"What we all hope for our children's education is undiminished curiosity and creativeness, and solid practical preparation for adult work. Today, there's no doubt that easy access to computers is vital for students. Bob Johnstone has brilliantly and passionately told the story of the worldwide struggle to make today's equivalent of the pencil accessible to all students." -Victor K. McElheny, author of "Watson and DNA" If every kid had a laptop computer, what would difference would it make to their learning? And to their prospects? Today, these are questions that all parents, teachers, school administrators, and politicians must ask themselves. Bob Johnstone provides a definitive answer to the conundrum of computers in the classroom. His conclusion: we owe it to our kids to educate them in the medium of their time. In this book he tells the extraordinary story of the world's first laptop school. How daring educators at an independent girls' school in Melbourne, Australia, empowered their students by making laptops mandatory. And how they solved all the obstacles to laptop learning, including teacher training. Their example spread to thousands of other schools worldwide. Especially in America, where it inspired the largest educational technology initiative in US history-the State of Maine issuing laptops to every seventh-grader in its public school system. This lively, intriguing, anecdote-rich account is based on hundreds of interviews. In it, you'll meet the visionary leaders, inspirational principals, heroic teachers, and their endlessly-surprising students who showed what computers in the classroom are really for.
A hands-on, application-based introduction to machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) that guides young readers through creating compelling AI-powered games and applications using the Scratch programming language. Machine learning (also known as ML) is one of the building blocks of AI, or artificial intelligence. AI is based on the idea that computers can learn on their own, with your help. Machine Learning for Kids will introduce you to machine learning, painlessly. With this book and its free, Scratch-based, award-winning companion website, you'll see how easy it is to add machine learning to your own projects. You don't even need to know how to code! As you work through the book you'll discover how machine learning systems can be taught to recognize text, images, numbers, and sounds, and how to train your models to improve their accuracy. You'll turn your models into fun computer games and apps, and see what happens when they get confused by bad data. You'll build 13 projects step-by-step from the ground up, including: • Rock, Paper, Scissors game that recognizes your hand shapes • An app that recommends movies based on other movies that you like • A computer character that reacts to insults and compliments • An interactive virtual assistant (like Siri or Alexa) that obeys commands • An AI version of Pac-Man, with a smart character that knows how to avoid ghosts NOTE: This book includes a Scratch tutorial for beginners, and step-by-step instructions for every project. Ages 12+
"What we all hope for our children's education is undiminished curiosity and creativeness, and solid practical preparation for adult work. Today, there's no doubt that easy access to computers is vital for students. Bob Johnstone has brilliantly and passionately told the story of the worldwide struggle to make today's equivalent of the pencil accessible to all students." -Victor K. McElheny, author of "Watson and DNA" If every kid had a laptop computer, what would difference would it make to their learning? And to their prospects? Today, these are questions that all parents, teachers, school administrators, and politicians must ask themselves. Bob Johnstone provides a definitive answer to the conundrum of computers in the classroom. His conclusion: we owe it to our kids to educate them in the medium of their time. In this book he tells the extraordinary story of the world's first laptop school. How daring educators at an independent girls' school in Melbourne, Australia, empowered their students by making laptops mandatory. And how they solved all the obstacles to laptop learning, including teacher training. Their example spread to thousands of other schools worldwide. Especially in America, where it inspired the largest educational technology initiative in US history-the State of Maine issuing laptops to every seventh-grader in its public school system. This lively, intriguing, anecdote-rich account is based on hundreds of interviews. In it, you'll meet the visionary leaders, inspirational principals, heroic teachers, and their endlessly-surprising students who showed what computers in the classroom are really for.
Drawing from hundreds of school visits, studies, and expert interviews, the authors have concluded that the rush to use computers in schools has led to one of the most expensive and least helpful revolutions in the history of American education, robbing children of education in music and the arts.
Computers are everywhere. Even a smartphone is a mini computer. With digital technologies so prevalent in today's world, it's important for young learners to know how they work. This book introduces kids to the design and function of the hardware and networks that digitally connect us. Utilizing colorful infographics and simple language, this book discusses the history of the first computers, different types of computers, and the important parts that make a computer run. It makes learning about computers easy for young readers, and it will inspire your budding engineers.
As today's children proceed through school and eventually into the job force, they will be required to have technology skills. Parents know that as they prepare their children for a successful future, they will increasingly need to help their children build a strong foundation in technology. Whether a techie or a tech newbie, teaching young children the technology skills they will need throughout their lives can seem like a daunting task for any parent-but it no longer has to be that way. ISTE author Holly Poteete has adapted her popular computer lab book into lessons and activities for parents to use either as a supplement to school computer lessons or in a more formal home environment.
There's no escaping the fact that we are heading towards a tech-dominated future. It is, therefore, of great importance that your child is able to follow the times. This educational book features the basics of computers. Here, your child will learn about the computer parts and what their uses are. Grab a copy today!
In this comprehensive, practical, and unsettling look at computers in children's lives, Jane M. Healy, Ph.D., questions whether computers are really helping or harming children's development. Once a bedazzled enthusiast of educational computing but now a troubled skeptic, Dr. Healy examines the advantages and drawbacks of computer use for kids at home and school, exploring its effects on children's health, creativity, brain development, and social and emotional growth. Today, the Federal Government allocates scarce educational funding to wire every classroom to the Internet, software companies churn out "educational" computer programs even for preschoolers, and school administrators cut funding and space for books, the arts, and physical education to make room for new computer hardware. It is past the time to address these issues. Many parents and even some educators have been sold on the idea that computer literacy is as important as reading and math. Those who haven't hopped on the techno bandwagon are left wondering whether they are shortchanging their children's education or their students' futures. Few people stop to consider that computers, used incorrectly, may do far more harm than good. New technologies can be valuable educational tools when used in age-appropriate ways by properly trained teachers. But too often schools budget insufficiently for teacher training and technical support. Likewise, studies suggest that few parents know how to properly assist children's computer learning; much computer time at home may be wasted time, drawing children away from other developmentally important activities such as reading, hobbies, or creative play. Moreover, Dr. Healy finds that much so-called learning software is more "edutainment" than educational, teaching students more about impulsively pointing and clicking for some trivial goal than about how to think, to communicate, to imagine, or to solve problems. Some software, used without careful supervision, may also have the potential to interrupt a child's internal motivation to learn. Failure to Connect is the first book to link children's technology use to important new findings about stages of child development and brain maturation, which are clearly explained throughout. It illustrates, through dozens of concrete examples and guidelines, how computers can be used successfully with children of different age groups as supplements to classroom curricula, as research tools, or in family projects. Dr. Healy issues strong warnings, however, against too early computer use, recommending little or no exposure before age seven, when the brain is primed to take on more abstract challenges. She also lists resources for reliable reviews of child-oriented software, suggests questions parents should ask when their children are using computers in school, and discusses when and how to manage computer use at home. Finally, she offers a thoughtful look at the question of which skills today's children will really need for success in a technological future -- and how they may best acquire them. Based on years of research into learning and hundreds of hours of interviews and observations with school administrators, teachers, parents, and students, Failure to Connect is a timely and eye-opening examination of the central questions we must confront as technology increasingly influences the way we educate our children.
From coding languages and hardware to cyberbullying and gaming, this comprehensive homework helper for kids and parents covers the essentials of computer science. This unique visual study guide examines the technical aspects of computers, such as how they function, the latest digital devices and software, and how the Internet works. It also builds the confidence of parents and kids when facing challenges such as staying safe online, digital etiquette, and how to navigate the potential pitfalls of social media. Jargon-free language helps to explain difficult and potentially dread-inducing homework such as hacking, "big data" and malware, while colorful graphics help makes learning about the world of computer science exciting. Whether at home or school, this clear and helpful guide to computer science is the tool you need to be able to support students with confidence. Series Overview: DK's bestselling Help Your Kids With series contains crystal-clear visual breakdowns of important subjects. Simple graphics and jargon-free text are key to making this series a user-friendly resource for frustrated parents who want to help their children get the most out of school.
