Spring Valley Primary School students (front) Annie and Alex Nguyen, (middle) Phoung Tran, Kawsar Harun, Turioano Raeputa, (back) Elton Chau, with Mordialloc MP Janice Munt and Koonung Province MP Helen Buckingham, and students Rachel Hawley and David Lam at the recent survey to determine multimedia use among children.
– Jessica Craike
KIDS today can be wired up to technology 24 hours a day, seven days a week, a new study by the Educational Training Committee discovered.
Springvale South’s Spring Valley Primary School was the final stop for committee members, who visited local schools during July and August.
Committee member and Mordialloc MP Janice Munt said young people were spending more and more time in front of a screen in the classroom and especially at home.
Minister of Education and Training Lynne Kosky requested the inquiry into the effects of multimedia on children after the portable usage of iPods, the Internet, mobile phones and hand-held games raised concern.
Ms Munt said that the “highly flexible and mobile” nature of new technology enabled students to bring multimedia into schools.
The committee members held formal discussions on the usage of multimedia at school with both students and teachers.
“It is very important that we listen first-hand to the views of young people,” Ms Munt said.
She said the teachers at Spring Valley Primary School were an excellent example by being “confident and enthusiastic” towards controlling multimedia in the classroom.
“Teachers are the most crucial element in integrating the new technologies in the classroom,” Ms Munt said.
