Digital Wellbeing & Productivity Expert
iPads
Are you frustrated that you can’t ever achieve inbox zero? Are you overwhelmed by the amount of time you dedicate to email every.single.day? Are you sick of the incessant ping of your inbox? Or maybe you’ve suffered from that post-holiday feeling of panic when you’re greeted by a bulging inbox upon your return to work? […]
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Is Typing or Handwriting Better for Kids? The keyboard versus the pen. Which is better for children’s learning? As laptops and tablets become commonplace in schools many parents and teachers are left wondering if note-taking with paper and pencil will become an obsolete skill. Do young children still need to learn how to […]
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Now this post certainly won’t make me popular with many parents and it certainly won’t be popular with kids, but it’s nonetheless important. In this episode I discuss why it’s important for children’s bedrooms to be “tech-free” spaces. In an ideal world this means no gadgets in bedrooms at all. No TV, iPads, gaming consoles. Absolutely nothing. […]
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Recent news headlines have many parents of young children in a state of panic. Some popular news outlets claimed that there was “scientific evidence” that indicated that touchscreen devices were detrimental for young children’s development. The headlines stated that there was science to support the claim that, “iPads and Smartphones May Damage Toddler […]
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The first Appy Kids, Appy Parents Workshop was held on Saturday 23 August at the gorgeous South Curl Curl Surf Lifesaving Club, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. A group of parents and their enthusiastic pre-schoolers attended the workshop to learn more about healthy, safe and even educational ways to use iPads. I decided to offer the workshop […]
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This post has been brewing for a couple of months now. It’s sat in my drafts folder and I’ve deliberated about posting it. But now I’m feeling brave enough to say, “Unplug your child…please.” Why’ve I been so tentative? To be completely honest, I don’t want to sound like a hypocrite. I don’t ever want […]
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Managing screen time for kids is hard. Really hard. Turning off the iPad can result in tantrums. Fist-clenching, hysterical tantrums, even from 10-year olds! Asking four-year olds to pass back your iPhone can sometimes lead to desperate pleas for, “…just one more app…puh-lease.” Or perhaps it’s just blatant refusal to turn off the device (even […]
Read MoreA recent blog post has caused much concern amongst parents and teachers alike in recent days. I have fielded a couple of media calls about this controversial post and have also had friends and worried parents asking me about some of the claims in the blog post. So I thought I should respond to the […]
Read MoreTechno-guilt. Do you suffer from it? I do. Sometimes I feel guilty about allowing my son to use the iPad (or watch TV). Yep, even as a children’s technology researcher I am sometimes plagued by this affliction. And I know I shouldn’t feel guilty but somehow I have bought into this guilt thing. I […]
Read MoreI downloaded an app for Taj (3.5 years old) the other day. It was a dinosaur app. He LOVES dinosaurs. The app contained talking dinosaurs, it correctly pronounced all of their names (in a fluent way that Mummy just cannot), it contained a jig-saw puzzle, a tonne of information about dinosaurs and lots of other […]
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