Scrabble is one of my favorite board games and one of those games that is great to have on your phone when you’re waiting in a long line somewhere. There are several downsides to board games that become electronic, especially for young children. For one, the simple arithmetic employed to keep score is done for you. Whatever the video game, the math is done for you. You don’t even need to compare numbers at the end, the computer declares who won.
Last month Monopoly released a new electronic banking version. The dollar amounts are adjusted to be in the millions, but there is no cash to handle. Everything is done via a plastic debit card. One push of the button and the math is done for you. The handling of cash and counting back change are missed learning opportunities.
When kids use technology, we have to be careful to asses whether or not they’re using skills we assumed they were.
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