Have you ever thought about teaching your kids about computers from an early age? If you’re like many parents, then you’ll know that tech literacy is an extremely important skill these days. Everything we do is based around computers; we can pay our bills online, shop on the internet, and we use computers to write documents. With so much of our lives being dependent on the internet, it kind of makes sense that we should teach our kids about computers.
But aside from being more comfortable with tech, does this have any other benefits? Do we just need to teach our kids the bare minimum of how to interact with computers and the internet, or are there more long-lasting benefits that we can expect? In this post, we’re going to share a few ideas to help convince you that it’s a huge benefit to your child’s upbringing if you teach them about computers from an early age.
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Early tech literacy can help with online security in the future
These days, more and more elaborate scams and viruses are being created to steal people’s details and money. Whether it’s a hidden link in an email or an infected file that could overtake your PC, there are many things to look out for if you want to keep your computer safe. Unfortunately, these problems have only gotten worse over the years due to how much we rely on being online for almost everything in our life. With so many providers and plans, such as the Xfinity internet plans, now available, the internet reaches every corner of the globe; allowing you to ensure that you are able to have the right access to the internet that you require for your home and family.
If our accounts are hacked, it could lead to a chain reaction of disasters especially if you use the same password for multiple different services. You could end up losing access to your bank account, your email, and even your online shopping accounts. This can lead to disastrous financial consequences and it’s important to understand how to avoid these situations in the first place. You can stay up to date with the latest and most accurate information about online technology but visiting matterous, they will help you access the tools and knowledge necessary to make informed decisions about your child’s technology use.
But in addition to just protecting their finances and data, it’s also important for protecting their privacy. People are more prone to posting about their everyday lives than ever before, essentially leaving a digital record of places they’ve visited, people they know, and important facts about themselves. This leaves people vulnerable to a variety of scams and there are also bad actors out there that will exploit your child’s digital presence.
In other words, if you want to keep your child safe on the internet then you need to teach them about safety. They need to learn through experience and they need to be taught the basics so they can avoid falling for scams or accidentally downloading a virus onto the family computer.
Tech literacy can encourage your child to learn more about computer science
Computer science is a wonderful STEM field that opens up many employment opportunities for your child’s future. However, it’s important to remember that you shouldn’t funnel your child down one career path. They should ultimately pick something that they personally love, but there’s nothing wrong with encouraging your child to learn a bit more about computers, how they work, and also all of the cool things that you can do with them. It’s a fantastic way to help your child’s career choices if they do love computers, and it’s also a good opportunity to show them what’s possible with computers so they can discover new hobbies and learn new skills.
However, there aren’t many things that your child will understand when it comes to computer science. Depending on their age, they might find it difficult to understand certain concepts. The Exact Instructions Challenge is a fantastic example of this.
In this challenge, children are asked to instruct their parents on how to do something seemingly basic, but they need to explain it in very simple and easy-to-understand instructions. Hilarity ensues, but it also teaches children how computers work; they’re dumb, they need to follow instructions, and you need to explain everything to them in a very straightforward, logical, and sequenced way.
Learn about computers with your children for a bonding experience
There are plenty of parents in the world that have realised their children have become more proficient with computers than they are. This is a surprisingly common occurrence and you shouldn’t feel bad if this happens to you. Children are extremely adept at learning and picking up new things. As such, you may actually want to consider using this as an excuse to learn more about computers yourself. This is a great idea if you’re also searching for more bonding activities to enjoy with your children.
This can actually create some extremely unique activities that most families wouldn’t be able to do. For example, you could create apps together with your children, you can develop websites and share things, or you can even create a YouTube career together. Of course, you shouldn’t use your child as a reason for kicking off an influencer career, but there are loads of online resources and tools that can help you learn more about development and more advanced concepts.
A great idea would be to use cloud-based apps such as https://setapp.com/apps/flinto to prototype apps together, learning how to use development tools and potentially creating something that can be published on the app store. Alternatively, your child can go for a more creative route, learning how to design websites and make unique content while you handle programming from the backend. You could even make video games together with a bit of programming know-how.
In short, there are loads of productive and enjoyable activities that you can enjoy with your kids if they get into computers from an early age. It doesn’t take away from their studies, it leads to some wonderful hobbies, and it teaches them essential skills that they can use in the future. There really aren’t many downsides to this and as long as you accompany them as they learn more about computers and technology, they’ll have an enjoyable time and learn to embrace the joys of learning new skills.
