CURMUDGUCATION: Word Pedometers: Another Really Dumb Tech Idea

CURMUDGUCATION: Word Pedometers: Another Really Dumb Tech Idea

Word Pedometers: Another Really Dumb Tech Idea

You only have to get one "story at a glance" point into this article to know that this is going to be a freakin' disaster panda, and I have so many wuestions.

New devices can be worn by babies and toddlers to count the number of words they are exposed to each day.

It's a word pedometer, a sensor that you strap onto your child's chest that, well, records all the words tat show up in the area.

They are situated inside a small vest that keeps the tracker positioned on the baby’s chest, not to measure steps or stairs, of course, but to log words, sentences and entire conversations spoken to or overheard by the child.

This is not a new batch of baloney; here are 75 Providence Headstart families being used as a pilot program back in 2014. Because, of course, this is aimed at non-wealthy non-white families, and was mostly about "training parents." The reasoning back then is familiar. According to the program director, "Previous research has shown that the number of words that is heard between ages 0 and 3 is a good predictor for school success." It was backed by the LENA foundation, an outfit that's all about using tech to build early language skills and adult-child talk and pushing the word pedometer. LENA's president came from the aerospace industry, the senior director of research is degreed in CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Word Pedometers: Another Really Dumb Tech Idea