Kids of the internet age
The other day I was showing the kids the photos of our trip to Ala Archa and Alamedin, and the video that Alicia, Philippa and Sebastian shot and they asked me if it was possible to create a website for them so that they could upload posts about things that interest them.
I know from my days as a teacher of IT that it’s not that simple … and knowing Maxim and Andrei, I wasn’t sure how it would turn out … would they get bored quickly and lose interest, for example … but I thought why not.
Kyrgyzstan has quite a high level of penetration when it comes to internet usage, when you consider that few schools have computers yet alone internet access, and although people may have computers in their offices, not that many have them at home … the kids don’t, for example, and they don’t have a telephone. Still, they are at that sort of age when an interest in technology is at its highest and I know that many teenagers in the west spend hours in front of Facebook, MySpace and similar sites.
My nephew, for example, is about the same age and he is nearly always on Facebook, although his younger brother, doesn’t seem at all interested as far as I can tell. I have also shown the kids some of my nephew’s video clips where he is playing the guitar and some YouTube clips of BMX bikers doing tricks. I suppose that in doing so I have created a rod for my own back.
Anyway, I agreed to help them. At first, I thought about setting up a Facebook page for each of them, (or on one of the Russian equivalents), but I wasn’t sure if their friends would also have pages and, anyway, it might be better for them to experiment and make mistakes from which they could learn before doing something on one of those sites. So, I looked for a blog host which would be free and allow them to “have a go” and then, if they are serious and want to go further we can look at other alternatives and perhaps a course that they could attend.
Maxim was the most insistent, so we started with him … but Andrei is already pressing me to help him set up a page. I asked what Maxim wanted to post entries about … Films, Biking – his beloved BMX, pictures – artwork that he likes, and … well anything that takes his fancy.
As I happen to know wordpress quite well, I decided eventually on setting up a free page on wordpress.com. It only took a few minutes to register and then I showed how to set up a post … we talked about categories and tags – but I don’t think he took it all in. He was too impatient … it reminded me of the phrase in the song: “I want it all and I want it now!” … No, that should be “I want it all, and I want it NOW !!!!”
I also showed him how to post pictures, which I think went fairly well because he spent a lot of time doing just that – posting pictures … he needs to concentrate more on his layout, and I’ll to sit down and talk to him about that, but once the initial burst of enthusiasm has worn itself out and he is ready to sit, listen and learn.
He’s not particularly good at typing so there isn’t much text yet, but I hope that will come.
I also hope that, if his enthusiasm doesn’t wane, that he might start posting some of his drawings. He’s not a brilliant artist, but he isn’t bad and the idea of being able to show them off to a wider audience should help his motivation.
He also wants to put up some short video clips, (trailers for films that he likes or is waiting to see, or video of him and his mates on their BMXs). Unfortunately, however, wordpress doesn’t allow this as part of the free service, so in order to post videos you have to pay, so that will have to wait for a while. I think we can embed some video from You Tube, so I suppose we are going to have to create an account for him there as well so that he can post his clips of jumping through the air on his bike.
Now I have to sit down with Andrei and show him how to set up a blog. His will probably de dedicated to music … and his numerous girlfriends.
Once they’ve the hang of things, then, (if they are still keen), we’ll see about improving their skills – perhaps signing up for a course or two – and perhaps developing further sites. Who knows, if they take to it, then maybe it will be a useful way of spending their time and they might even decide to follow it as a career – their older brother already works in computers … but that’s all in the future.
For anyone who is interested, Maxim’s blog is at www.stariyshkola.wordpress.com
Bishkek