Posted on | June 1, 2013 | No Comments
Superficial Knowledge vs Deeper Understanding
Regarding The Value of Tablets in Child Learning
My twin nephews took over their parents’ tablets – a very popular brand – at the age of 18 months. The colors and the interactive nature of touch and control fascinated them and from that moment, the boys, guided by content their parents allowed, began a fast trajectory of learning and understanding.
What is the difference between learning and understanding? Aren’t these the same? Let me say first, that there is a great deal of knowledge depth in UNDERSTANDING that the INITIAL EXPOSURE to a subject does not include. We may observe some object or thing, such as a friend’s car, but to understand why it is or how it was created is another matter.
Handheld Tablet and Internet Information
Google Images, 2013
For example, observing a person driving a car, we can achieve superficial knowledge of the operation of the vehicle and enjoy its ability to transport us but its deeper workings, real operation, and creation have not yet become part of our bank of knowledge or competence. Further, as any parent of a teenager will tell you, this superficial understanding of the car’s operation does not mean one can quickly operate it. How many parents have taught their children, or even their own parents, how to drive? This is my fascination with learning curves and deeper understanding.
Superficial knowledge and limited exposure does not and cannot contain deeper understanding. This has become all too apparent in a world where all the information of the world is contained in accessible bits on hundreds, perhaps thousands of websites. Does this accessible bit of information convey a sense of knowledge-ownership to the fast, peripatetic reader?
Does the reader believe that they know AS MUCH as someone who has a greater degree of understanding on a particular subject? “Yes, I’ve read that on the internet”, may convey a sense of understanding to a person that they have not actually attained.
My nephews are now three years old. Because of support and guidance from their parents, one child can read sentences of a few words and the other can read words and perhaps spell monkey or gorilla and know the difference between these objects. In addition, one has great hand to eye coordination, which leads one to believe that he may have greater athletic ability, while his brother is drawn to esthetically pleasing objects and the order of these objects into types and patterns. As an example, he knows the difference between an orchid which is a FLOWER, while a carrot still in the ground is a VEGETABLE, though he also understands completely that both are PLANTS.
It is not just their knowledge and understanding which is pleasing to their uncle but also the different approaches each one is experiencing. I am delighted by their differences. As fraternal twins, they do not look exactly alike, each favoring one parent over the other, but in motion they are synchronized like a perfect ballet. Their personalities, food choices, relational styles, and social accessibility are very different.
As they continue to develop, I as their tech-challenged uncle will rely more on the content of the web and the devices that are quickly replacing my deeply cherished books, to understand the ways in which humans are capable of accessing information to create a deeper understanding and competence of subject matter. Wikipedia and similar sites are becoming very sophisticated introductions to subjects but they may never completely create a depth of understanding for subject matter. While books are still my preferred learning devices, I do not resist and rather enjoy online databases as well as the INTRODUCTION to material that the world wide web provides.
Shawn M. Nichols
June 1, 2013
Shawnnichols.com
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