Posts Tagged ‘“Stuart J. Murphy”’

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A Puppy Named Pickle

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

by Stuart J. Murphy

On happier, healthier, more confident children, being inspired by children, imaginary dogs, fancy doghouses, map games and the wonderful Pre-K class at Snyder-Girotti Elementary!

What would you name your puppy if he happened to be green? “Why he looks just like a pickle!” said Emma’s grandfather. So Pickle he became.

Pickle is Emma’s oldest friend. When she was very little and just learning how to walk, Pickle was right there, wagging his tail, cheering her on. When they moved to See-and-Learn City, he stayed by her side, helping her unpack and settle into their new room. My story, “Emma’s Friendwich,” is about how they learn to make new friends. After a while, Emma had lots of friends. Pickle did, too.

In “Freda Plans a Picnic,” Pickle get to tag along with Emma and play with Percy and Ajay, some of her schoolmates from Ready Set Pre-K.  They even bring him a special treat!

These are two of the first books in the I See I Learn ® series (Charlesbridge). Each book focuses on a different skill—for example, how to make a friend, or planning and sequencing— which are important not only for school, but as life skills. “For happier, healthier, more confident children” is our tagline, and our mission.

ON PETS, PROPS, GRANDCHILDREN & INSPIRATION

Children (and I count myself among them) love to read about pets and make up stories about pets. This past summer, our two granddaughters, Maddie and Camille, took pet storytelling to a whole new level. They really really want a dog, and had even picked out a name: Clementine!

Camille and Maddie and Clemetine's dog house

One day, Maddie and Camille saw me unpack a large dehumidifier. Maddie immediately asked, “Can I have the box, Grandpa? It would make a nice house for Clementine.” A few days later, the house had windows with a window box for flowers, a door and a sign over the door that read “Clementine.” The walls were painted beautiful colors and there was a mailbox on the side.

Over the next few weeks, Clementine received mail almost every day. She had letters from neighborhood dogs telling her how they couldn’t wait to meet her. She even received a postcard from a dog on vacation. There was also an invitation to a doggy birthday party! Maybe one day the tale of Clementine will become a book.

I get most of my story ideas from children. While watching one of my grandson Jack’s baseball games, I noticed some younger children nearby trying to learn how to throw a ball. That’s how I got the idea to write “Good Job, Ajay!,” a story about a boy who learns about confidence as he tries and tries again to throw a ball well.

Children also like to read about playing—at the beach, at school, at the park—anywhere!. It is really important, though, that they learn how to play safely, so no one gets hurt accidentally. That’s why I wrote “Percy Plays It Safe.”

VISUAL LEARNING

Each of the first four titles in the I See I Learn ® series focuses on different learning domain—Social, Emotional, Health and Safety and Cognitive— but they all use visual learning strategies to help teach specific skills. Most of the young children for whom the books are intended are pre-readers, but they are accomplished visual learners.

I have spent my entire career working in the field of visual learning and education, studying how information is effectively conveyed and received using charts, graphs, models, and pictures. The visual learning strategies used in I See I Learn™ include symbolic icons, picture diagrams, visual sequences, and graphic models. Each book also includes a special two-page section at the end of the story called “A Closer Look,” which features a graphic recap of the story’s key point and a series of “higher order” questions to reinforce the learning (no simple “yes” or “no” answers!).

Camille, Ajay, Pickle, Emma, Carlos, Freda & Percy

THE GANG’S ALL HERE

In addition to Freda, Percy, Ajay and Emma, and, of course, Pickle, Carlos and Camille round out the Ready Set Pre-K friends.

Yes, this Camille is named after my youngest granddaughter! My older grandchildren have books “starring” a namesake character from my first series, MathStart: “Jack the Builder” and “Mighty Maddie.” Then along came Camille… Sometimes being last has its perks. Camille doesn’t just have one book, but is part of a whole series. Lucky Camille!

All of the I See I Learn ® children live in See-and-Learn-City. The love to play at Stay and Play Park and build sand castles at Friendly Waves Beach. Story time at Read-a-lot library is so much fun! And they adore Miss Cathy, their wonderful teacher.

See-and-Learn City: Each book includes a map, which is lots of fun for games: Where does Freda live? Can you find Duck Duck Goose Pond? Who lives just up the street from Carlos? Where's Ready Set Pre-K?

Now, back to Pickle! I was thinking that maybe Pickle should send a note to Clementine. But Maddie and Camille now have a real dog…named Bella! I bet Pickle would share some picnic treats.

Reading "I See I Learn" books to Pre-K class at Snyder-Girotti Elementary in Pennsylvania - Fun!

*An earlier version of this post first appeared on  Charlesbridge Publishers’ “Unabridged” blog

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“Math = Fun!”: The Art of MathStart Exhibit at Gallery Della-Piana

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

MathStart book covers by artists featured in "Math = Fun!: Selected Illustrations from Stuart J. Murphy's MathStart Series" Gallery Della-Piana, Wenham, MA, through December, 2010 / 978-468-1944

In the beginning there were 3 books, which seemed like a lot. “I secretly hoped the MathStart series would top out at 12 books,” Stuart remembers. “It was such a thrill to see them. And to see my name in print: ‘Stuart J. Murphy.’ A published author! Wow!”

Three became 6, then 12, then 24, all the way to…63 books with the shared goal of helping children understand mathematical concepts. Wow, indeed.

Pictures. Words. Math. It sounds simple, but behind every MathStart book is another tale of collaboration between storyteller and illustrator. Picture books, notes Barbara Elleman, founding editor of ALA’s Book Links review, “are built.” Is is not just a matter of finding the balance between what’s written and what’s shown, but of dovetailing word and image so that the story becomes “a magical experience—artistically and literarily.”

One important ingredient in making that happen is what I call the “art of the gap:” First, the author’s willingness to leave gaps in the story for the artist to fill in visually, and secondly, the illustrator’s ability to pick up and utilize the gaps to extend the story…To take this “art of the gap” one step further is to be aware of places where the story lets the reader’s own imagination take flight.

Barbara’s lecture, “The Magic of MathStart,” kicked off the opening reception for “Math = Fun!: Selected Illustrations from Stuart J. Murphy’s MathStart Series,” an exhibit featuring the work of several of the MathStart illustrators currently on display at the Gallery Della-Piana near Boston.

For MathStart books, the artists needed to incorporate a system of carefully planned visual learning strategies—graphs, icons, tables— within their illustrations as well, while keeping the look at feel of story book.

As Stuart explains in an essay on “The Making of a MathStart Book”:

This visual/verbal synergy is extremely important. The illustrations, graphs, charts and diagrams are a visual translation of the story. They describe the characters, set the mood, and create a world in which the story can live. They also distill and present the math concepts in a way that kids can easily understand.

Creating this balance between the math and the story, the visual and the verbal, the art and the text, is the most challenging—and most exciting—aspect of my work. No wonder it takes over two years to develop a MathStart book! With three new books coming out each Spring and Fall, there are always at least nine books in some stage of development. It’s an exciting, challenging process. And, like the books themselves, lots of fun.

Seeing the illustrations on the wall, all neatly matted and framed, is very much like meeting old friends dressed up in their Sunday best: There’s the little boy from Valeria Petrone’s Double the Ducks. And Steve Bjorkman’s clever Coyotes All Around —they use rounding to make estimates, you know! And there’s the dog show champ, Henry the Fourth, and his buddies, Scott Nash’s ordinal-loving puppies! Around the corner, Joann Adinolfi’s fabulous Leaping Lizards are counting by 5’s and 10’s!

The brilliant colors, meticulous craftsmanship and, most of all, the delightful and deep wit the artists have brought to their work give these illustrations an independence beyond the books for which they were created. They are still full of stories, but now they are the viewers’ to tell…

Stuart J. Murphy & MathStart fans; "Mighty Maddie" / Bernice Lum; The original Mighty Maddie herself!

Stuart and...Joann Adolfini; Barbara Elleman; Elissa Della-Piana

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“Math = Fun!” will be on display through the end of December.

Gallery Della-Piana hours: Wednesday through Saturday 11:00am to 6:00pm

or by appointment (978-468-1944)

from Boston to Gallery Della-Piana, Wenham, MA

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Visual Learning, Emotional Intelligence and Mirror Neurons

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

by J.A. Ginsburg

On links between empathy & civilization, IQ & EQ, young children and why “I See I Learn” books work

When a baby first opens her eyes onto the world, not only does she begin to take in visual information, she uses it. Smile and she will try to smile, too. Stick out your tongue and she will stick hers out right back. By two months, she is so good at sorting visual information, she has a “memory picture” of her Mother and is able to tell her apart from all other women. By age one, she begins to recognize graphic imagery. And by age three, crayons in hand, she is busily giving Picasso a run for his money.

We are natural born visual learners. Remarkably, almost the entire human brain is devoted either directly to vision, or tied into it in some way. Although the loss of any of our senses would be devastating, vision, by far, is our dominant sense, integral to how we learn to function in the world and how we learn to interact with others.

So rooted is sight in our experience, we say, “Seeing is believing.” But it is even more than that. Through a system anchored by a web of special nerve cells called mirror neurons, seeing is intricately connected to feeling, to empathy. It allows us to imagine what it is is like be in someone else’s shoes, anticipate consequences and work together in groups.

“We are apparently ’softwired,’” notes author Jeremy Rifkin. “If I am observing you – your anger, your sense of  frustration, your joy, whatever it is – I can feel what you’re doing. The same neurons will light up in me as if I am having the experience myself.”

In a suitably and brilliantly visual manner, Rifkin goes on to explain in this video that, “…research suggests that we are not softwired not for aggression, violence, self-interest and utilitarianism. We are actually softwired for attachment, sociability, affection, companionship. The first drive is actually the drive to belong. It’s an empathic drive.”

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IQ & EQ

Notably, at about the same age our example child is starting to express herself through drawings, the development of her mirror neuron circuitry is hitting critical mass and she is starting to feel the first stirrings of empathy as well. This is the beginning of prime “teachable moment” for social and emotional skills.

It is also the time when parents and teachers often see the first signs of autism in children. This is no mere coincidence.  According to a 2005 study published “Nature: Neuroscience,” UCLA researchers discovered that children with autism had malfunctioning mirror neuron systems. When autistic children were shown photographs of people displaying different emotions, they were able to accurately identify the emotions verbally, but their mirror neurons failed to fire. The children also showed reduced activity in areas of the brain associated with emotion. Over the last five years, this has been a hot area of study, with indications that early intervention can help some children on the autism disorder spectrum develop the neurobiological wiring they otherwise lack.

Mirror neurons are at the intersection of IQ and what’s called “EQ” – a measure of emotional intelligence.

The ramifications go beyond understanding autism, to understanding the foundations of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).  Although we know it is important to help prepare young children for school – and for life – by teaching them the alphabet, how to count (along with other early math skills), and by reading together with them, the common assumption is that SEL skills are intuitive and don’t require any special nurturing.

Wrong.

Not only are SEL skills just as critical as academic skills, children with good SEL skills do better in school. Academic achievement and SEL “smarts” go hand in hand. In survey after survey, kindergarten and first grade teachers note that unless children know how to control their emotions, taking turns and work together in groups, it is almost impossible to teach them anything. EQ improves IQ.

Psychologist Roger Weissberg, a found director of CASEL, Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning at the University of Illinois at Chicago, points out that children with good SEL skills are better able to overcome obstacles, which translates into a sort of “academic tenacity”: They have the confidence to know that eventually they can succeed. Likewise, children with good self-control are less likely to get into fights or do drugs:

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I SEE I LEARN BOOKS

Stuart’s new I See I Learn series is designed to build on this natural fit between visual learning and young children, combining simple stories with illustrations that draw on various visual learning strategies. Although each story focuses on one of  four domains – Social skills, Emotional skills, Heath and Safety skills and Cognitive skills – there is a little of each in every book.  At this early stage in life, when all the “wiring” is starting to come together, the boundaries between IQ and EQ skills blur: It is all of a piece.

“Freda Plans a Picnic,” for example, is a book about sequencing, a cognitive skills. The picnic itself – a gathering of friends – is a social event. “Percy Plays It Safe” focuses on playground safety, but playing successfully in a group requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.

Each book also includes a special two-page section called “A Closer Look,” which combines a visual summary of the story’s key learning points, along with several questions to help parents / teachers / caregivers extend the learning beyond the book and into daily life.

The first four I See I Learn books will begin shipping to book stores and libraries in July. For Pre-orders & email alerts write to orders@charlesbridge.com, or call 800.225.3214

Booksellers & Librarians: ISIL books are available through Baker & Taylor, Ingram and, of course, all your favorite local wholesalers, too!

Stuart J. Murphy's "I See I Learn" books available in bookstores and libraries beginning in July!

RELATED READING / VIEWING / RESOURCES / NOTES

If you're in Bologna... San Vitale 98/b

Nuts? That’s what Jeremy Rifkin says a scientist was nibbling when the brain activity of a macaque watching the scientist – while wired to an MRI – triggered a burst of static on a computer, which led to the discovery of mirror neurons. Others say it was  ice-cream, which, of course, was probably gelato, since the lab was in Parma, Italy. In his book, Mirroring People, neuroscientist Marco Iacobani says Vittorio Gallese, the researcher, actually doesn’t remember what he was eating. Personally, I like the gelato option. M’mmmm. I am at Gelatauro in Bologna on a late spring day, sitting in the little courtyard with a two-euro cup of heaven: pistachio, pumpkin spice and ginger gelato. Ah that zenzero! I can see it! I can just about taste it! How about you? Are your mirror neurons firing yet?


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Posted in "I See I Learn", Education, Emotional skills, Pre-K, Social skills, Visual Learning, empathy, math | 2 Comments »

“I See I Learn” Books in Stores Starting in July! … Special Sneak Peek: “Emma’s Friendwich”

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

counterclockwise from left: Camille, Ajay, Freda, Carlos, Percy, Emma & Pickle!

by J.A. Ginsburg

“The books are here!” Stuart beamed as I walked up to the Charlesbridge Publishers booth on the first day of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair last March. “They’re WONDERFUL!” Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Carlos, Camille and the one-and-only Pickle the green bulldog (Woof!) were really real. Other people could see them, too! It was thrilling. The first four books! We stood there. Thrilled.

For the last two years, Stuart and I, collaborating with a spectacular team from Charlesbridge and Tim Jones Illustration, have been living and breathing the development of “I See I Learn,” a new series for young children (and their teachers, parents and caregivers) that helps teach skills important in life and for school.

The books cover social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills. Each story, which has been reviewed by a team of early childhood experts, also includes two pages of questions and activities.

Just as in Stuart’s award-winning MathStart books, visual learning strategies play a key role reinforcing skills. Visual learning is a particularly good fit for young children: They may not be able to read letters yet, but they can “read” visual information with ease. “I See I Learn” books build on this natural talent.

COMING…SOON!

We returned from Italy, wined, dined and even more thrilled, showing our precious sets of books (hardcover and paperback!) to friends and family, wondering how we were ever going to contain ourselves until July, when the books would finally start to be available in stores.

And then came Jacqui Kolar, a reading specialist from Big Hollow school near Chicago, who introduced Stuart for his presentation at the International Reading Association (IRA) conference in April. Who were we kidding? Containment? Back to beaming for us!

EMMA’S FRIENDWICH

Jacqui, who had been given a pre-publication set of books, told the audience about reading “Emma’s Friendwich,” a story about making a friend, with her youngest students. Afterward, she placed the book on the floor, planning to start a casual conversation with the children later. She never got the chance! They started to pore over the story themselves, looking at the pictures and making their very own “friendwiches.” Then, all together, they made a “club friendwich” with Jacqui.

Stuart J. Murphy reads “Emma’s Friendwich”:

Friendwiches. They’re the best!

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  • For Pre-orders & Email Alerts: orders@charlesbridge.com / 800.225.3214
  • Library & Bookseller orders: Baker & Taylor, Ingram and, of course, all your favorite local wholesalers, too!

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Earth Day – Hooray!

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
By J. A. Ginsburg

“Earth Day” is 40, which speaks  both to the durability of the idea and to an enduring need.  It is a celebration of Spring-cleaning on a global scale and a sobering reminder of how much still needs to be done. Earth Day? We need Earth Every Day!

When Stuart learned that he would be  speaking  at the annual conference for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) on Earth Day, he thought it would be fun to feature teacher-created projects inspired by his MathStart book, “Earth Day – Hooray!”. Over the next few weeks we will  be highlighting some of the projects here on vizlearning.

Today, though, we’re going to the source!

The Maple Street School Save-the-Planet Club is busy cleaning up Gilroy Park when Ryan has a brainstorm: Instead of throwing aluminum cans in the garbage, why not bring them to the Recycling Center and use the money to buy flowers to decorate the park for Earth Day? Mrs. Watson, the club’s adviser, says they’re going to need 5,000 cans. 5,000 cans!!! Luke is pretty skeptical, but the other kids are sure they can do it. Carly even dresses up as a can as part of a campaign to teach other students about recycling. They canvas the neighborhood collecting cans, clean up other parks and, of course, keep count.

Place value is the book’s math skill. Each group of 10 cans is put in a small (biodegradable, environmentally-friendly) bag. 10 small bags go in a  larger bag (100 cans). 10 of larger bags go into a giant bag (1,000 cans).

Recycling, gardening, environmental facts and math. Hooray!

Each MathStart book includes two pages of activities. For several of the books (soon all of the books), we have created teacher-friendly downloadable pdf pages with a selection of some of the activities. (Earth Day – Hooray! Activities Page pdf)

THE PLASTIC PLAGUE

Recycling is something we can all  do to reduce pollution, yet we don’t do nearly as much as we could. According to the Container Recycling Insitute’s figures, less than half of the all the aluminum cans, glass and plastic bottles in the U.S. are recycled. States that require bottle deposits have rates as much as six times higher than those that don’t.

“Only we humans make waste that Nature can’t digest,” notes Captain Charles Moore, who discovered “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” an area of the ocean twice the size of Texas covered with small bits of plastic – mostly from bottles (TED video):

A similar patch was recently discovered in the Atlantic and other oceans are thought to have them as well.

In the summer of 2009, photographer Christopher Jordan traveled to Midway Island where he photographed dozens of albatross killed by plastic from dining in the Garbage Patch. (warning: this video is extremely disturbing)

We cannot  leave the world this way for the next generation. It is not just a matter of figuring out how to clean up the mess, but coming up with better answers. Fortunately, the next generation is already inspiring just such ideas. Imagine a water bottle made of paper…

"Earth Day - Hooray!" illustrations by Renee Andriani

Earth Day? Hooray!!!

ADDITIONAL LINKS
  • Midway Journey: (documentary project blog – Chris Jordan, Manuel Maqueda, Bill Weaver, Jan Vozenilek, Victoria Sloan Jordan)

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Math + Story + Music = “The Main Street Kids’ Club: A MathStart Musical”!

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
by J.A. Ginsburg

Few things are as nearly as much fun – or satisfying – as seeing an idea become real. This Spring, with the first touring performances of “The Main Street Kids’ Club:  A MathStart Musical,” Stuart and I are literally dancing and humming with delight. This is even better than we’d hoped…

Based on six of Stuart’s MathStart books (listed & linked at the bottom of this post), “MSKC” tells a tale of adventure, mystery, friendship and math. And it gets the math right! What’s not to sing about?

It is hard to believe that is all started with a friend’s casual comment about Stuart’s jam-packed schedule and how great it would be if we could only clone him so he could visit more schools to get even more kids excited about math. “A play? Maybe a musical?” We wondered how such things happen.

Serendipity helps. Rives Collins, a gifted storyteller and chair of the Theatre department at nearby Northwestern University, was intrigued when I brought over a stack of a dozen of Stuart’s MathStart books one afternoon. He almost fell over when I told him there were actually 63 titles in all.  Clearly, this was going to require the talents of someone undaunted by such a wealth of material, someone who knew how to craft a story that would work as theatre, someone who really understood that math skills are indeed life skills.

Enter Scott Ferguson. Scott, a Northwestern alum, has been working in Chicago theatre for the better part of two decades, both as an actor and director. Included among his many credits is a popular stage adaptation of the 1970’s Saturday morning television classic, “Schoolhouse Rock.” A perfect choice! With Rives paving the way, Scott directed a workshop class, bringing in actor and musician Michael Mahler to collaborate on the score. Michael, also an NU alum, had recently worked on the score for a “How Can You Run with a Shell on Your Back?,” a stage version of Aesop’s Fables that premiered at Chicago’s Tony award-winning Shakespeare Theater. Like Scott, he brought an intuitive sense of how to weave a series of unrelated stories in single compelling story for the stage.

The class was an instant hit. Here was a chance to help develop a new musical! Something that combined literature and math! YES! So many students signed up, they had to be split into two troupes. Stuart came, read stories and talked about the background and philosophy of MathStart and about visual learning. Throughout the development of the script, he was consulted to make sure the math was presented correctly.

Cast, crew, Scott, Stuart, Rives & Michael at one of the MSKC workshop readings: (back row, l to r) Scott Ferguson., Caitlin Collins, Isabel Richardson, Aaron Riccardi, Stuart J. Murphy, Johnson Brock, Jon Kwock, Laura Nash, Michael Mahler; (front row, l to r) Liz Olanoff, Casey Bishop, Rives Collins, Steve McQuown

Now, with the first performances touring schools in the Chicago area, reviews are coming in from real live kids. “RAD!” says one third-grade critic, giving it an enthusiastic “thumbs up.” A teacher was asked by her class to find out if there’s an album – they loved the music and wanted to hear it again. Great idea!

MSKC rehearsal / cast in lemon hats: (clockwise from left) Scott Ferguson, Meredith Freyre, Christopher Walsh, Angie Wendt, Tony DiPisa, Danny Taylor

In the meantime, you can listen to song clips and read more about the production at MainStreetKidsClub.com

  • For information on booking a performance or production through Theatrebam Chicago, contact Scott Ferguson at theatrebam@mac.com or by phone: 773.465-8668
  • For information on obtaining the licensing rights to stage an independent production, contact HarperCollins at ChildrensPermissions@HarperCollins.com or by phone: 212.207.7700 or fax: 212.702.2582

Math: It’s a musical thing!

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

These books are featured in “The Main Street Kids’ Club: A MathStart Musical”:

Treasure Map (Mapping)

Lemonade for Sale (Bar Graphs)

Less Than Zero (Negative Numbers)

100 Days of Cool (Numbers 1 – 100)

Captain Invincible and the Space Shapes (Three-dimensional Shapes)

More or Less (Comparing Numbers)

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Computers as a Social Event: Sugata Mitra, Peer Learning, Visual Learning & Toddler Techies

Monday, February 22nd, 2010
by J. A. Ginsburg

In 1999, Sugata Mitra, a chief scientist at NIIT, a large IT training and education company in India, did something remarkable: He punched a hole in wall separating his company’s headquarters from a slum and installed a computer facing out. Within a few hours, curious children, all poor, started to crowd around, playing with the keyboard, teaching themselves and then their friends how it worked. “The Hole in the Wall” experiment was off to an auspicious start:

Mitra was just warming up. Over the next 20+ years, similar computer set ups were installed all over India. Even in rural areas where English wasn’t the primary language, children quickly mastered the basics through peer-learning.

Which, it turns out, is exactly what’s happening in Pre-K classrooms across the U.S.

As part of ongoing research for the new Stuart J. Murphy’s I See I Learn series (launching later this year!), we regularly talk with teachers and administrators about daily classroom life and needs. Computer literacy has become such a vital skill, computers are actually required to secure top ranking in Florida’s UPK program (Universal Pre-K). No matter how strapped a school’s budget, it seems at least of couple of laptops, often “vintage,” are available for the children.

And just like their counterparts halfway around the world, they gather around the screen, trying to make to make sense of the magic box.

Describes one veteran teacher in Texas:

I find these children are unbelievably computer literate. Their biggest struggle at first is manipulating the mouse. The software we use usually attracts a crowd, with several children participating. There may be one child using the mouse, but it’s a collaborative effort. It’s not ever just one child sitting with headsets on doing something quietly by himself. The computer is a social event.

TECH-SAVVY TODDLERS

Of course, in The Age of the Touchscreen, who needs a mouse?

New York Times writer Brad Stone, opens his story on “Children of CyberSpace” with vignette of two-year daughter holding his Kindle, casually identifying it as “Daddy’s book.” It dawns on him that his little cherub doesn’t view tech with the sort miraculous awe of her elders. For her the miracles are simply part of the way things are, from long distance video calls via skype, to phones that are really toys full of amusing “apps.”

…I’ve begun to think that my daughter’s generation will also be utterly unlike those that preceded it.

Researchers are exploring this notion too. They theorize that the ever-accelerating pace of technological change may be minting a series of mini-generation gaps, with each group of children uniquely influenced by the tech tools available in their formative stages of development.

“People two, three or four years apart are having completely different experiences with technology,” said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project. “College students scratch their heads at what their high school siblings are doing, and they scratch their heads at their younger siblings. It has sped up generational differences.”

One obvious result is that younger generations are going to have some very peculiar and unique expectations about the world. My friend’s 3-year-old, for example, has become so accustomed to her father’s multitouch iPhone screen that she approaches laptops by swiping her fingers across the screen, expecting a reaction.

As Pickle the dog (you’ll be meeting him soon) would say…

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

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