4 year old describes the Cloud; Middle School Computer Lessons

I came home from work today and my 4-year-old son was going on and on about “The Cloud”. His grandmother said he had been talking about it all day and she had no idea what he was talking about.

I asked him “Can you tell Nanny exactly what the Cloud is?” He said  “When you download it on one iPod it is on all your iPods”

He is exactly right. I had downloaded some things on my school iPad and they appeared on the iPad he was using at home. I explained the cloud once to him, but didn’t think he was really listening. He is a “Digital Native”, meaning that this type of technology has been around since he was born, he knows nothing else. So, he is way more technologically inclined than his 50 something grandmother. To him “The Cloud” is just another cool thing about the Ipad that he knows about. To her is shrouded in mystery, and something that she may not fully understand.

As teachers we need to understand the kids in our rooms have grown up with Google, Ipods and the like. For us, these are things that came about fairly recently in our lives. They have an entirely different way of looking at technology. We have to consider this when we attempt to “teach” them in any class, especially a Computer or technology class.

Feel free to comment, I would like to hear your thoughts.

For more ideas about teaching technology check out www.middleschoolcomputerlessons.com