My six-year-old grand nephew is deeply into gorillas. He wants to know everything about them: how big they really are, how strong, what kind of noise they make. He begs for stories about gorillas, and spins stories about gorillas that he makes up for himself. His parents and grandparents give him books and toys along the gorilla theme, and tell him what they know on the subject. His teacher at school may even take the time to talk with him on his favorite subject: gorillas. Yet at school, he is unlikely to get to focus more than briefly, if at all, on his the subject that has captured his interest.
Learning is a major part of what kids quite naturally do. When my grand nephew is at school, he becomes a member of a class, not an individual engager of knowledge. His current gorilla obsession is necessarily curtailed.
Today at Howard Rheingold’s SmartMobs.com, where I am lead blogger, I wrote that the demise of Big Brother is what was once inconceivably good news for the future: a gift of the cellphone barely yet appreciated.
I really think that even more transformationally wonderful for the future is the fact that the knowledge a youngster is learning is being placed bountifully in his hand. The captivating gorilla cupcake video above is an example of just how very much fun it is today to engage knowledge about gorillas. Below is text from an email I sent my grand nephew with some more gorilla knowledge to engage now, while that is the focus of his interest.
Big Brother will now never control the world because the internet has opened individual communication. Learning is entering a global golden age because the internet has opened individual engagement of knowledge. The new knowledge gorilla is one beautiful cupcake!
Sent to my six-year-old grand nephew:
This is a post on ZooBorns.com about a new baby gorilla. Her name is Kojolu. You can read more about Kojolu at these places online, where there are pictures.
One gorilla that interested me is Goma. There are pictures of Goma here. Goma was the very first gorilla ever born in a zoo. She is now 50 years old. The pictures you will see of her were taken way back when I was in high school.
