Tech Tips A Purposeful Tech Winter Break B y T O D D N O R T O N , M i d d l e S c h o o l Te c h n o l o g y C o a c h a n d S TA N R I C H A R D S , M i d d l e S c h o o l Te c h n o l o g y a n d I n n o v a t i o n C o o r d i n a t o r
The approaching winter break is an ideal time for families to enjoy some well-deserved downtime and reconnect with friends and family. Many parents dream of tech-free family fun but succumb to allowing more tech use than intended. Travel brings long flights, overnight hotel stays, and other potentially boredom-inducing downtime. How do we find a balance for our kids with their tech and our family’s holiday plans? Here are some fun and purposeful holiday projects to have your child take ownership or assist you with: Being the family photographer
With a mobile phone, iPad or camera in hand, pass the responsibility for capturing the family’s holiday antics to one of the kids. Once taken, there are lots of apps available to edit and enhance digital images to really capture that moment. Try one of our favorites—Snapseed. Curating the family holiday photo album
What do you do with all those digital photos? Hide them away on a device or stuffed inside some form of cloud storage? Try printing some of your child’s best photos to display around your home. One option might be Photobox. Creating a travelogue
If online rather than printed is your family’s preferred medium, create a multimedia travelogue to tell your vacation story. You can then easily share it with friends far and wide. Apple Clips and Adobe Spark Video are two apps our students enjoy. You can give your child some social media responsibilities to catalogue your experiences. Learn some coding
Coding is something everyone should try, and there are many apps and resources out there for all entry levels. Computer Science Education Week is December 9 through 15, so while it's a hot topic, delve into the Hour of Code, Swift Playground, Code Academy, and Scratch, Jr. Being the tech tutor/trainer
Parents often feel they have no idea what’s trending in the tech world. Flip roles and have your child teach you their favorite game, how to rock in Minecraft, or how to make a Tik Tok video. Family game time
Challenge your child to find a game that can be played while on the road with the whole family. Maybe even try Exploding Kittens—it’s a blast! This holiday break, try using technology to bring your family together and tap into your child’s creativity. 17 JOURNEYS
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