Are you a creator of technology or consumer of technology? It is natural that there are more consumers than creators. However, every country needs substantial number of creators to be able to progress and compete globally. Therefore, it important to equip kids with the habit of creating technology rather than just using it. It’s difficult, almost impossible, to be a kid in today’s world without being exposed to a huge amount of multimedia content. Many kids starting at a young age spend hours in front of a screen viewing digital content online. Notwithstanding, engaging with gadgets does not have to be a passive exercise. Believe it or not, technology is here to stay and with almost everything revolving around, it will only make sense to embrace it to create and innovate.
When your kids want to be an expert in playing video games will you support him wholeheartedly? A small minority of new age parents may support their kids in such a pursuit. Then again, if your kids want to create a new video game and start learning computer programming; parents have the tendency to motivate and support such goal. Why so? We inherently respect technology creators rather than consumers and we aspire to be parents of such creators.
All kids are natural-born-creators. For instance, learning toys can give kids the power to be adventurous and imaginative and urge them to become creators. Learning devices for kids can help not only engage meaningfully with technology, but be active creators of it. Kids need to be able to explore technology in playful and innovative ways. There are many games, apps, and toys out there that are helping to foster curiosity and imagination. Take open-ended sandbox games like Minecraft, for instance. There are apparently unlimited possibilities to what kids can build using geometric shapes in this hugely popular video games. It requires thinking and reasoning, strategy and spatial awareness. In the same way that kids find a whole world of possibilities when playing in the tangible world, they can too in a digital space through Minecraft. The game has been referred to as a positive toy for creativity and self-expression. As popularly said, Curiosity is the mother of invention. Kids are naturally curious. We should avoid curbing their curiosity. Always encourage them even when they ask apparently silly questions. They look silly to us because we already have a certain boundary in our thinking and hence we cannot think differently.
We have mechanisms in our daily life that can inspire us to consume technology. However, we need technology creators to take the civilization forward. As it is, we are short of natural motivators for technology in our daily life. Parents, guardians as well as schools have to take up this responsibility. If we lay the right kind of foundation in basics of technology and create an enabling environment that foster creativity and innovation, we can hope for next generation technology creators emerging in our country.