Legacy:

Perspectives on learning in a rapidly changing world: Questions to ask children 

As I enter my 70^th year in our world, my thoughts turn to those near and dear to me—my children’s children.  Our world continues to change, exponentially now, as time and energy slow for me.  The Indigenous culture and way is for Elders to share wisdom with others, and it inspires me to do the same.  My passion is to share thoughts and experiences that may inspire and help, as did my grandparents’ stories, thoughts, and actions.

I just finished a CANeLearn report on artificial Intelligence and its role in K-12 education for
LEARN, a CANeLearn partner and founder (excerpts published here). As I watch my teen
grandkids on their phones, the toddlers on their tablets, with the ubiquitous dings in their parents’ and my phone, I marvel that we have any spoken conversations in the same room at all. Gone are my days of waxed string tied to metal soup cans or yelling down the block to friends. Today, without parental supervision, I see the cacophony of the world flooding into my grandchildren’s phones and tablets: the 20-second soundbites and headlines, misinformation and disinformation, and now AI companions as friends and advisors. What happened to the innocence and make-believe times of outdoor playing, storytelling, and creating new things from objects within our reach?

• How can I communicate and share my fears, my growing knowledge, my wisdom about managing this dissonance when I am barely able to survive it?

I asked my adult children how they manage tech with their own, and hear and see very different approaches and results. I muse about how to share what I have learned without interfering or being offside with parental interests. After all, my child-raising responsibilities have faded (at least I hope so!). In situations similar to this in my past, I found that asking questions was the best way to avoid pontification, criticism, or conversation-stifling argument and judgment. So, here goes…

Questions to engage grandkids about tech and its impact on our world.

Question 1: Why do you use a smartphone? For the younger, what do you do on your tablet?

Question 2: Can you tell me what AI is? Do you use it? For what? Why? How? When?

Question 3: How often do you use digital technologies in a day?

Question 4: Which do you prefer, conversation through digital tech or in-person, face-to-face?
Why?

I wasn’t that happy with the questions, particularly as I have 11 grandchildren from 3 to 19 years of age.  So, I used Claude.AI (Opus 4) to rephrase the questions for toddlers, pre-teens, and teenagers.  I will let you know how it goes in later posts.

Here are the results. 

Claude:
I’ll help you rephrase these questions for different age groups, keeping them age-appropriate and engaging while maintaining the grandfather’s caring perspective.

For Toddlers (Ages 2-6):

• What do you like to do on your tablet? Do you watch videos or play games?  What’s your favourite thing to do on it?
• Have you ever talked to a computer or tablet, and it talked back? Like when you
  ask it to play a song or show you something? That’s a special computer helper! What does it help you do?
• How many times did you use the tablet or watch TV today? Can you count with
  me – one time, two times…?
• What makes you happier – talking to Grandpa on your mom’s or dad’s phone, or
  visiting Grandpa and giving him a big hug in person? Why?

For Pre-teens (Ages 7-12):

• What are your favourite things to do on your smartphone or tablet? Do you use it
  for games, videos, homework, or talking to friends?
• Have you heard about AI – Artificial Intelligence? It’s like a super smart computer helper. Do you use things like Siri, Alexa, or ChatGPT? What do you use them for, and how do
  they help you?
• If you had to guess, how many hours do you spend using phones, tablets,
  computers, or game systems, each day?
• When you want to talk to your friends, do you like texting and video calls better, or
  hanging out with them in person?  What’s good about each way?

For Teenagers (Ages 13-19):

• I’m curious about how your generation uses smartphones – what are the main
  reasons you reach for your phone throughout the day? How has it become part of your daily life?
• AI is everywhere now, and there’s something new called Agentic AI that can do tasks on its own. What’s your understanding of AI? Which AI tools do you use – for school,
  creativity, or just for fun? How do you decide when to use AI versus doing something yourself?
• Be honest with your grandpa – what’s your daily screen time? How do you balance
  digital activities with other parts of your life?
• Your generation has grown up with both digital and in-person communication.
  Which do you find more meaningful and why? Are there certain conversations better suited for each?