Journal 2, May 31

Learing By Way of The Internet

There was an interesting article that caught my eye as I browsed msnbc.com earlier today. This article title read “Toddler buys earthmover in online auction.” The reason I chose this article was because I thought it went well with all of the controversy out there in regards to children using the internet, an increasing learning tool and technology dependence. Supposedly, the mother of the toddler was using the internet earlier to bid on toys for the young child. She accidentally left the screen up and went to bed. The toddler then got on the computer and began messing around as any other child would do. In doing so, he accidentally clicked the mouse a few times and actually purchased an earthmover in New Zealand for about $12000. When checking her email the following day, the mother realized the mishap and was able to correct the situation.
Children today are very observant and eager to learn. They closely watch the adults and try to mirror their actions without knowing the appropriate time to do so or reasoning behind their actions. Internet is increasingly becoming a huge learning tool for children as well as within the technology industry. It is the root of most technology providing vital information to all types of people in various fields of study and interest. You can access essentially anything you want with a few clicks of the mouse. With that said, it is highly important to monitor your children during their interactions with the internet and similar forms of technology.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s website (http://www.naeyc.org) brings up a few good points on this topic. First, they state that seeing how children are taught their addresses, phone number, etc. at such an early age, they must also be taught when and where to provide that private information. Children browsing the internet daily and exploring new worlds are especially prone to exploiting their information on the wrong site simply because they may not be educated quiet enough to know which sites are safe and which could potentially bring harm upon them.
In the case of the toddler purchasing the earthmover, I feel the mother is obviously at fault and this is a great example of how children must be actively monitored when using the internet and other forms of new technology. Since technology changes almost everyday with bigger and brighter ideas, it is harder to educate such a young child on everything. For this reason, it is especially important to make sure they understand the basics of technology, such as the internet, to ensure they remain safe or at least as far from harm as possible. Having the proper knowledge of past and recent technology gives the child a leg up when entering the real world and given the opportunity to explore bigger and better forms of these technologies to come.

Article Used:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30885324/

Additional References:
http://www.naeyc.org/ece/1998/18.asp