Out With The Old, In With The New

            Today, more than ever, our children are born into an ever-changing world of technology. As parents struggle with navigating though all these devices, access to the internet and software, and number of hours spent engaged, teachers and early childhood providers must also decide how technology will be utilized in their classroom.

            In a recent survey by PlayScienceLab, a whopping 79% of children ages 2 – 5 years old have access to a smart phone, irregardless of household income levels. An additional 35% of that age group that has access to an Ipod Touch and 19% have access to a tablet! This access includes more than just playing with Mom or Dad’s smart phone. It includes parents downloading between 1 and 5 apps a month directly for children. This definitely shows that young children are immersed in technology!

            This raises the question of whether, or how much, technology is appropriate for the early childhood classroom. Are children already exposed to enough technology at home that they don’t need it in their classrooms? We want children to learn and develop in all areas. Is technology taking away from other areas of development? Is money spent on technology taking away from the preschool supplies dollars? Is open-ended play being sacrificed for technology? Children play with unit blocks and learn mathmatical shapes, cause and effect principles from stacking and building, and social skills such as turn-taking and sharing. Can they learn the same from technology?

            There are mutiple makers of software, games, and interactive books to be scoured through. Do any of these provide comparable learning to playing in the home area, running and skipping outside, or working together to complete a floor puzzle? Do teachers and educators have the time and resources to investigate the everchanging world of technology?

            We want children, including the young, to have the best of everything. It will be a tough decision, with all the technology available, to determine how much is best.