Quick—how would you say children first learn about and experience technologies? My typical answer used to point to television and movie depictions, commercials and advertisements, video games, access to computers in the home. As I've spent more and more time reading and exploring children's and young adult literature for my work with ReadWriteThink, I've found that computers and other technologies are more and more frequently integrated in the books that students read. Students without computer access may first experience the format of instant messages and e-mail in a novel, and students' experiences with the many netiquette and social issues surrounding technology issues may stem just as often from picture books and novels as it does from what they see on television or at the movies.
Over the last 3 years or so, I've been gathering fiction (and some nonfiction) that is directly aimed at pre-K to 12th grade readers to try to determine how the books that students read shape their attitudes about technology. The earliest picture book, The Little Red Computer, published in 1969, entertains listeners with the tale of a computer that doesn't understand numbers but ultimately succeeds because it is "a computer with a mind of its own" (27). Over the intervening years, children could choose from such picture books as Kermit Learns How Computers Work, Franklin and the Computer, Patrick's Dinosaurs on the Internet, and A House with No Mouse. Chapter books over the years have included The Computer That Ate My Brother, The Boggart, and Doing Time Online. Books published most recently not only include computer technologies as part of the setting, but they also include faux computer-mediated messages and texts as part of the story. M.T. Anderson's Feed shows readers a sci-fi vision where computers feed directly into the characters' heads, feeding these characters just-in-time facts and information. Lauren Myracle's TTYL and Ellen Wittlinger's Heart on My Sleeve are told through IMs and e-mails (and some letters). Click Here: To Find Out How I Survived Seventh Grade by Denise Vega and The Secret Blog of Raisin Rodriguez by Judy Goldschmidt tell their stories through blog entries and Web pages.
I'd like to propose a conversation about the resources that students are likely to encounter, how they are likely to think about technologies as a result, and how we can tap these experiences in the classroom. It's unlikely that participants in the conversations will know (let alone, have read) the various texts that will contribute to this conversation. As a result, I'm thinking of this discussion as a highly hypertextual series of book talks that provide summaries and key issues from several of the books and then invite discussion about these texts. Rather than a polished piece, I am thinking of this presentation as an extended opportunity to make online resources that share the information that I have been gathering on my bookshelves. My goal is to begin and develop a project on technologies in children's literature that will be an ongoing source of information for K12 teachers as well as college teachers who are exploring how students' literacy skills are shaped before they reach the college classroom.
reviews @ tengrrl.com
I've begun the process of putting the children's book reviews online by creating a separate blog that includes the reviews and related details. So far the site only includes two reviews that I published earlier this spring. There's much more to write, and I would like to include teaching suggestions eventually. For now, it's a start.
Respondents
Marina Meza will respond to this proposal.
Danny Dunn
tengrrl, are you familiar with Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine (Williams & Abrashkin, 1958)? In it, Danny and his friends Irene and Will(?) program a big ENIAC-style computer to do their homework; if I'm remembering correctly, Abrashkin and Williams even show some of the computer's output.
I'm thinking there are two separate issues in your proposal: (1) how representations of computer technologies in children's books affect children's attitudes towards those technologies, and (2) how representations of computer technologies in children's books affect their skills with those technologies. Those issues sometimes intersect, but I think (2) might be considerably more difficult to demonstrate than (1).
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Mike
http://www.vitia.org/
Great project!
I love this project! I was intrigued to see all the books reviewed on your other blog, more than I had realized (Nancy Drew has an email mystery now?)
I wonder how the authors keep up with current technology--or maybe they don't, maybe they just describe it in such general terms that it won't get outdated fast, or maybe they envision these books as having a short shelf-life. It's interesting to think about the implications here for "classic" books. I'll bet Harriet the Spy would have had an anonymous blog. And the kids from The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler would have checked the 'net to verify Michelangelo's signature.
I've heard kid's music with technology themes, too (Schoolhouse Rock has a computer song, for example) but you probably have enough to think about w/o branching out. In fact, you may find you have so much that you need to limit your list of books somehow, to books for a particular age group or books published in a certain time period or books dealing with a certain sort of technology.
It might be useful to consider whether the readers of these books are expected to be having their own irl experiences with technology. Based on my own recent investigations in my corner of suburbia, it's a rare preschool that doesn't have some computers, and the K-12 schools, both public and private, are the same way. I believe computer equipment is even marketed for preschoolers now--special keyboards, mouses, etc. So kids likely aren't coming to these books with a blank slate. I wonder if the books assume that they know how computers work, and if they support that meme out there about kids knowing more about computers than their parents (if you can't figure out your new equipment, sit your 4yo in front of it).
You know, the SHR song I mentioned earlier, iirc, has a "don't be afraid of computers" message--like kids are likely to be afraid of technology they grew up with. I guess messages like that would date the books as rapidly as mention of outdated technologies.
Beth
RE: Mike & Danny Dunn
Thanks for sharing Danny Dunn with me. As I wrote on my site, I managed to find a used copy online and it's currently lying here on the desk. I decided to change the title for the conversation as a result of this "new" find.
I'm not really thinking of studying the effect of these books in any way beyond anecdotes (e.g., someone on Amazon or Alibris said that DD&HM was the reason he became a programmer). I'm sure any actual study of those "true" effects would be impossible. There's no way to isolate for a specific experience.
Primarily, I've been thinking of teaching strategies that ask older students (high school and college) how computers are represented in these various texts. I'm seeing them as more of a current reading for these students, rather than a nostalgic look at what they may have read.
I think there's room for conversation also around the ways that current books are representing technologies. If students are reading these books, what might we provide as supplements to provide a complete picture? I'm thinking of an exploration akin to the representations of computers and women in advertising or something of that sort. How are children and computers represented in these books, and what does what we see tell us about technology and society?
RE: BYoung
Thanks for the comments. Before you get to excited about Nancy Drew, I'll warn you that it was published in 1998 and mentions BITNET. It's definitely a book that's more worthwhile as an example of an artifact than for any literary purpose.
I have the Schoolhouse Rock DVD too. I wasn't thinking of it, but I guess I should pull that out and add those songs too. There are actually 4 videos in that Scooter Computer and Mr. Chips series. It's pretty obvious when you see them why they never became the Conjunction Junction of the Nerd Generation.
The experiences that the books expect of readers vary, as you might expect. I'd say that for most of them the readers are meant to be familiar with some technologies, but don't necessarily know how to use them. It really depends upon the book though.
Thanks for the comments and for reminding me to include SHR.
Happens to be a computer?
Wow, BITNET? That would certainly baffle today's young readers.
I find this question in particular to be very evocative: How are children and computers represented in these books, and what does what we see tell us about technology and society?
I wonder if maybe one shift would how normal the computers are in these books. It's been a long time since I read Danny Dunn, but iirc, a computer was a Big Deal in the plot, not just a tool that the characters "happen to be" using. Whereas now, I would expect computers to appear just like telephones--not an element worthy of special notice.
That's probably a tough line to draw though. And then, getting back to your question, what would that tell us about technology and society? I look forward to learning more about your answers. :)
Beth