Life-Long Learner

In my search for more information on brain development and technology, I came across a presentation on February 9, 2008 by Dr. Patricia Kuhl, Co-Director of the Institute of Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington. The one hour presentation is called ““>Childhood Development: Early Learning, the Brain and Society.

Dr. Kuhl gives a brief introduction of the influence of academics, business, and society on understanding brain development and early learning in the United States. She goes on to discuss research results that identify that infants have the ability to differentiate between the sounds of 6000 languages within the first 6 months of age. After 6 months, the brain then starts to hard wire in the native language and sounds that are essential for learning foreign languages begin to drop off.

One of the results that she presented was that infants do not actually learn language from audio or television. They need social interaction in order to learn. “The social brain does improve (certain) cognitive skills such as making executive functions and direction of attention.” She also mentioned research is showing that though learning becomes more challenging as we age, if we use the same principles of early learning with adults, adults will be able to learn in ways that we have not incorporated before. I believe that this supports the philosophy of learning through play and interaction as a personal investment in learning (AKA learning through doing).

Dr. Kuhl also references an article in the New York Times (Nov 26, 2006) by Paul Tough called ‘What It Takes to Make a Student’ which references the ‘No Child Left Behind’ legistation of the Bush administration and the current achievement gaps in education.

Her closing remarks included a very interesting comment: ‘50 years form now we will be judged not by the children that succeed, but rather the children who are left behind.’ A scary thought indeed.

I encourage you to take the time to watch the presentation, but if your time is limited, try the experiment that she does with the audience at 47 minutes on synchronizing sound and visual language. It is very interesting.

Have a wonderful day.

In a previous blog, I had asked a question in reference to technology and brain development. My search for answers has been a bit challenging online, but I did come across this article by Dr. Bruce Perry on Using Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom. Though I suspect that the article is from the late 90’s (he references Nintendo), Dr. Perry makes some comments about how it is important to engage and challenge children using technology that is developmentally appropriate in an interactive way. He speaks about the importance of teachers as facilitators and how parents and teachers need to look at the overall development of the child in order to select appropriate formats for that child. I think this is especially important since the majority of the brain develops between birth and age five or six. How the child is engaged and stimulated is going to affect how the brain is hardwired, creating a foundation for further learning.

Enjoy and I’ll continue to share as inspired by Dean Shareski any information that I find relevant on this topic.

Have a glorious day.

Well, the long weekend is here and the craze has hit. Between getting a garden in, visiting with family and friends (with lots of cousins for my son to play with), birthday parties, and the seeding season on the farm, I find that I’m sneaking to the computer when I think no one will notice. Last night, my sweetheart actually had to ask me to shut down three times as I tried to catch up on reading the latest posts. Apparently the midnight hour had approached and our mornings come very early.

So here I am, posting again as my son enjoys a lively chat with his stuffed animals. Thank goodness for developing imaginations. Which brings me to my question – is there research in the development of the brain around the transition of using imagination and creativity with 3-D forms to using imagination and creativity with 2-D (computer technology, video games, etc) forms. When does a child have the foundation to switch gears and conceptualize creativity in a 2-D form? I think some of the these answers would be beneficial within the realm of early/elementary education. Though I intend to look further into this question, I am going to ask all my blogging friends to think about this and send me your thoughts. If you come across some interesting information, I would greatly welcome it. As I find answers I’ll send them out.

Take care and have a fabulous long weekend.