Three-year-old Kaia and her Dad, Jabiz Raisdana, live in Qatar. One day, spurred by what he read in the book, The Last Child in the Woods, Kaia's Dad decided to take her to explore the world outside her home. While outside they took pictures of all kinds of things, from garbage to the sunset, which Jabiz made into Kaia's very first simple photo essay. He then posted it to his Twitter network and exciting things began to happen. A teacher in Missouri, Mr. Chamberlain, shared the photo essay with his students. After conversing with Jabiz via Skype, the students and Mr. Chamberlain then created a Voicethread and Youtube video commenting on and congratulating Kaia's work. Mr. Chamberlain, his class, Jabiz and Kaia created a web sensation, albeit unknowingly, and set educationally technical minds and hearts aflutter with their interactions.
I must say that as a result of a father's simple acts of encouraging, teaching, and sharing with his child, something wild and wonderful has happened! How could Jabiz have known that his adventure with Kaia would elicit such a response? Of course, he couldn't have. However, how awesome for us that it did! For those who are learning about or interested in the technological world as it applies to education, it is events and breakthroughs like this that will serve to excite and inspire us.
The magnitude of possibilites for technology in education is staggering. There are so many things that we can learn to do with technology to aid in the instruction of our students. Creating a simple photo essay and sharing it with the world, so to speak, is one way to advance learning and promote goodwill. The simplicity of it is very appealing, especially if you are a teacher just beginning to utilize the technology. The programs that Mr. Chamberlain, his class, and Jabiz and Kaia used, including Voicethread, Skype, Youtube, and Twitter, all have tremendous potential for classroom use. Although Jabiz expressed concern about the privacy issue and allowing the public into Kaia's life, I agree with some commenters that the benefits will probably be worth it. I think parents, students, and educators alike will benefit from the variety of ways technology can and will be used now and in the future.
Keep up the good work.
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