Interactivity #2

 

Who needs a babysitter when you have television?

In the reading, A Social History of Media and Technology in Schools, Grace talks about her grandmother and mother, and how media and technology has developed within schools over the past two centuries. After reading i began to think how her mothers and grandmothers were her care taker. It made me think of my own experiences with babysitting and how dramatically it has changed in just a few years. I remember being 15 when i first began babysitting. I would spend the night helping them with their homework, feeding, bathing, and playing with them. It was only ten years ago when they would be begging for one more board game or 2 more hours out side! Just the other day I babysat a boy I've known since he was four. When he was four he loved to draw, color, and use his imagination to pretend he was in space. Now he is almost eight and all he did that night was watch movies play video games and browse his ipad. All i thought that night was, "what is an eight year old doing with his own ipad?" After two hours of being there I was even bored! It made me wonder what i was even there for? My purpose for being there is of course for his care and safety. But i was no longer his source of entertainment or interaction. Technology is playing such a big role in education but it makes you think about its role in the house hold as well.