There is such a push for technology in classrooms today to meet the increasing demand of technology available in today's world. As we prepare children and students to use this technology, in my opinion, one of the first steps is allowing them to be exposed to the technology. Elementary, Middle, and High School students are using it daily. But, are early childhood classrooms keeping up with the demand and what is appropriate in these classrooms?
The attached article describes why the use of technology with young children has to be monitored and used with good intention. It is important to understand the development of young children. Young children are still in Piaget's preoperational stage and are still concrete learners. When considering Howard Gardner's knowledge of children, young children are very diverse in their learning styles. The concern with technology in early childhood classrooms is "that developmental needs not met through technology will be ignored or radically compromised: physical play, outdoor exploration of the community and of nature; art, music and dance; learning specific social skills and moral values, and experiencing diversity in a myriad of ways." The article starts by asking whether or not technology has a place in the early childhood classroom and says, "it depends on an early childhood program’s overall program goals and objectives, and the program’s goals and objectives for each student. And it depends on how computers are incorporated into the early childhood curriculum (Haugland, 2000)".
I work in a 2 and 3 year old classroom. "Most experts believe computers are not developmentally appropriate for children under the age of three (Elkind, 1998; Haugland, 1999; NAEYC, 1996)". While I agree that it is not developmentally appropriate for under the age of three in large amounts, I also feel that if used appropriately, with teacher guidance, and in small amounts, there is a lot of great technology that can be used with 2 and 3 year olds for learning. Project based learning is everywhere and can be done even with 2 year olds. At one point, I did a project on fish. We were able to study the fish in our fish tank and we were able to get a frozen fish from the DNR to touch and explore. We read books about fish, talked about what we knew about fish before, during, and after our study, and even put fish in our sensory table for observation. However, there are many fish in the ocean that being in Iowa, we had no way to study or even consider. When given the limitless amounts of videos on youtube and other websites, we were able to utilize that technology to help us learn about fish that would have otherwise been out of our realm of study. The key here was that I spent time researching for appropriate videos and web tools that fit the interests of the children without spending too much time with the technology. We maintained our focus with the hands on experiences, outdoor play, music, and other curricular play areas that are crucial for young learners. I feel that my use of technology with two year olds in my fish project was incorporated appropriately and with great learning goals achieved. "Appropriate use of technology in the classroom is to expand, enrich, implement, individualize, differentiate, and extend the overall curriculum. And, obviously, curricula goals change with age, and differ from program to program." To ensure you are using technology appropriately in your early childhood classroom, reference this article for steps and guidelines. Rest assured, if you follow this advice, technology will be a great tool to incorporate and enhance the learning in your classroom.
Reference:
Wardle, F. (2008). The role of technology in early childhood programs. Early Childhood News. Retrieved Nov. 25, 2018, from http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=302
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