When I was a child, most people didn´t have computers and we got our first when I was already in school. Mobile phones started to come when I was around 15 already. Now when my own firstborn is 14, she has had her own phone for seven years and is maybe better in using it than I am. My toddler can already shut down tablet after watching cartoons from it.
I didn´t have any IT skills taught during comprehensive school. When I was 19 and started in school of applied sciences, we had to learn to use email but even our teachers didn´t know how to use it. Two years ago my daughter had to study part of her fifth grade in distance education because of COVID-19 pandemic. Isn´t this a huge change in youngster’s lives? What is it going to be when my toddler is a teenager?
Digitalization in my work:
I work as a kindergarten manager in an English immersion kindergarten. I have two main viewpoints to digitalization in my work. First is data protection as a kindergarten and employer and the other is how we teach digitalization issues to the children.
General Data Protection Regulation has brough good things to people’s lives. I think it is good to have more control over their personal data, but my concern is, how well do people know their rights? I am responsible of data protection in my workplace, so I am familiar with GDPR. Still, I think most people don´t even know, where their personal information is gathered, who processes them and even what is a personal data. I have done all documents required by GDPR at my work place but until now nobody has asked anything about the issue.
The other viewpoint to digitalization in my work is how we teach the children to use digital equipment. The guidelines of national early years education states that we must introduce digital issues to the children. To do that, the staff must be familiar in using tablets, computers, and smartphones in their work. I think it is good that the digitalization has been brought to the early years education because when children start school, they start using digital equipment already on the first grade. I also think that learning by searching information online is a natural way of learning for youngsters and it is good way in motivating the children and youngsters.
Self evaluation:
I think I did well in this task. I found the videos interesting and realized, how much the world has really changed since my childhood and how much it will change even between my firstborn and second born because they have 11 years age difference. This task made me think more about the future in the digitalization point of view.
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