Children in today’s society are exposed to many facets of
technology at an early age. It is
important to look at the use of instructional technology within the early
childhood realm from multiple perspectives in order to uncover the positive and
negative effects that technology can have on child development. Experts in the field of child psychology such
as Piaget, Vygotsky, and Freud discuss the importance of play in order to
support the developmental process.
However, society has moved toward more technological approaches of play
utilizing tablets, leap pads, computers, smart phones, just to name a few. Therefore, the ways in which play has changed
may alter the findings of these important figures in history on their
perceptions of child development. The
question at hand is, are these effects and changes creating a positive or negative
impact on the early childhood development process?
Within my county, students at the middle and high school levels
will be participating in the one-to-one program. This program designates one chrome laptop to
each student for the duration of the school year. The school system is also implementing
wireless internet access on the school buses, so that these students may
utilize these laptops on the buses to and from the school environment. What are some of the technological tools that
your systems are incorporating?
It is my observation that we live in a ‘plugged in’ era. Many youth are utilizing technology for
dating, gaming, and other means that are not linked to educational purposes. What are your thoughts on how these
technologies are effecting the development of our youth? After much research and discussions with
educators in the early childhood field, it is apparent that we need more
research on the effects of this technology on the development of our young
children. I believe that technology has
positive and negative effects and it is imperative that we limit the amount of
exposure or the facets in which the technologies are used in order to support
the positive development of our children.
“Digital technologies are
changing the developmental landscape for young people. The task of designing
innovative approaches to support children and youth in their good uses of
technology goes beyond educators. It involves families, child development experts,
mental health professionals, child advocates, and all others who have influence
in a child’s life.” (Bers, 2010, p.
21). With this being said, how do
educators and parents work toward balancing play-based exploration and the
utilization of technology?
References
The positive or negative impact of technology on early childhood development is largely determined by its usage. There is a variety of mathematics and science sites that are interactive that change students cognitive abilities as they advance through levels. One site our school has purchased an agreement with Gizmo’s which has simulations for science. Study Island is another site that included also subjects and includes writing prompts. There are interactive race games that allow students to play each other identifying math facts, parts of speech, homophones, antonyms, and many others. With the implementation of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) centered teaching and learning, schools do not have a choice regarding utilizing technology. The key issues are when, what, and effective monitoring.
ReplyDeleteR. Kenny
I completely agree with the fact that the use of technology needs to be monitored. There are many exceptional technology tools out there tat are beneficial for children to be exposed to. However, when it comes to the other spectrum such as television, video games, and virtual cities (i.e. facebook). Many children lose the socialization skills necessary in play and many parents use these tools as babysitters. So, outside of the educational realm, how do you feel about technology usage and socialization effects?
DeleteKerri,
ReplyDeleteI am against technology and the "plugged in" learning experience. However, the kids are asking for Ipads, using the computer, etc in the classroom. We are getting new computers that have games aligned to our Creative Curriculum Teaching Strategies GOLD assessment program. The kids will log in and the game then flows based on the child's needs as proven by the outcome of the game. The results are then submitted on our GOLD website for data. It seems interesting and it actually has a purpose, so I am hoping it is beneficial.
Renee, I agree that the key issues are when, what and effective monitoring. I think that is why I have a love/ hate relationship with technology. The kids watch t.v. all day and rarely play outside with imagination, so I hope this new computer software will provide a positive result.
Crystal,
DeleteI agree with the love/hate relationship with technology. I have been conducting extensive research on this topic and there are so many positive effects of technology; however, these positive effects are usually discovered within the educational settings. Looking at the home setting and thinking of technologies such as iphones, television, and video games, just to name a few, I am afraid that these technological tools are being used more for lack of a better term 'babysitting.' Children spend time in virtual cities such as facebook and twitter. Instead of spending time with friends, they are watching the status of friends on these sites. I feel it is taking away from socialization. When attending a restaurant, many people and children are playing on their phones instead of socializing with one another, I feel that this is a huge problem and impacting the development of our youth. What re your feelings on this aspect?
Kerri,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you we are living in a "plugged in" world. As students we are benefitting from a technology driven society because we are taking a doctoral program that is completely on-line. We can be anywhere any time and make a post. I was on vacation just over a week ago and did my final posts in the hotel lobby after a long day of being a tourist. My school work did not suffer so technology allowed me to be a student and a tourist all at the same time.
I know that in your post you were primarily discussing children and youth, but the reality is technology is here and we as educators will have to learn how to implement it appropriately. I believe that as early childhood scholar practitioners that we will be writing the future on how to properly implement technology with young children. The research is growing and will continue to grow so that we can first understand the problem so that it can be solved.
Thanks for sharing!
Jill
Jill,
DeleteTechnology has so many positive effects in all stages of life. My goal is to develop a dissertation that supports the fact that there must be a balance between play and technological exposure at the younger developmental stages of life. My own children have lead pads and they utilize sites at home such as ABCMouse.com; however, I limit the amount of time they get to spend doing these types of things even though they are educational. As an early childhood educator, I see so many students that are constantly 'plugged in' and coming to school unprepared in aspects of writing their name for example. Simple tasks like this are lacking due to many facets, not just technology. However, through my research I am finding that although there are many positive effects of technology, technology also has negative effects, esspecially during the early stages of life.
Kerri,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. This topic is relevant and deserves more attention and research. I used to take two iPads to my Pre-K classroom since iPads were introduced to the world of technology, Thanks to an administrator, I have a different approach. The school I was working in, placed 5 iPads in every classroom in the school with the exception of Pre-K. The reason sited, "Pre-K needs to be involved in as much hand-on learning as possible.
My son's pediatrician asked him to remove his phone from his room at night. There is a growing concern that the use of technology in large amounts of time has effect on a child's ability to rest.
Please enjoy this article I have linked you to. It discusses a study that offers much insight on how the mass use of technology can affect our youth.
http://www.screenretriever.com/online-safety-and+behavior-center/sleep-deprivation-kids-on-the-computercellphones-late-at-night/
Carmen
Carmen,
DeleteThank you for the insight! I appreciate the link to the article above! I have read many other articles that link technology usage to things such as obesity and ADHD as well. It has been interesting researching this current topic because most of the research and case studies equal out when it comes to perspectives, whether they be positive or negative. Therefore, it all depends on what articles you read that will sway your perspective on the effects that technology can have. However, I have fund that in most articles, the authors discuss the importance of a balance between play and exposure to technology.
Carmen and Kerri,
DeleteIt was interesting to read that your son's pediatrician suggested removing the cell phone at night. All three of my children are in college now, but we took their cell phones at 10:00 pm on weeknights and midnight on the weekends until they graduated from high school because we wanted them to be able to sleep. They hated it and thought we were so unreasonable, but now our oldest actually thanked us for making her follow rules and unplug. Our son is a sophomore in college so he is still a little bitter about it. We also still have a no cell phones at the dinner table rule when we all get together. I think it is important to balance just like Kerri stated! Balance is the key to so many things in life.
Kerri,
ReplyDeleteTechnology, indeed, is invading our social-physical presence skills. Like you said, there are always pros and cons about technology. Here are my pros and cons....
Pros:
Technology is great advantage for children with disabilities to access the information, to use that breaks down their barriers, and so on.
Technology is great for children who have faster thinking process. They often need to move rapidly. Technology itself is a rapid movement program anyway.
Cons:
Technology steals the socialization with body presence. It kills the social manners, pathway to make friends face to face, and how to read people's body language, which is a large part of communication development.
Technology promotes a long period of sitting and that means less exercise. It does hurt one's eyes, too. It is not healthy for young children. Technology needs to be limited, in my opinion, because we want children to be able to socialize and learn through hands-on.
I agree that we are definitely "plugged in" everywhere we go. My own children always want to take their tablets with them where ever we go because there is free wifi all over. There are many benefits to technology. One example I have of a benefit is being able to show children different educational videos on YouTube, such as a space ship blasting off during a week of Outer Space being the theme. I also believe that technology can benefit children with disabilities, too, especially the interactive programs. But there is a downside to technology. Although children are exposed to the educational aspects there are also many negative things that children could gain assess to that they should not be exposed to, as well as children just being hooked on the screen.
ReplyDeleteI would love to know how to find that balance.