Technology and Young Children

1. Technology and Young Children By Lauren Parks

2. Effective Classroom Practice • Infants and Toddlers • Technology Tools and Interactive Media • Children should be allowed to explore digital materials in the context of human contacts, with an adult as mediator and co-player. As with shared book reading, use shared technology time as an chance to talk with children, use new vocabulary, and model proper use. • Avoid passive screen time. Some parents may claim that baby videos calm an otherwise fussy child, there is little research to suggest that infants and toddlers learn from watching videos. A child that is distressed needs a caring adult instead of an electronic toy.

3. Effective Classroom Practice • Use technology as an active and engaging tool when appropriate to provide infants and toddlers with access to images of their families and friends, animals and objects in the environment, and a wide range of diverse images of people and things they might not otherwise encounter (photos of children from other countries, for example). • integrate assistive technologies as suitable for children with special needs and/or developmental delays. • Children’s progress can be documented by or audio or video files.

4. Effective Classroom Practice • Preschool and Kindergarteners • Technology Tools and Interactive Media • Allow children to freely explore touch screens loaded with a wide variety of developmentally appropriate interactive media experiences that are well designed and boost feelings of success. • Provide opportunities for children to begin to explore and feel comfortable using “traditional” mouse and keyboard computers to  use Websites or look up answers. • Capture photos of block buildings or artwork that children have created; videotape dramatic play to replay for children.

5. Effective Classroom Practice • Celebrate children’s accomplishments with digital media displayed on a digital projector or on a classroom Website. • Include assistive technologies as appropriate for children with special needs and/or developmental delays. • Record children’s stories about their drawings or their play; make digital audio or video files to show their progress. • Explore digital storytelling with children. Co-create digital books with photos of the children’s play or work; attach digital audio files with the child as the narrator. 

6. Effective Classroom Practice • School Aged Children • Technology Tools and Interactive Media • Explore a wide range of quality interactive media experiences, on a variety of platforms. These include literacy software, games, and technologies that go beyond drill and practice and foster creativity. • Use Web 2.0 tools for writing, collaboration, and playful experimentation. • Include a range of assistive technology devices to expand access for children with special needs. • Include language-translation software and keyboard adaptations for dual language learners.

7. Effective Classroom Practice • Provide geometry software that allows children to explore the concept of shape by stretching, bending, shrinking, or combining images. • Use interactive digital games as a way to explore math, reading, social studies, and science concepts. • Provide digital microscopes and other digital tools for investigation. • Encourage children to become proficient in using digital tools such as cameras, scanners, recorders, and editing software. • Use technology tools to connect with other children in their communities or globally using e-mail, blogs, or video conferencing. • Add the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards into the curriculum.

8. Effective Classroom Practice • Record children’s stories about their art projects, activities, and interactions; make digital audio or video files to show their progress. • Include assistive technologies as suitable for children with special needs and/or developmental delays.

9. Kids and Tech: How much is too much? • Pros and Cons • two-thirds of children have a television in their room • 17 percent have their own computer  • 35 percent have a video game system • 31 percent of children age three and under are already using computers • 16 percent use them several times a week • 21 percent can point and click with a mouse by themselves • 11 percent can turn on the computer without assistance • Alarming gap in knowledge between parents and their children when it comes to technology, there are concerns that children may be at risk to sexual predation and other dangers.

10. Practice What You Preach • Studies show that if mom and dad have trouble disconnecting from technology, then kids will not see the need to disconnect either. Parents set the tone when it comes to limiting technology. • "Parents use cell phones on the way to drop-off or pickup times. They are absorbed in their own virtual world and pay no attention to their children's departure and reunion at the end of the day," Mann asserted. "Children learn from their parents as if these are perfectly normal behaviors, and they emulate them, too." 

11. Practice What You Preach • Don’t text and drive • Don’t talk on the phone and drive • Model proper cell phone use or any electronic use put it away while others are talking or before entering a place where others will be. • Start rules and limitations early with children, just as you would manners.

12. References • http://www.naeyc.org • http://www.technewsworld.com • http://www.technewsworld.com