5 started parental restrictions, allowing you to control which apps they can install, whether they can delete software, etc. iOS 6 adds to that Guided Access, allowing you to disable certain parts of the User Interface itself, as well as Single App Mode, which keeps the phone locked into the current app so a child would not be able to move it somewhere else.

Now, here's the truth; the changes iOS 6 adds make the iPhone 5 safer for children, but it's not necessarily safe or sufficient per se. All you get to do is open or close up access to an app or a feature on the phone. If all you used were Apple's default parental controls, you had to choose between giving your child access to the web or not at all. Of course, other applications would benefit from limited, not necessarily closed controls.

A recent study reveals that Android is actually a safer OS than iOS. It gives you more things to control, and a greater degree of control over them. If you already own an Android device, you may want to consider giving you child access to that instead. If you just want to give your child an iPhone, however, there should be no reason to worry. 3rd party apps can compensate and give iOS 6 the layer of parental controls you need, as well as older iPhone models. If there's anything Apple is known for, it's having a robust App store.

Should you track your child through your phone?

Speaking of apps, one of the more popular types of child safety apps allows you to track down the phone holder and tell you where it is at all times. This feels a need for some, but I would tell most parents to think twice before acquiring it. There are debatable issues at play here, involving autonomy, safety and control. If your child spends a lot of time away from you, for whatever reason, you may want to make use of this feature. In general, I would suggest you tell your child that you have made use of the app. They will trust you better, and may even help you out.

What Sherry Turkle says about gadgets and families

Beyond these surface issues, before you go ahead and buy this device, I would once again cite the work of technology - sociology expert Sherry Turkle. As she explained in her book 'Alone Together', iPhones, tablets, computers and other high tech devices may have adverse affects to the quality, particularly duration, of your personal relationships. Even when we connect with each other via apps and social networks, we may not be making the close connections desired in a family setting.

Now, Turkle is often misinterpreted as generally being down on gadgets, but that's definitely not the case. Rather, she wants users to not just think about how devices improve our lives, but how the devices, in turn, shape our lives, change our behaviors. Do you want devices to shape your child's life from an early age? Many parents 'lend' children their devices to play games or use fun apps. It sounds like a cheap and sensible way to make use of the phone's capabilities, but is this the best approach to introducing your child to these gadgets? As parenting experts will tell you abundantly, these activities are OK for your child in moderation, and they still benefit more from being allowed to play outside and make friends with other children.

Final Considerations:

Ultimately, when deciding to buy your child an iPhone 5, age is not as important as autonomy and independence. You will have to make that call if and when your child is ready to own their own iPhone 5. Even if you don't buy it for them, you should make serious consideration of when you 'lend' your iPhone 5 to your child. What applications are you allowing them to use and how long do they get to play it? As easy and convenient as it can be, your iPhone is not a nanny.

So, with all that taken into consideration, should you get your child an iPhone 5? It is a flashy, well engineered, easy and fun to use device, so on that point alone, it's a good purchase for your child. Whether you should get one, or give it to your child to completely own, is entirely up to your discretion.

Learning Kits for Kids

2012-09-24T18:40:00.002+08:00

Gakken EX-150 denshi blocks. via flickr user Collin Mel.
Click on pic to see more.

Our cover photo above is from Gakken's EX-System electronic educational kit. These are denshi blocks, small Lego like pieces that actually had electric components in them that can be connected in a way that they would react with each other. The kit was reissued in 2002.

Learning Kits teaching children how to program have been around since the 60s. However, today's learning kits take into account better understanding of how children learn, better aesthetic and utilitarian designs, improvements in technology, and ease of access (thanks to electronic stores) to provide better learning experiences. What's most noteworthy about today's generation of learning kits is how its become so much earlier for kids to learn to create their own devices. Even if they're not old enough to be allowed to solder, they can start programming and assembling their own toys. This philosophy has also been expanded to other kinds of toys, so we'll look at a few of the learning kits available today

Littlebits

Littlebits has been featured in this blog before. Littlebits are electronic modules that connect to each other via magnets. This clever little solution provides kids the flexibility to think outside the box and enables experimentation.

Littlebits are made possible due to the sudden lowering in costs of microcontrollers, a technology that has been around since the 70s. Microcontrollers are what runs our TVs, microwaves, VCRs, etc. Each Littlebits module contains a microcontroller, offering scalable miniaturized power. Each module provides different functions, like LED lights, motors, etc., and so the potential to make practically anything is there.

Nerdkits

Nerdkits are a very similar product to Littlebits, with enough differentiation between them to be a viable alternative.

If Littlebits give you the freedom to make what you want, Nerdkits are designed to have everything you need out of the box. Nerdkits also provide complete instructions, a USB cable to connect it to the computer for programming and even a miniature LCD screen that provides feedback as you create your projects.

Nerdkits are for those who need to learn via organized structures. Although this initially seems limiting, what it really amounts to is a different teaching style, and one that may fit your child's better than the Littlebits approach. So, for example, if you find your child doesn't understand Littlebits enough to make them work, or get frustrated by them, they may prefer to take learning one step at a time, as Nerdkits will let them. Of course, both kits are flexible enough that you can adapt your child's learning experiences with them to however it best suits them.

Roominate

Roominate is a new generation of science oriented girls toys. In spite of my glowing praise for Computer Engineer Barbie a while back, there are limitations to how forward looking that toy was. Particularly, it would be beneficial to have more progressive and science oriented toys for girls.

Enter Roominate: Toys for Girls. Roominate encourages children to design rooms from scratch, but more than arranging furniture, they get to install the electrical lines. It gets exciting when they connect the rooms to each other and add in gadgets that actually use the power, like miniature fans.

Roominate makes the business of building rooms fun with brightly colored, attractive looking pieces. What makes Roominate really progressive is that boys can play it, but its clear that it was designed for girls. By virtue of a conceit what looks like the job of a homemaker actually is closer in approach to interior design, even engineering.

Little Librarian

Lastly, we come to Little Librarian. Why get your child a toy about making a library, some of you may ask. Aren't libraries going to go the way of the phone booth soon enough?

But this toy isn't about turning back the hands of time. Whether libraries are obsolescenced in the next decade or not, there's some real learning children can get from thinking about their books as not just a personal collection, but a library.

Playing librarian will make your children feel more responsible for their belongings, and also teach them to organize and take care of their things. There's also an opportunity to play with friends and family as they lend our books and even host storytime sessions.

What learning kits have you bought for your kids and would recommend? Share your favorites with us below.

How to teach parents to teach kids math

2012-09-10T20:00:00.000+08:00

Hate math? No surprise there, we’ve all been there before. However, there is no question that math is one of those essential skills in modern living, and so we all have to learn it, and so do our children.

For parents who are bad at math, having children who are also bad at math is a challenge. So maybe they inherited that from you, what can you do? Are you even qualified to teach what you yourself are not very good at? Shouldn’t you just leave this to their teachers? Isn’t that the best way to handle this?

In fact, educators nowadays advocate parents be more proactive in teaching their children math, regardless of their own skill level in it. Even if you can’t claim proficiency in the subject, as an authority figure there are ways you can influence your child’s attitudes, behaviors and ultimately their own proficiency in math.

Sue Shellenbarger recently wrote in the New York Times about how math phobic parents can teach math to their children. Let us expound on this news article so that you, the layman parent, can better understand how you can teach math to your kids, no matter what your own skill level is.

Many parents themselves have math anxiety

First things first, you shouldn’t feel alone. Many parents feel the same way about math as you do. Many are dependent on their accountants or programs to take care of a lot of the computations they depend on in daily living.

However, that many people have math anxiety does not excuse it.

Math anxiety is real phenomenon, affects even teachers

Math anxiety is not just a personal problem, it’s a social attitude people foster among each other, among many people without even knowing it. Sadly, even math teachers help spread math anxiety, although to be fair not all of them are even aware this phenomenon exists. If you told your child you know math is hard, you’ve already done the damage to them.

But no worries! You can definitely correct it.

Math myths

There are a few math myths we need to address here, so that you can address them when your child asks or demonstrates belief in them:

1 Math is a talent.

If math really were a talent, babies would know the numbers one to ten out of the womb. No, math is a skill, and like other skills, some people were proven better at learning it than others, but it’s reasonable to assume most children will learn enough of the basics of math to get them through life.

2 Math is all about logic.

Math is all about logic, versus art which is all about creativity. Except the discovery of the Archimedes principle is often held up as proof and demonstration of Archimedes’ creativity. Archimedes, who is renowned as the greatest mathematician of the ancient world.

Math appears to be about logic on the surface level, but the best mathematicians, beyond rote memory and mechanically following logical systems, understand the role of the creative impulse in the formulation of problems and finding solutions. You have to teach to your child the value of using their imagination in solving math problems.

3 Math is about getting the right answer.

Math is about getting the right answer. If you saw the answer key without meaning to, and then go back to the problem and figure out how to get to the solution, that’s good enough, right? If your teacher explains what you did wrong and you understand it all afterward, that’s all that counts, right?

The problem with this attitude is it misses the point of learning math, which is that you’re supposed to learn how to do it for yourself. If a watchmaker didn’t understand every little bit of how a watch works, if they made a mistake assembling that watch they wouldn’t know how to fix it. But their fellow watchmaker who learned it right would be able to do it. Math is about learning how to get the right answer. That way, you don’t have to depend on others to give it to you.

4 A demographic is better at math than B demographic

I’ll be charitable and not name a particular demographic, but you know what these are. Some people have biases that make them think people of a certain race, or sex, or both, or some other demographic, are better at math than they are. It gives them a reason to excuse themselves for not being good at math, and ultimately this is related to the idea that math is a talent you’re born with.

In spite of the overlap, I felt it necessary to bring it up here because it’s a terrible thing to believe, and yet kids are likely to think that way. Make sure to address biases like these in your children, and really, keep them focused on the end goal; not being one with the best grades, but knowing what you need to know.

Focus on learning to think of it as process, love to do the process

So now we get into how to actually teach your children. The idea is to put the spotlight on the steps needed to get to the solution.

In plain terms, when you ask a question like 2+1=?, you don’t pressure them into giving you the ?, you make them think about the 2, and then the 1, and then the process of adding them to get to the answer.

Like I mentioned earlier, getting the right answer takes a backseat to learning how to get it. Don’t be discouraged if they don’t get the right answers, that will come in time as they understand the concepts better. And they will reach those goalposts sooner if they like doing math.

If you’re not good at math, be forthcoming to your child about it

Now, here is a great challenge. Say they look to you for help in your math homework, but you already know you might make mistakes. Don’t tell them you’re too busy to help, because they will seek you out when they figure you are free. If you’re straightforward about this at the start, they will respect you more and you will save them the time. Have them go to their teacher for help, or if you have a neighbor or relative who can help, point your child towards them.

On the flip side, you can turn this to your advantage. You can have them teach you, and then pay them as an incentive. Sue shares a great example of a mother who had her son teach her his algebra syllabus. He had to write his answers in such a way that she would understand the process, and when he failed to do that, she made him repeat until he did it right.

Math will be more important in world your child grows up in

Of course, we all benefit from the use of math in one everyday application everyone needs to do: accounting. However, this is a relatively basic skill, and one that many people bypass completely by hiring help. An advanced knowledge in math will assist your child in ways it would not have affected you.

Math is important in high paying careers, such as finance and programming. The demand for quants in Wall Street remains high, even as Wall Street itself continues to shrink. Quants are desirable for their ability to make complex financial calculations, which are then used in assessing investment decisions. Having a quant can make the difference in the rise and fall of a business.

Programmers play a key role in the biggest growth industry of the day: technology. Getting those coveted jobs in places like Google, Microsoft and Apple won’t just get your child paid well, it will also put them in a position where they can help shape the future. And at their core, all good programmers are good mathematicians.

Math also plays a major role in creative careers, such as photography and painting, and even being a fitness trainer or crime investigator requires good math skills.

Make them think of math as a natural, ubiquitous part of daily life

Ultimately, it’s about fostering this attitude that lets them see math everywhere they go. Sue Shellenbarger has a good example: when you’re driving and the child asks: “Are we there yet?”, you try to look at the markers in the road and calculate it for them. And then you tell them how to arrive at the answer. Any questions they may have, you try to answer to the best of your ability, and if you can’t, you ask them to formulate the question to see if they can figure it out.

Subsequently, you can tell them the story of the Archimedes principle the next time you give your child a bath, and encourage them to look at patterns, and things that can be counted, or added and substracted, all around them. Fractions are an obvious topic around the kitchen.

How to learn coding

2012-08-27T20:00:00.000+08:00

iPhone and Apple IIgs programmer Lim Ding Wen, 13.
source: Wikimedia Commons

Introduction

I initially wrote an article on how children can learn coding, with different programs and online learning initiatives readily available. However, objections to the value and extent of why people should learn to code have emerged, and become a cause of debate in the coding community.

Aside from this, people have also raised concerns on the viability of coding self study. Today, I’ll try to address those issues so you have realistic goals and expectations in teaching your children coding.

Why study coding

This question surprisingly suddenly became very controversial in the coding community, stemming from the initial optimism garnered by the Code Year project. New York city mayor Michael Bloomberg surprisingly tweeted that he had signed up for the project. As Code Year’s critics point out, how could Bloomberg make use of his coding training as a mayor? After all, his job does not require programming at all. And so, the same argument is leveled as to why the general public should need to learn programming.

But I disagree. Like others have pointed out, people get more value from coding outside of work. Coding teaches people how to think about designing things a particular way. From this point of view, coding is a creative endeavor. These sentiments have been expressed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and others.

Aside from that, coding is important to learn to understand how programs work. And in this age where we depend so much on devices for our daily living, it’s important to have a rudimentary idea on how coding works, in the same way that we should learn in school that the world is round, pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference by its diameter, and World War II is the single most far reaching event in modern history.

It can also be argued that, to a certain extent, anyone can learn coding as a hobby, and make use of rudimentary coding to make simple programs and applications for personal use. This may or may not lead to a career in programming, but they would still have benefited from having learned.

Why coding self study

Now, to more practical concerns. As a response to this emerging need for more people to learn coding, several organizations have come up with initiatives to help people learn code. Some of these have been designed to encourage self study, and even incorporate ideas like gamification and social. Among these initiatives, the most prominent are Google Code University, Khan Academy and Code Year.

These courses are meant for adults, so I won't elaborate on them here. Suffice to say they represent a growing push for more people to learn to program. I muddled in each of these three a little bit, but I'm going to focus on Code Year because I've discovered something I think everyone who wants to learn to code, young or old.

The problem with self study

Unfortunately, I’ve personally run across with some problems trying to learn myself using Code Year. Like everyone else, I had that initial spark of enthusiasm reading their press releases and blog posts. We can all learn to code now! I can learn to code now, online, by myself!

When you get in, you find a lot of things set up for you to ease use. The right hand side features a console, while the left side features the lessons, given out in small increments of instructions. There are also quick and easy links to a glossary, a Q&A forum, and a scratch pad. For the first few lessons, everything seems easy and fun.

However, that spark would fizzle away the deeper I went in. There’s a mid point where the lessons become more complex, and answers are no longer self-evident. For several of these lessons, I found myself cheating and going straight to the Q&A forum. I would eventually find the answer there, but laid out for me so that I did not have to figure it out on my own. Professional programmers have likewise noted the limitations with the self-study model Code Year has implemented.

Not to oversimplify things, but even as I looked up the other self study programs implemented by other organizations, I saw that they didn’t even have the inital incitements that Code Year has. Even if you were only doing this for fun, it’d be hard to sustain interest in coding using any of these initiatives.

How to best learn coding

So I think, at least for the moment, that these self-study initiatives can be very powerful learning tools, but aren’t good enough on their own. The ideal solution, really, is to have an actual coder go through the lessons with you to cover for whatever shortcomings these lessons have.

Of course, that’s missing the point of self study programs in the first place, and many aspiring coders probably don’t know other coders. I would make a comparison to learning a language; you can study and practice on your own, but the best way to learn and remember is if you study with other people who already know, and to keep applying what you’ve learned.

To sum, since these lessons are setup online, it’s viable to find a coder who would want to help teach you online, possibly in a programming/coding forum, or you could try looking in your social networks.

How children can best learn coding

I’ve outlined the reasons why anyone should learn to code. The need to understand how coding affects the world is especially most relevant to children. However, these self-study programs come with their own challenges that affect most people, and set the bar even higher for children. So, how should children learn how to code?

My advice, outside of the websites and programs I’d recommended earlier, is to provide children a strong support system. If your child is fortunate in that you’re a programmer yourself or you know someone who can teach him or her, you should arrange for a tutorial.

I also suggest you form a class for coding study. It will be more worth the effort if more people will benefit, plus that will be a more solid support system. If you can build a class of people in the same age group, that could make it easier for the class to relate to each other, but either way is fine.

If coders aren’t directly available to teach, you should make the effort to find a mentor online. I’m not saying it’s impossible to learn on your own, but you have to avoid the situation where you’re stuck in the middle or your learning is incomplete because you did not get a single lesson right.

Beyond learning

This may not be self-evident to everyone, so to be clear: you do not want to learn how to code for code's sake. Coding is utilitarian for everyone who uses computers, so use what you've learned to build applications you can use, even simple ones.

I'm not saying you should feel obligated to make something professional. Even if you're just running a few simple macros, say, to open a reminder on a particular time, then you've already made use of what you've learned. Even if no practical uses immediately come to mind, you should have that developer mindset after learning how to code.

Unboxing LittleBits Starter Kit - Electronic Modules for Prototyping and Play

2012-08-14T18:57:00.001+08:00

When Robert Scoble posted on his G+ about littlebits, I didn't hesitate. I immediately visited the site and ordered a starter kit.

Littlebits are little electronic modules that can snap together using magnets that you can use for prototype and for play. It's the perfect kit for a geek dad and a techie kid!

The creator / founder delivered her talk on TED and I have embedded the video below for your reference if you don't believe how awesome it is.

The starter kit can be ordered online at https://community.littlebits.cc/kits. There are two options for those who want to get started: A teaser kit = 3 bits only. A starter kit = 10 bits only.

Below is the starter kit we order for $89. The shipping costs $31. I paid a total of $120 for the order. On their website, they will tell you that the kits might be delayed in shipping due to high volume of orders/requests. I was surprised though that I got a notification within days that my order has shipped! It was 7/22 that I received the email and I got the kit on 7/31 almost delivered to my doorstep via Aramex (I forgot their local counterpart).

Inside the starter kit are a set amount of bits included.

Here's the list of the bits. One of each is on the kit:

Bargraph
Button
Dimmer
LED
Power
Pressure Sensor
Pulse
RGB LED
Vibration Motor
Wire

Inside the kit, you will get an instruction leaflet on the bits included and 3 possible projects you can create from it.

These are two bits connected together: RGB LED and single LED module.

The kit includes a custom 9V battery which I think can be replaced by regular 9V Duracells in case you run out of juice.

Unlimited fun with kiddo and dad! It is an investment that you can afford to have in exchange for another option for father and kid bonding time. Plus, you are not stuck with just the bits that you have. There are other modules that you can purchase to enhance your set.

Here's one setup created by the boys: Battery + Power + Input + Output = fun!!

Would love to purchase a fan and DC motors soon for more interesting projects. One that includes wheels perhaps? :)

Are these devices age appropriate? A primer for kids to explain to their parents

2012-06-27T20:00:00.000+08:00

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Tech blogs like to refer to the latest popular gadgets as toys. Do not be fooled by the hyperbole, however. For all intents and purposes, these 'toys' are for adults. They were not made for kids in mind, with interfaces that could possible confuse them, and the pertinent possibility of content that they may be too young for. Furthermore, overexposure to them may have dire effects to your child’s growth and development. Overall, your child’s interaction with these devices should be in a controlled environment. There are many other aspects of this topic that we may cover in future articles, but for now, we will consider the general question of how we should introduce this current generation of efficient, mobile, highly sophisticated and intuitive devices to our children.

I know that it's tempting to acquiesce every time your kid wants to borrow your phone to play their favorite game. Some days it can be too hard to persuade them to stop, and there will be times where you might lose your better judgment. However, as their parents, you have to do the conscientious thinking for them.

So, about these 'toys for the big boys,' how do we know if they are safe for kids or not?

First things first, you can look at general consumer information. You have the benefit of having consumer watchdog groups at your side. There are organizations like the Consumer Electronics Association, the EEA with their CE marking, the World Wide Web Consortium, etc. inspecting these devices and their contents for you well in advance so that you can be assured of a certain degree of default safety and quality for all these gadgets before they even go to market.

Subsequently, the product manufacturers themselves also provide warranties and safety warnings with their products. These are all for your guidance, so take the time to read through them to find out the ideal conditions they should be used in. Often, people do not actually fully understand the safety concerns the devices they use daily warrant, and are likely to misinterpret this information when it’s presented to them.

For example, although TV and computer screens go through this default safety certification process, most people are unaware that they emit low levels of radiation. In the past, people would panic at the thought of these radiation waves affecting them, but you should be aware now that we are constantly bombarded by the same degree of radiation from the earth, as well as from cosmic rays. Radiation comes from the most ubiquitous and unavoidable things, like cell phones, power lines, even light bulbs!

The American consumer watchdog the Environment Protection Agency has come forward and stated that there remains no evidence that radiation from TV poses a risk, regardless of long or short term exposure. Both the EPA and the EEA make sure consumer products do not emit dangerously high amounts of radiation, and truth be told, television screens today emit radiation at such negligible levels that they aren’t even measurable.

Of course, this does not mean TVs are absolutely safe. General TV usage may be safe, but there are documented instances where television programs have caused adverse effects among viewers. The most noteworthy and misunderstood example of this is the now legendary 38th episode of Pokemon, Computer Program Porygon. The part that commonly gets retold is that kids watching the episode complained about a variety of symptoms, such as dizziness, headaches, nausea and blurred visions. Some did experience convulsions and even loss of consciousness leading to being brought to the hospital. The most extreme cases of these turned out to come from kids suffering from photosensitive epilepsy, a severely debilitating but rare condition. However, most of the children, as well as their families, were affected by mass hysteria and did not really suffer any long term consequences.

And this is where you need to strike the balance between being overly cautious and looking out for your child’s safety. To a certain degree, you can best make your own judgments on how these gadgets would affect your own child, based on what you know about your children, as well as what you experience from using your own devices.

This may surprise some people, but when it comes to starting children to using devices, age is not as important as autonomy and responsibility. As soon as your child is self aware and is able to safely maneuver and use a device on their own, the sooner you can give them a device of their own.

Whether your children share device time with you or have devices of their own, they should learn to use devices slowly and surely. Start them out with short, controlled interactions, and slowly allow them to use devices more and more. Eventually, they should be allowed to decide how long or short they use these devices on their own, but you do not want them to have grown up dependent on them.

Ultimately, remember that when you were at their age, you had to handle many of the tasks these devices did on your own. We will not go back to the times when we were dependent on letters for long term communication, or when we needed to minimize spelling errors in front of the teletype, but certain ‘tasks’ and experiences can never be replaced by their digital equivalents, and your children should learn to handle these on their own. Making friends is not a matter of approving friend requests from other people as much as it is making constant, intimate connections with them. Playing a football game at home, even if you have a motion control system such as Kinect, remains a poor substitute for actually playing football outside the house.

The Raw Mind Museum Video Experience

2012-04-24T19:00:00.000+08:00

I am sure the last article we made where we reviewed the Mind Museum and gave instructions on how to get there is still fresh on your minds. (If not, you can read it here.) What we had not mentioned at that time pending approval from the Mind Museum staff was that we actually took some handicam videos of the place as well. Although by no means definitive coverage, we hope you can simulate the raw feeling of being in the museum itself.

Unfortunately, we ran out of storage space in the middle of doing so, and so we were not able to cover all the areas of the Museum properly. Consider the following a small video preview, that should give you an idea of what to look forward to on your visit.

Since I took these videos by hand, there will be parts where the video lacks lighting or gets blurry. These are unavoidable because of the way these videos were taken, but I apologize in advance if it's not as good as would have been hoped.

I also provided in-video commentary, explaining each exhibit as I went through the area. I sincerely hope you enjoy these videos, and again, do not hesitate to share feedback.

VIDEO 1: FRACTAL ART EXHIBIT

As a short appetizer, here's the fractal art set exhibit. The fractal appears on a relatively large video screen. Using the two joysticks in front, you can adjust your view of the fractal at your leisure. One stick moves the fractal in different directions (up, down, left or right) and the other increases or decreases magnification.

As entertaining as this little exhibit is, it only hints at the mathematics behind fractals. Casual museum goers would remember this as a curious exhibit and may never find out who Benoît Mandelbrot is or the relevance of fractals in daily lives. The small caption displays that come with each exhibit is not enough. You would need some knowledge of what fractals are to optimize the educational value of this exhibit.

The same can be said of pretty much most of the exhibits in the museum. You will not really learn that much more if you did not know about the science behind it, even if just a little bit. You will see me acknowledge which exhibits I did not understand myself in the following videos. To be fair, however, this is not so much a criticism of the Museum exhibits as it is inherent in the idea of a science museum itself. More on this later.

VIDEO 2: EARTH UNIVERSE

Coming from the Story of The Earth Gallery (giant T-Rex not that far away) I go through the Universe Creator into the Story of The Universe Gallery. I then made my way through a Mars Rover, an astronaut suit, a mockup for the phases of the moon, a projected timeline of how the earth is formed, a globe, another mockup showing the planetary orbits, which is sadly, static. I saw the entrance to the planetarium, which was sadly crowded outside, and so I made my way to the Lightbridge, full of exhibits all about the different properties of light.

The Lightbridge had a diagram exhibiting the different kinds of waves, and a slinky being used to demonstrate the properties of a wave. Moving forward, you could see that some exhibits and diagrams were cleverly incorporated into the bridge itself. The last exhibit I focus on before making my way down apparently demonstrates invisible rays. As I mention in the video, the lights at the bottom are visible under the camera but not when you see it with you own eyes.

I have a few things to say regarding the Universe Creator entrance following this video.

For the Universe Creator, We had to walk though a short tunnel via a metal bridge, while lights (glowing through cloth) and sounds overwhelm us. I see in hindsight that the video I took cannot really capture the disorienting sensations this walkway makes. See, what the video does not capture is the shaking, the feeling that your body is being turned 90 to 180 degrees to the side when you are really only moving forward. You may have noticed the kids shouting from the unpleasantness of the experience. Proper precautions are placed in front of the tunnel, but my recommendation is to save this part of the museum for last, if you plan to go through at all. You can, of course, go the other way first to see the other Universe Creator exhibits and not have to use the tunnel at all.

VIDEO 3: FROM THE LIGHT BRIDGE TO THE ATOM EXHIBIT

The next video shows me at the opposite end of the Lightbridge, which brings me to The Story of The Atom Gallery. I do not understand the first exhibit I see, the Lightwriter Pendulux, but apparently the different motions of the pendulum created the light display that you see next to it. I pass by the Shadowbox to look at an exhibit called Frequencies. In it, we see the actual sound waves made manifest by tubes filled with sand of differing amounts. At this point, I run across some incomplete exhibits and point out that most of the facility is in operation anyway, so it's not a deal breaker, although it could be disappointing. I run across a giant five-ball pendulum, and then look at a wall exhibit showing what common household objects have which elements. This is followed by a video display of the periodic table of elements, and a projected view of what I believe are chromosomes. I enter a small polyhedronic playroom, where you can put balls and pegs together to make molecular formulas. I step outside to see a mockup of a whirlpool and what appear to be a few more displays and half-finished exhibits. I cut off the video here to a close up of that infamous giant fly on top of the floating chocolate bar mockup.

VIDEO 4: THE TECHNOLOGY EXHIBIT

Finally, I take video on the way going up to the 2nd floor. This is where I run out of storage space but manage to take in a lot of the exhibits from the elevator going up. I walk up to a mockup printing press, then a giant tablet/smartphone mockup, some faux cars, a wall display introducing the ideas that link math, nature and art with beauty. I note that the Mind Museum houses some genuine arcade machines, but take a few seconds to look at the virtual harp first. The arcade games they have include PercussionFreaks, Battle Gear 2, a MAME machine, and a Kinect copycat. I move on to an astrolabe, and a billiards mockup. I try to hit a ball one handed with my umbrella, but fail to do so. They have an actual baggage x-ray machine (for you to see what happens on the other side) and a small play area filled with same-shaped, different-sized blocks. I walk my way to a CO2/Malampaya project exhibit, a touch display emulating the Hubble, another tablet exhibit, and finally run into robot mascot MiMo. On the other side they have a game of sorts where you can arrange mirrors to reflect light from one end to the other. I explain that light flash Morse code was used this way in prisons like Sing Sing, although the code actually saw its most use during WW II. Anyway, I move on and note the free-form exhibit with mockups of various sea, air and land transportation, and finally, abruptly end my tour with a look at a spinning jenny.

For those curious, next to the spinning jenny was a hand drawn seed drill, a device used to plant seeds in precise place. The seed drill in Mind Museum was setup so that when you moved it, little LEDs would light up where you presumably dropped your seeds. This section full of old technology was at the far end of the escalator, and IMHO was well placed there.

HOW TO REALLY USE SCIENCE MUSEUMS TO LEARN

Writing for Interaksyon.com, Tad Ermitaño has some sobering words distinguishing between "doing science and presenting science". In his own words,

"...the exhibits that are most effective are built to communicate a flash of nonverbal insight in under ten, — maybe under five — seconds".

Whether we like it or not, it is a certainty that certain exhibits will be more popular and get more attention than others. As a parent or educator, you may as well forget about going into lecture mode. And why even bother? The Mind Museum is meant to be experienced and discovered.

To sum, I think the best way to learn from the Mind Museum (and any of the other science museums in Manila) is to drop the pretense of going there to learn in the first place. Go for the shallow, immediate experience... and at that point find something to cling on to, to light that spark that makes one want to do science. Let that certain something be the start of your journey.

Mind Museum: Getting There plus a Short Review

2012-03-22T14:59:00.005+08:00

The author with his benefactor at the Mind Museum entrance

I was fortunate enough to get an early look at The Mind Museum thanks to a friend of my sister’s, herself an employee of Ayala Land, Inc. (one of the companies behind this project).

Mind Museum is found in the heart of Bonifacio Global City, a short walk away from St. Luke’s Medical Center. In fact, if you went to Morning Mercato Saturday or Sunday, you could just walk your way down to the Mind Museum later that day.

The view from outside. The author's sister and some tree repairmen

also in shot

However, the facility is booked a month in advance, so if you live far and you don't need to go there immediately, I recommend waiting a few months.

T-Rex display.

Mind Museum brings me back to the days of the old Ripley’s museum in Shang Ri-La. Even if you’re not particularly techie minded or nerdy, it’s an overwhelming sensory overload that's hard to resist. You really won't think you're learning anything as you check out and play with all the different exhibits on hand.

I also want to commend the Mind Museum for bringing a lot of local color to their presentation. In the vestibule going into the main floor they have a section dedicated to Filipino scientists. Similarly relevant exhibits are littered throughout the museum. This addition makes me feel hopeful and is to be commended. I do have concerns about it being a video presentation. More on that below.

The Filipino Scientists exhibit. Make sure you see this when you go there.

These are my concerns with the Mind Museum as it is now. Some exhibits are not clear or easy to understand on their own, with some lacking descriptive captions or having the captions placed in inconspicuous areas. Also, technical issues abound. There was a short outage in part of the facility when I was there and some exhibits do say that they are a work in progress. While not deal breakers in any way, you might as well know that the place is not perfect.

I also see a few practical limitations. Mainly, there is simply no way you can fully grasp everything in the Mind Museum in one trip. It will take you less than two hours to go through the whole facility, but you might as well forget trying to squeeze every little piece of learning you can in there. Of course, if you can afford it, it's all the more reason to want to take return trips to the facility.

One of many video screens people are just passing by

For those exhibits that have or depend on short video presentations, it’s hard to be patient enough to sit through one of those when the large scale exhibits and interactive sections are far more stimulating. Also, the videos aren't really loud enough to grab attention. This is understandable in that you would want to avoid people getting distracted by them, but I think the video exhibits need to be thought out again.

Giant human brain. Now we're talking! :D

In my mind, it’s the giant Human Mind exhibit and not the T-Rex which is the highlight of all the large scale exhibits. The T-Rex skeleton is a tourist attraction for sure, BUT a closer look will let you know it’s not up to scale and the bones are not very accurate. I take particular offense at the bottom rib bones bound up together like a book spine. The brain, however, it’s big and it's impressive. All the main parts are identified and labeled and you can walk through the two lobes. It's certainly eye catching and the sort of thing that can grab your imagination. It's representative of the best the Mind Museum has to offer and what you can expect to find there.

Overall, I don't have to convince you to go to the Mind Museum. There have been more than enough press releases and blog posts about it. If you're reading this, you're probably already convinced you want to go, or at least curious enough to find it. Here's a map showing where it is in relation to St. Luke's/ S&R.

If you are bringing a car, you'll be happy to know that parking around the area is plentiful. There's an open lot at the left side and parking areas in the entrance and back of the building. Here's another map showing the parking lots.

You can also commute to the Mind Museum. For those not in the know, there is a bus route that goes through Bonifacio Global City, with pickups at Market Market and Fort Bus Terminal, beside Ayala MRT station. I've embedded the maps below for easy reference. Bear in mind that the bus will only drop you off at specified stops, so check the maps for the most convenient way.

West Route

BGC Central

East Route

You can get directions on how to go to Fort Bonifacio (Global City) itself here and more information on the Global City bus routes here.

Use Exercise to make your Tech Kiddies smarter

2012-03-19T09:30:00.000+08:00

Robert Barker, aka Bakadesuyo has shared some interesting insights from John Medina's new book Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School. He provides one freebie that you can use now to make your child smarter.

Exercise Makes Our Brains Better

Simply put, exercise makes our brains perform better. Experiments showed that people who exercise improve their capacities for long term memory, reasoning, attention, problem solving and other tasks. In plain English, they improve abilities that will make them perform better in school and at work.

Proof: It Works For Kids, Too

2010 Evers Ding

Other research shows that this is just as true for kids as adults. Studies categorized children in terms of physical fitness (on a treadmill), put them through a series of cognitive tests and then scanned their brains. They confirmed that the children who performed better at the treadmill also did better at tests and appeared to have more highly developed brains. Other tests also show improved scores in sedentary kids taking similar tests after they start even the most basic aerobic activities. It should be noted that it is currently aerobic exercise that has been proven to increase brain function.

What Exercises Should Your Tech Kiddie Get Into?

How does this affect you and your tech kiddie? Simply put, your kid will be smarter and perform better in school if they do aerobic exercises. This covers wide a range of activities including running, skipping rope, swimming, cycling, etc. Walking is aerobic activity. Additionally, research shows that dancing video games, such as Dance Dance Revolution, are also good as aerobic exercise.

Table Tennis: The Best Brain Sport?

2007 Jasper Fields, Flickr

Surprisingly, Dr. Daniel Amen, in his book Making A Good Brain Great, claims that Table tennis is the best brain sport. It provides aerobic exercise, improves hand eye coordination, uses both your upper and lower body and makes you use different areas of your brain.

So, is your tech kiddie also a sporty kiddie? What kinds of sports are you getting him or her into? Share your stories and thoughts.

Piper - Featured TechKiddie

2012-03-17T07:55:00.002+08:00

Meet our featured Tech Kiddie of the week - Piper!

Piper is a 2 years and 4 month-old girl living in Quezon City, Philippines with her mom - Ethel and dad - Alvan.

Piper taking photos

What is your techkiddie tinkering with right now?

"Samsung Galaxy Y"

Why does she like or love playing with the new gadget?

"Probably because it is the most responsive device to her little fingers so far, that plus it has a good number of functions."

Your Proud Parent Moment!

"Let me give you two.

One was when my daughter was able to use the laptop touchpad, something I consider harder than using the attached mouse. Today she handles it like a pro."

This is her "work space."

"The second would be the way she handles the camera on the Android smartphone. She requested that she take the picture one day, I said yes... and she was able to pull off a rather decent shot."

Piper's very first shots with the camera phone below.

What rules do you have at home on using gadgets?

"At this point not any really, although I will try to monitor how long she uses devices (particularly media) in the future. At this point she gets bored quickly enough with any device."

Piper taking photos

What are your thoughts on schools using web and mobile technologies to teach kids?

"No problem with how often and would love to see it more. How it would be used in a way that will enhance learning though is the thing to scrutinize. Schools can be lazy about that."

Do you want to feature your techie kid? Do you have a proud parent moment too?

Share it with us and get featured!

Learning programming to tap your Tech Kiddie's imagination

2012-03-12T09:30:00.000+08:00

Famed Studio Ghibli head animator and director Hayao Miyazaki has often said that he dislikes modern technology, including gadgets like the iPad. He may seem stiff and old fashioned, but I think we need to put these statements in proper context. To quote him from an interview three years ago:

Young people are surrounded by virtual things. They lack real experience of life and lose their imaginations. source

To a certain degree, I think Miyazaki has a point. If your kids borrow and use your gadgets, it's probably to play games or watch their favorite music videos. A lot of those activities do not amount to anything more than consumption.

But, I disagree with Miyazaki in assuming that all they can do is make children 'lose their imaginations.' On the contrary, gadgets can be great creative outlets. Taking photos, making music, and making doodles are some of the great things kids can make that can spark their creativity. However, if you want to jump start that creativity into developing high level skills they can use later in life, your techie kid should learn programming.

Do not fret about a steep learning curve or boring knowledge base, programming doesn't have to be all that. Here are a few suggested applications (actually, programming environments) that will help your child get started in the world of programming.

Scratch

Developed by the MIT and boasting a predominantly below eighteen-year-old user base, Scratch is a programming language that caters to children. Instead of having to learn jargon from the ground up, users form logical sentences to input commands on a cheery and colorful GUI. Aside from it's easy to learn but highly flexible interface, Scratch credits much of its success to allowing users to personalize their work, as well as to remix and reuse other people's Scratch projects into new ones. As such, Scratch creations are all made under Creative Commons licenses.

Storytelling Alice

A Carnegie Mellon University project, Alice is a 3D programming environment, much like Scratch, designed to interest children with its ease of use based on forming logical sentences. A variant called Storytelling Alice, created by Caitlin Kelleher for her doctoral degree, is even better at doing this than the original. Storytelling Alice focuses on a particular application - telling stories using Alice's ability to create 3D animation. You might think this is a minor change, but it's been proven to engage more children - particularly young women - into the world of programming. Therefore, for those parents blessed to be raising techie girls, Storytelling Alice is an ideal starting point.

KidsRuby

KidsRuby uses a different approach from Scratch! and Storytelling Alice in teaching children how to program. KidsRuby actually runs the programming language Ruby in the process of teaching you how to use it. What makes KidsRuby child-friendly is that it provides dual screens for you to see what you wrote in and what that code would output. KidsRuby also allows you to play with Turtle graphics, and will work with Hackety Hack and Gosu, other tools that will help your child learn Ruby.

Truth be told, Ruby (as well as its most common application framework, Ruby on Rails) is hard to master. If your child ever was going to become a programmer later in life, learning the basics of Ruby early on will give them the edge they need.

App Inventor

Initiated by Google and now maintained by MIT, App Inventor will allow you to make Android Apps without any knowledge of programming. Using either an Android emulator or device, you will be able to test your app real time even while you are developing it, and you can produce an installable standalone application once it's completed.

App Inventor was not designed with children in mind, so it might not be as kid-friendly as others in this list. However, it still uses an easy to understand GUI, and you will be able to make real apps that will run on Android devices. This might be the ultimate programming app your techie kid has been looking for.

All these programming environments are open source and will work on Windows, Mac or Linux.

Are your techie kids learning to program now? What else would you recommend? If you are using one of the above mentioned applications now, feel free to share your experiences here as well.

Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center Preview

2012-03-05T19:00:00.000+08:00

I was fortunate to accompany this blog's webmaster Fleire Castro, her husband Mark and son David, to a trip to the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center.

The center promotes itself as the first interactive science theme park in the country, although I would not call it the first educational theme park here. I have fond childhood memories of the old Ripley's Believe it or Not! Odditorium in Shangri-La Ortigas myself, and of course other amusement parks have educational sections in them in the past. Given the recent launch of the Mind Museum, it seemed interesting to take a look at what this facility has going for it now.

AT THE ENTRANCE

TechKiddie webmaster Fleire Castro and her darling son David at the entrance to the Science Discovery Center

Not really sure if this is a genuine spacesuit, a practice suit (they made many that never went to space) or just a replica

Mark and David putting in the tickets to enter Discovery Center

Unfortunately, it seems we were only able to experience part of the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center since we only did a walk-in. The facility was apparently made for fully guided tours. A lot of the amazing things in the tour were not explained to us when we were there, and honestly, I found out more about when I looked them up after the tour. We were able to see most of the facilities, and reviews of each section will be provided below.

The first two things we run across at the entrance are the AR reality game and the Gravitram

Augmented reality game at the entrance. Moving your shadows close to the insects makes them move away. Contrary to expectations, you can't kill the insects. Instead, you can move food that keeps getting generated to bring them to a certain spot.

Gravitram up close

Gravitrams are kinetic ball rolling structures that have balls going across cold wires shaped like tubes. It all looks like a giant pinball machine gone awry. Watch a gravitram in action here.

What makes the Gravitram at SDC unique is as the ball falls down the hole at the bottom, it takes forever to fall. If you want to know how that looks and why it happens that way, you'll have to go there yourself :)

SMART MEDIA CITY

The Smart Media City section is the first real section, or 'gallery', we see. It's full of educational games set up in small PC and tablet mockups. I think I would have had more fun with them if I had the time to play, but we caught up to the place just before closing hours. On the surface, it looked like their PC games were of the graphic adventure genre.

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Yes, they had the Windows classic series of 'games', Microsoft Flight Simulator. It was worth trying out for a little while. They had chairs and the cockpit set up conveniently so that you could try flying your plane yourself. Of course, this can't be expected to be that authentic a simulation, but considering this was for kids, that was OK.

The author (clearly) faking enthusiasm

TRANSPORTATION NATION

Transportation Nation really wasn't much of an exhibit. All they promised to offer on the site was a Segway, a Wheel Surf and a Shell Vintage car. To make things worse, the Shell car wasn't even there! I do hope the car is only going through restoration, and that it hasn't been compromised by being on exhibit or anything.

For all its worth, the Segway.

For all those who don't know what this is, the Segway is a two wheeled self-transportation vehicle from 2001 that was supposed to revolutionize the way we moved around. Eventually, safety concerns and prohibitive costs kept it from catching on, but it enjoys limited use in tourism. Fleire's family were actually able to ride a similar device near SM Mall of Asia earlier in the day.

And here's the Wheelsurf, a brand of modern day monowheel.

Here's a picture of an earlier monowheel, dating 1933.

Anime fans may recognize the monowheel from the movie Steamboy:

Like the Segway, the monowheel is a hobbyist toy more than anything else, but unlike the Segway, it is non-proprietary and reinventions of it keep propping up. The latest of these is the McLean V8 Drag Wheel, which was just created last year.

When you're done looking at the vehicles, try to keep an eye out for these. They are Pag-Asa's weather monitoring equipment. Yes, the same equipment placed in high risk areas. It's a shame that once again, not being in a tour meant no one was going to explain this for us.

GROSSOLOGY

Grossology is a faux arcade setup, where each arcade game is educational in nature and free to play. They also have this gross theme going on with all the games. Again, nothing that special, but enjoyable for a little while. There are no pictures but they also had this giant Grossology quiz game.

Mark and David bonding moment

This game, which resemble coin luck machines in arcades IMHO, release different sounds and smells when you press the buttons. You can actually put your hand in one of the openings at the side to smell the thing you heard.

Giant sized Operation!

This little shadow game pictured below is called Fear Factoids. We found this at the very end of Grossology, near the planitarium. The blurb at the bottom explains giant cat's fight-or-flight response system, while you try to keep the fruits falling from the tree away from the cat so that he or she does not get scared.

If the cat gets hit with too much fruit, it's gonna come after you! The science being explained here might go over your child's head while playing this, so make sure to explain it to them.

DIGISTAR PLANETARIUM


The Castro family and the author

Finally, we got to the highlight of our visit: the Digistar Planetarium, and the feature presentation, Ultimate Universe, directed by Mike Murray. We were not allowed to take photos or video of the film although we have photos of the facility itself. We have little experience in it locally before this, but fulldome format film has been around for a little while now, mostly in the service of presenting short cinematic educational features. As best as I can tell, we were watching single projector film.

We didn't have good pictures of the actual spherical dome the film was projected on, but this video should give you an idea of what it looks like.

The film itself was an overview of galaxies, planets and celestial bodies. Each cosmic event was explained as we saw it in rich detail. If your kid is a fan of astrology, they will get a kick out of this show. Bear in mind that planetarium features are changed every hour, so you'll want to pick which movie you want to see carefully.

After watching our little movie, we went up to the second floor to see the rest of the exhibits. Sadly, we don't seem to have good pictures of Spaceship Earth, but it's basically a hollow mockup of the planet, with a polar bear/ ice caps game/educational segment inside.

VIRTUAL REEF

The Virtual Reef might interest you; it's a mockup of what the coral reefs look like up close. If the pictures seem too dark, that's only because of the contrast between the darkness within the room and the small lit diorama displays surrounding it.

Mr. T

Mr. T is a little interactive segment at the end of the reef. This talking fish will answer any questions you ask him, but it's a guy with a microphone hiding at the back of an animated thing.

ROBOT CITY

Now, my favorite part, Robot City!

Astroboy

The Maestro. This musical robot was supposed to play music for us, but its fingers didn't raise up even as the programmed song started playing. I guess we were supposed to play along, but it didn't look it would when we tried.

You know what this is

Robot (Model B9) from late '60s sci fi TV opera Lost in Space. His kid brother Robby was also there.

Robot's bro Robby The Robot, who's appeared in numerous media, starting with 1956 film Forbidden Planet

Robo-Test. On display but under repair

Another really glaring bad spot in the exhibit. This setup would allow us to move the robots around using joysticks, but it was broke when we were there.

At least the joysticks look nice.

CITY SCIENCE

This is one of many dioramas, this one I believe in the City Science section demonstration different forms of energy sources. This is another one of those things that might not grab your child's attention that well, but they're very nice so it would be a shame if they missed it.

City Science also has an earthquake simulator, allowing you to simulate the feeling of an earthquake while a deadpan narrator explains everything going on. Grownups, you could have fun with this.

This is the earthquake simulator narrator. She's got composure.


The author gets nauseous easily.

The final stop, and one I found jarring, was a fully functional Xbox Kinect, apparently for the kids to cool off after a rough day of learning. I honestly was not impressed by this, but maybe your children will enjoy it if they try it.

Overall, I was not fully satisfied with my experience, but I could still recommend this to parents of young kids, from toddlers to middle childhood. I do not think adolescents will enjoy this tour very much, so be mindful of how old your child is before you bring them here.

As I had mentioned earlier, the center has a lot of interesting things in it, and you can always do a walk-in when you're in the area, but it seems the best way to experience this would be to get a guided tour, that usually lasts two hours. Walk-in rates are PH P 330 per head. Scheduled tours require a minimun 40 heads, but the price would then go down to PH P 250 each. They also offer birthday party packages, with the lowest starting at PH P 18,010 for 50 heads on a weekday. Whether you take a tour or walk-in, the fee is inclusive of one planetarium show.

I also recommend you set aside a few hours so that you can take your time seeing everything, and hopefully, have other people in it with you. I don't think you have to be there first thing in the morning, but they're open 10 AM to 8 PM so it won't be waiting for you at night. If you can set a day aside to go straight there after lunch, I think that would be best.

Regarding discounts: Nestle or SM may occasionally run a discount, but it's hard to get information on them. Unfortunately, the site itself does not seem to update on what promos are available. Do bring an SM Advantage card if you or a friend has one for a discount.

Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center is found in Southside Entertainment Mall, part of SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City. Fortunately, the Mall of Asia website has an easy to navigate flash map. Go to 'View All Store Name' Option at the very bottom right of the map and choose 'Science Discovery Center'.

You can check out Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center's website here and go to their Facebook page here.

Fun YouTube Channels for Techie Kids

2012-02-27T09:30:00.000+08:00

I had previously written about using YouTube to find educational videos. Of course, you can also use YouTube to watch videos on science, math, and technology just for fun. Here are a few standout YouTube channels that will pique your tech kiddie's curiosity and make them beg to learn more.

Vi Hart



Vi Hart describes herself as a mathemusician and an educator, made most famous for her Doodling in Math Class videos. Although that is her most popular series, all her videos dawdle unabashedly in the world of recreational mathematics. Whether your kid loves or hates studying the higher maths, this channel comes highly recommended as a new of looking at numbers.

Minute Physics



Minute Physics seems to be on a roll lately, as their Theory of Everything intro video is a featured video and is making the rounds on the internet. The title is pretty much self explanatory. Much like Vihart, Minute Physics' videos do not necessarily follow a set lesson plan or school curriculum. Rather, they are geared towards showing how science is interesting in itself.

Dinosaur News Center



Dinosaur News Center is a genuinely unique channel, even in this collection of science oriented channels. As implied, it's dedicated to sharing the latest news on dinosaurs, such as newly discovered dinosaurs, on site digs, the latest published theories, as well as coverage of dinosaurs on other media like movies, TV shows and video games.

Dinosaur News Center host Illiteratedino also uploads his videos on Blip.TV, and has recently launched his blog, Dinosaur Couch, for news, interviews and features that would otherwise not be covered on his videos.

Plastic Pals



Plastic Pals offers a seemingly endless number of videos featuring robots and robotics. What I like about Plastic Pals is that it keeps up to date with the latest in robotics technology. It's fun just watching robots do their thing, and if you go to their blog, they go into even more detail into individual robots and the technologies that run them. Plastic Pals videos can also be seen on Vimeo.

DigInfo TV



DigInfo is an online news outlet, providing coverage on the latest gadgets and technology from Japan. If Plastic Pals will tell you about the latest in robotics, DigInfo runs the whole gamut of technology, from automobiles, 3D, augmented reality, gaming, to the latest research projects and industrial tech, to the most commonplace and quirky ideas.

Of course, this is by no means meant to be a definitive list. New YouTube channels are made everyday, and some of those will be making great new videos about robots, physics, math and other geeky pursuits. Does your Tech Kiddie have any favorite YouTube videos or channels of their own? Share them here!

Evo - Featured TechKiddie

2012-02-14T09:00:00.000+08:00

Good morning guys! Meet our featured Tech Kiddie of the week - Evo!

Evo is a 3 year and 2 months boy living in Manila, Philippines with his parents - Darlene and Chuck.

What is your techkiddie tinkering with right now?

A new gadget - an Android phone.

Why does he like or love playing with the new gadget?

"He loves to play the games he himself chose - from airplanes, helicopters, motorbikes, racing, thomas and friends, puzzles. He was using the phone once when I noticed he's just staring at it. When I asked him what's wrong, he said none. He's just downloading something. I hurriedly checked the phone and he really was downloading. I asked him how he did it, and there - he turned on the wifi and navigated through the android market and selected an app of he likes - Bike Mania. After that, we told him not to do it anymore. So far he complies."

Your Proud Parent Moment!

"Evo played games for pre-school at Fisher Price website. I told him to select games for toddlers. The next thing I knew, he's playing a memory game already and his best time was 12 seconds. We didn't teach him how to play the game. He just figured it out himself. He also knows which engine is hiding under the suds when playing Thomas and Friends Engine Wash even without revealing it."

What rules do you have at home on using gadgets?

"No specific rules. We are using it as a reward. But often, he uses it after school and during weekends. No worries because some of the games and apps are educational."

Do you want to feature your techie kid? Do you have a proud parent moment too?

Share it with us and get featured!

HOW TO: Prevent Kids from Buying Paid Apps on Android

2012-02-13T13:46:00.000+08:00

One of our techkiddie mommy mentioned that his kid has been buying paid apps on their Android phone without her knowledge. Well, here's a great guide on how to prevent kids from buying paid apps on Android from the Mobile Indian site.

Step 1

Start up your device and locate the Android Market application icon. The icon is placed within the application menu, from where you can access it. In most devices the Marketplace icon is placed right on the home screen itself. Open that or press the market icon on your device to enter the application.

Step 2

While accessing the application store, make sure you are connected to the internet through data connection (GPRS) or though WiFi. Let the application open up.

View article on The Mobile Indian

HOW TO: Find Educational Videos for Your Techie Kid on YouTube

2012-02-11T15:31:00.000+08:00

It’s easy for YouTube's subtle changes to go under your radar if you do not pay enough attention.
One of the greatest changes they have made is making a dedicated section for educational videos.

Regardless of age or education level, it’s considerably easier to find content for kiddies of all ages. This ranges from preschool material to full college courses.

Step by Step

From the YouTube homepage, click Browse (next to the search bar).

Choose Education, 4th from the grey row.

From here, you can click on All Categories and choose between K12, Primary and Secondary Education, Lifelong Learning.

Or, you can browse down to see these displayed as separate categories, as well as others such as University, Math, Science, etc.

Other Youtube Tips

Your options in saving those YouTube videos for easy retrieval are endless. The easiest way is to bookmark these videos into their own folder. However, if you have a YouTube account, you can favorite these videos, place them in the Watch Later queue, or best of all, save them into their own playlist. Using your YouTube account will give you easy access to these videos even if you are not at your computer. Making a YouTube playlist will give you the freedom to organize what order they will play automatically.

If you already have a teaching plan, you can of course simply copy the URLs into a document to open again and play when ready. Again, for those more tech knowledgeable, you can prepare a lesson slideshow via Slideshare and embed the appropriate YouTube video into it. Finally, although it’s not officially enabled by YouTube in all countries, you can download these videos. Learning how to download YouTube videos is beyond the scope of this article.

YouTube and Online Learning

These adaptations to YouTube have farreaching effects to techie kids and homeschoolers. You have access to an entire school curriculum online. Not only does it save you the trouble of making study materials from scratch, it’s easy to access for anyone who would need to audit or review the study materials you used to educate your child. And of course, s/he would be able to watch those videos again and again anytime they want. Memorizing will become a matter of repetition, and you can focus on understanding key concepts.

Of course, this does not make YouTube your child’s school teacher, anymore than it would be your child’s babysitter. Review the videos you plan to use and set a schedule for them to watch them. You have the prerogative to make your child’s lessons around a certain set of YouTube videos, or have them augment your own teaching plan.

Do not hesitate to let your child see the University videos. S/he may just be looking around for future careers, or s/he might be ambitious enough to try studying. Just bear in mind the only remaining barrier to entry, which would be his/her learning ability.

What do you think?

How would you plan to use these videos to educate your child? Would you recommend this to others? Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Gavz - Featured TechKiddie

2012-02-03T09:02:00.000+08:00

Mae is college classmate in MSU-IIT. We've been working on several projects together as a team. At one time, we had this multimedia project where we presented something about Kalimulan. Those were the days when we had to do work overnight to be able to present something at school!

Being IT graduates that we are, I was not surprised to know that her son Gavz is a techkiddie. (: We met Gavz here in Cebu when he was still about 2 years old. Let's get to know Gavz more!

Meet Gavz, our featured techkiddie.

Gavz is a 3 year old boy living in Iligan with his Mommy Mae and grandparents.

What is your techkiddie tinkering with right now?

Thomas Train toy

Why does he like or love playing with the Thomas train toy?

"He first noticed Thomas train while browsing alphabet videos on Youtube. Since then, he has been requesting me to buy him one. I am not sure why he likes the train. I just noticed he just want to watch Thomas running around the rails and making the cho choo sound."

Your Proud Parent Moment!

"I was so proud of my techkiddie when I was working on my laptop and I left him playing his iPad 2. And the next minute, I heard the voice of my father. When I look over what he was doing, he was already talking his granddad using Skype app. I was really amazed how user-friendly iPad 2 is. He uses the iPad not only for Skyping and playing games, but also for learning his ABCs and counting 123s. "

What rules do you have at home on using gadgets?

He is only allowed to use iPad every other day. If he is looking for it, I tried to make some diversion like playing with him and his car toys and going to the mall.

Do you want to feature your techie kid? Do you have a proud parent moment too?

Share it with us and get featured!

10 Signs That Your Kid is a Techie (Not a Checklist!)

2012-02-01T08:40:00.001+08:00

source: stockvault

Warning: Please do not treat this as a checklist to judge your kid by. These are factors that may make your child more inclined towards tech if they are present in his/her life. Here are signs that your kid is a techie.

1. S/he shows signs of technology addiction.

This is not necessarily a positive sign, of course, but it's a fairly reliable indicator. If your child spends a lot of time watching TV, playing video games, using the computer, or all of the above, it means s/he has become facile with technology enough to be addicted to it. Beyond that, however, what other signs are there? The following are also signs that your child may have a higher intelligence.

2. S/he is a fast learner.

If you can leave your child by himself or herself, and she can figure out how to solve problems or handle situations on their own, then s/he can figure out how to use gadgets on their own. Furthermore, it makes it more likely that they would like playing with and using gadgets themselves.

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3. S/he has interests in different fields, such as music, arts, reading and writing, cooking, etc.

This might puzzle some viewers. How does an interest in music/drawing/writing etc peg your child to be a techie? Well, the idea is that some children are genetically wired with the temperament that makes it easier for them to learn skills. If they show a higher interest in learning a certain skill, than they are malleable to learning the skills needed to handle technology.

Note that I was careful not to call it a talent, because this is such a loaded and misunderstood word. A talent for music does not translate to someone being a great musician. That talent needs to be nurtured and developed by long deliberate practice to become great. This also applies to techie kids, of course; if you give them the freedom and the opportunities to learn how to use technology early on, they will get much better at it as time passes by.

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4. S/he is emotionally secure

This may not seem that relevant, but it is. Kids with high self esteem will not worry about what other kids think when they indulge themselves in 'nerdy' techie endeavors. They will be open minded enough to understand why other kids do not like what they do, and will happily do their own thing. Of course, this does not protect them from being bullied or just feeling different, and you need to be on guard for that, but overall they should be confident enough to play with nontechie friends. If they have problems with sociability or self-esteem, they have to be handled appropriately, but overall emotionally secure children are more likely to follow through in their interests.

5. S/he has parents or other family members in tech who can enable their interest

May people in the realm of technology, such as Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, and countless others benefited from having had relatives who were also in technology. More than inspiration, these relatives helped them get their first exposures and big breaks into the field.

6. S/he wants to know how things work.

Many of us take it for granted when we grow up, but truth be told, many of us do not know how our computers or tablets work. Most of us would not understand heads or tails of the parts of a stopwatch. Most of us have probably forgotten how batteries connect circuits, even if we made night lights that ran on potatoes as children. It’s that kind of curiosity that you find in a techie kid early on, and that is the quality that you want to nurture in them.

7. S/he likes building things.

Now, this is not a trait found in all techie kids, but it’s definitely something that can set them up in several different fields. Of course, it’s easy to imagine that if they play with brick toys, they would want to grow up to be engineers. However, builders are just as likely to become programmers or artists.

8. S/he can be left to his/her own devices (so to speak).

A techie kid is not easily bored, if you give him/her something engaging. And yes, you could give them an iPad, or leave them in front of a computer, but they could be just as interested with a notepad, paper and scissors, a (toy) musical instrument, a RC toy, a die cast car, a kite, etc.

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9. S/he has a boundless curiosity of the world beyond what he sees.

If your child will sit down to listen to a story about pirates or Roman gods, or keeps asking you questions about how many countries there are in the world and what languages each country has and things like that, it reflects a desire to learn more about the world beyond them. This is a great characteristic! It means your child is also capable of seeing the bigger picture.

10. They tell or show you they are techies on their own.

At the end of the day, you can see for yourself if your child has an inclination towards tech, gadgets and science. Some of them will even tell you themselves.

If these signs are not present in your child's life and you want him/her to get more into technology, you can take the initiative to bring them in. You can introduce them to people who are in the tech industry, and nurture skills that would be useful to them as techies later. Of course, you also need to set reasonable limits to their exposure to gadgets, and let them explore nontechie activities (sports, social play) as well. Whatever you do, make sure to keep their happiness and well-being in mind. Do you want to feature your techie kid?

Do you have a proud parent moment of a tech kiddie?

Click here to get featured!

Featured TechKiddie: Jacob A.

2012-01-26T09:50:00.000+08:00

When I saw Ms. Aloha's post on Facebook, I knew that I had to invite her to feature her techie kid here at our site. We are inviting parents to feature their kids and their proud parent moment.

Ms. Aloha was my multimedia teacher back in college. Her kiddo is definitely as techie as she is. Thanks for sharing it with us Nanay Aloha!

Meet Jacob, our first featured techkiddie.

The Amazing Techie

Jacob is 3 years and 2 months old and lives in Niigata, Japan with his parents and his little sister.

What is your techkiddie tinkering with right now?

A new game.

Name of the New Game?

Clown Around, Cut the Rope among many others that he plays in his phone.

Your Proud Parent Moment!

"Out of the blue he demonstrated to me and his Tatay how to play Clown Around, a logic game app for iPhone. We were amazed how good he was; he knew when to cut the chains, which barrel to shoot the clowns and how to orchestrate his moves to win."

"We are so proud, he has already unlocked all the levels that is to be unlocked. He did this without us teaching him; he just tinkers away on his own the games in his phone."

Do you want to feature your techie kid? Do you have a proud parent moment too?

Share it with us and get featured!

Five Cool Gadgets for Techie Kids

2012-01-24T09:00:00.000+08:00

There are several considerations you need to make when buying gadgets for techie kids. Although gadgets like iPhones and PSPs look like they are ideal for kids because of their size, the truth is they are designed for adults and so use interfaces and have content that would either bore or frustrate them. Plus, they are pricey and easy to break (A notable exception to this are Nintendo consoles, which have been designed childproof, but again, these may not always be age appropriate).

Thankfully, toymakers today realize that kids learn about our high level of technology early on, and have designed gadgets that will cost parents less, teach kids more and keep them happier longer. These have been picked out from the many different brands and kinds of toys available, so do not be surprised if one of your favorites is not found here.

Boggle Flash

Boggle Flash is an innovative new version of the classic word game Boggle by Hasbro. Traditionally, Boggle uses 16 dice with different letters in it, that you arrange to form words for points.

Boggle Flash replaces those dice with small LCD tiles that change letters. When connected side by side, the tiles will recognize and indicate when you've actually formed words. Boggle Flash is a great new way to play an old classic.

Leapster Explorer

Leapfrog is a brand name for several educational devices catered to young children. They have rapidly produced several sprite-based video game consoles that play educational games, with constant upgrades, emphasizing child-safe usability and increasing features.

Among their products, I would recommend the Leapster Explorer, which features games, e-books, apps and even an attachment that turns it into a camera.

National Geographic 50mm Telescope

Telescopes are one of those toys that kids really want to get but parents cannot afford. Most toy telescopes are unhappy inferior facsimiles. National Geographic's 50mm Telescope is a reasonable copy of a real telescope, externally and internally, and great at getting them started peering into the planets, without having to pay full price.

Please note that National Geographic also has 30mm telescopes that sell for less, but will not be good enough for looking up. If you want your child to learn astronomy in earnest, do not settle for less than 50mm.

Paper Jamz

Paper Jamz are toy versions of musical instruments such as guitars, drums, turntables, amplifiers and even microphones. As the name implies, they are made of mostly cardboard and are battery operated. More importantly, they simulate the sound and experience of the real thing to an astounding degree.

At a fraction of the price of kid sized musical instruments, or musical video game accessories (Rock Band guitars do not run cheap), your kids can start playing music early with these genuine musical wonders.

Computer Engineer Barbie

Not technically a gadget, but I had to include this as a role model for girls AND boys. Famously announced as her 126th career, Computer Engineer Barbie reflects contemporary geek-friendly sensibilities and appropriately, accessories include a cellphone, Bluetooth headset, and laptop with appropriate travel bag.

Although some people complain why it took this long, I think its appropriate that it was now, when gadgets and the internet had pushed geekery into the forefront, that we got a Barbie that reflected these current trends.

Your Thoughts?

These are only some of many great gadgets to get for techie kids. What other toys would you recommend? If you are a kid, what do you think of these and what gadgets do you actually own? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. All copyrights and trademarks owned by respective owners.

Kids Expect Robots to Be Like Genuine Companions

2012-01-18T09:46:00.000+08:00

Imagine a scene where your kid reads aloud a short story to a robot. The bell rings for playtime and she tags along the robot to the playground where it motivates her to aim the ball and shoot.

Expecting robots to respond to them in a human-like ways? That is what Latitude published in their study ROBOTS @ SCHOOL in collaboration with LEGO® Learning Institute & Project Synthesis.

The kids were presented with the question - What if robots were a part of your everyday life – at school and beyond?

Quoted from the study:

"From our recent work with children, we know that young people instinctively expect technology to respond to them in very human-like ways—to motivate and empower them, often serving as a sort of companion, rather than merely a tool for solving specific problems. In this way, our study isn’t about robots, per se; it’s about something much bigger. Robots are a useful proxy for understanding kids’ social, creative and learning aspirations in ways that might be more illuminating than if we engaged them directly on such issues. Robots allow kids to project their weaknesses, strengths and ambitions. Of course, they’re also the embodiment of AI, helping us understand generally how we might want to interact with a whole new breed of machine intelligence in the future."

7 Tips on Balanced Technology Usage for "Digital" Kids

2012-01-16T19:06:00.000+08:00

Did your tech kiddie receive new gadgets during the holiday season? If your kid has been enjoying that new phone or new tablet, make sure to read through tips given by Sylvan Learning on having balance for kids using technology.

Here are seven tips you can use as basis:

1. Your rules rule. Have clear guidelines for kids to follow.

2. Set time limits. A good rule of thumb for teens is two hours of screen time per day, including schoolwork.

3. Set place limits. Ban electronic screens at dinnertime, for example.

4. Schoolwork comes first. Study and chores come before socializing and games.

5. Stress privacy. Explain to your children why you won't permit them to give out personal information about themselves or their family, to meet with strangers they've "met" online, or to spend money online. Just be realistic and firm.

6. Stress common sense. It is good sense not to allow downloading or uploading -- music, movies, or photos for instance -- without your permission.

7. Be a role model. You're a role model in everything you do and say as a parent, including using technology.

Read full story at MarketWatch