What did I learn?

This past week I spent three and a half hours playing iPad with various little friends from 2 years old to 11.

What did I learn? Well really, I knew all of this.  But lots of fun to be reminded.

1.  All the hype about iPads is well deserved.  It is an amazing tool.

2.  Researching the most innovative ways the iPad is being used in educating young children is the right thing for me to be doing now.

3.  There are some very creative products on the market that will have a lasting impact on children's intellectual life and communication skills. This is very exciting. Can you imagine the potential for media production for kids who have been making animated shorts since they were 5 or 6 years old.

4.  Incorporate more silliness and humor into my own work. If my target audience is 3 year olds, they personify silly.

5.  Have consistent visual cues for navigation and make it easy to execute.

6.  Electronic devices can be as addictive for kids as adults and there is a downside. We see this is the obesity epidemic and short attention spans (for adults as well as kids).

7.  It's easy to be optimistic about what's coming down the technology highway and how it will be embraced by educators, parents and children.