Yes.
I knew I couldn’t be the first one to capture this, but the following video might be one of the first to capture a one year-old (dark hair) teaching a two year-old (blond) how to use the iPhone/iPod Touch photography feature. You’ll notice the blond watching the younger, dark haired child scroll, double tap, and drag pictures around the simple touch screen. By the end of the video the blond tries applying the skills she’s learned, only to conflict with the other user.
I suppose what intrigues me so was witnessing a one year-old, who just learned to walk and has limited verbal skills, use an expensive piece of technology. If nothing else, this and other videos available on You Tube (this video is private, sorry) demonstrate how intuitive Apple’s touch screen is. However, the other videos I’ve viewed only demonstrate a child interacting with the iPhone/iPod Touch alone or with their parents. In this video we witness a child learning from another child.
I’m not well read on how children learn from each other, but after witnessing this teachable moment, I’m intrigued. Children often mimic what others say or do. As an experience educator, I have witnessed students teaching other students how to use technology quite often. Inevitably this same situation would occur when I would take our class to the computer lab to create PowerPoint, PhotoStories, or MovieMaker products. One student might ask another how they were able to create an effect or they would simply watch and mirror what a neighbor has done.
Confident teachers who are cognizant of this, welcome the student leader and use them to help the class. Not only does this recognize their strengths, but it increases their self-esteem and confidence at the same time helping the class progress.
It also reminds me of a TED Talk I watched recently. During Sugata Mitra’s 2007 presentation, “Can kids teach themselves?“, he places automated, internet kiosks in various towns around India where students haven’t surfed the internet before. He found that without English language skills, inexperience with technology, and only using trial and error or peer teaching techniques, students learned to surf the web effectively. Through his “hole in the wall” experiments, his hidden videos found that students picked up basic English (typically web browsing words) and began teaching each other in groups.
The other day my principal called me down explaining how she wanted to do something on our district portal, but didn’t know how. After she finished explaining the ideal, she asked if I knew how to make that happen. I simply replied, “Not yet, but if I can borrow your computer, I can try.” My curiosity, the challenge of the task, and my background of experience using a variety of user interfaces helped me to reason through the process. A few minutes later I explained to her how I had accomplished the idea she voiced. “I don’t understand how, Josh. You just get it!” she exclaimed.
Honestly, I’m just like the blond. I’ve had experience with technology since my extreme youth. I watch and learn, try…fail…try…fail…try…succeed, and consider how other pieces of technology I’ve used might help me reason through the current problem. Maybe that’s all you need?
