Learning to read via IM
I was IMing with a friend of mine I know from college who just entered library school a semester or so ago, and she asked if it was OK for her son, Eli, to “talk” to me (which, for the moment, means to type gibberish, and a few words he knows how to spell).
Eli, at age 3.5, is learning to *read* via IM. I find this to be a very shiny thing. Eli recognizes that “Eli” on the screen is his name, and that when his mom types “Hi Eli” on IM, she is saying hi to him, even if no one specifically points it out. He now recognizes other words, like his recent acquisition of the visible representation of “no”, by sight. He knows that clicking the “Send” button does the same thing as hitting the Enter key, although sometimes he will insist on filling the typing area with text first. And he loves picking out smileys from the menu in the Trillian interface.
Furthermore, he also understands when his mom is on the other end of the IM conversation, and that mom and dad “talk” to people via IM, so he’ll ask who they’re “talking” to. It’s very normal.
I remember the first time I met Eli, about a year or so ago when we was about 2.5-years old, he could play on a computer and use a mouse like a pro. He played games, he shared the computer with another child, he was very polite, and even helpful with the other kid. These days, he plays with Google Earth and Google Mars, and knows that they are maps and photos of the earth, some from space, even.
I do feel like sometimes IM is a dead horse beaten at conferences and such, because it’s been around for such a long time and so many people use it, yet it’s treated like some new, experimental technology that head-in-sand librarians think is just a fad (I often wonder just how many librarians are genuinely not aware of the normalcy and impact of IM on society; I’m sure it’s a good number, don’t get me wrong, but still).
It’s really a very good example of a kid growing up in the born digital set, and yet, he’s not a “millenial” born of parents who aren’t savvy with computers. Eli is learning to *read* in IM not only because he’s just a smart kid, but because his parents — not just some teenagers — are using IM, and I’m sure he’s not alone. There’s a whole older generation of geeks and computer-literates out there, many with kids, who have been using this technology in one form or another since way before most of the current millenials were even born, and are still using it with their wee ones in their laps.
So really, if you’re a librarian, and you’ve never used IM, go out and try it. Stop taking the cookie by perpetuating this slow, patient, gradual, hand-holding convincing that IM is here to stay, a gentle urging that has been going on for way too long. Have someone teach you how, if you’re not comfortable on your own. Practice, go beta, make mistakes, learn. It’s really OK that it’s not perfect right out of the gate, honest. I beg of you, get over this notion that it’s new, or scary, or a fad, or just for kids, and just go for it. And if I’m preaching to the choir here, please forward this post on to someone who really needs to hear it.
Tags: technology
