EducationNews.org

Kelly Wagner is a homeschooling mom of two children.  She is a web developer and her husband is a Linux systems architect.  So, their family is no stranger to technology.  What might be surprising, however, is just how large a place technology takes in their average homeschool day. In describing her children's technological savvy, Wagner says, "My kids are looking up specific topics on Google and YouTube. They're finding and downloading images for desktop wallpaper; they look up the weather forecast every morning before getting dressed so they know what to wear; they use an online school to access their work. My eldest is extremely dyslexic, so we use Apple's assistive technology so that he can have the computer read any very long tracts of text to him.  Both kids understand computer accounts, logins, passwords, what it means to download something...and they're in first grade and kindergarten."

Wagner's children, though, are not so very different from many other homeschooling families in America today.  According to a recent online poll, 64% of homeschoolers stated that they use technology every day in their homeschool.  That same percentage also rated their expertise with technology as "intermediate."  And 87% believe that homeschoolers will use technology even more in the future.

One reason that homeschoolers may be so technologically adept is that many times, home-taught students have individual access to computers, cell phones and  MP3 players for the entire school day.  This consistent exposure to technology can tend to create students who find multiple educational uses for their technological devices.  Shannon C from New Jersey, for instance, shares her families experience with technology: "We use computers a LOT here. Games, television shows (we don't have cable), research, email, social networks and boards, blogs, etc. We also look inside computers when dh is troubleshooting, take apart old keyboards, stuff like that. And then we have digital cameras (I was pretty impressed with how well my daughter learned hers) and mp3 players. We're definitely a technology happy family!"

In fact, homeschoolers are finding incredibly creative ways to educate in the 21st century.  Here are just a few of the imaginative ways homeschoolers are integrating technology into their day to day studies:

• Using media players to take podcast classes they have downloaded from the net
• Making use of webcams to discuss issues with other homeschooled students in other states and even other countries
• Writing collaborative fiction with other homeschoolers online
• Viewing documentaries and educational videos at a moments notice via Netflix instant streaming service or Discovery's United Streaming
• Having children use Squidoo to create webpages on subjects they are learning about
• Sharing and collaborating on assignments with Google Docs
• Using a digital microscope to capture images and create PowerPoint presentations from them
• Teaching geography with portable GPS units
• Taking C++ or Java as their foreign language requirement instead of Spanish or French

In addition to all the ways homeschoolers use technology as tools for learning, many are also using online programs as their main curriculum.  Time4Learning, for instance, is a multimedia web-based homeschool curriculum with around 10,000 members!   Time4Learning uses interactive lessons in math, language arts, science, and social studies that are aligned with state and national standards.  This "cyberschooling" framework naturally relies on at least a basic amount of technological understanding, such as how to use a mouse, how to navigate between pages, and how to track the progress of the lessons.  Because the Time4Learning curriculum includes even the Pre-K age group, that means that homeschoolers as young as 3 and 4 are gaining valuable computer skills by incorporating "cyberschooling" into their day to day learning.

Although public schools are certainly advancing in their use of technological advances such as classroom whiteboards, increased access to computer labs, and even school subscriptions to electronic resources and databases, the national average for daily access to a computer is still only around four students per machine.  Compare that to the ratio of homeschoolers with all-day one-on-one computer access, and there is still a large technological curve in favor of those being educated at home.  According to Wagner, that may or may not be a good thing.  Her son has recently taken to downloading pictures from Toys R Us® to his hard drive to create a growing wish list of items he would like his parents to buy him.  Perhaps that is just the price you pay for being ahead of the curve.

Kerry Jones is a freelance writer and online marketing consultant in North Carolina.  She has two sons, and has been homeschooling since 1999.  She writes a blog about her adventures homeschooling with technology which you can check out at topsytechie.wordpress.com.  Or you can visit her website and read more of her articles about homeschooling in the digital age.

Published January 21, 2009