I was going through a list of apps on my iTunes for my iPhone the other day in preparation of taking care of my 3-year-old niece for a whole day. Personally, I'll admit that I tend to have a strong bias towards avoiding technology when it comes to introducing early learning, at least until the age of 5. However, my niece has had a constant exposure to technology and hence, I figured technology would only be my backup plan if all else fails. While going through the apps, I found an app that appeared to be a 'digital colouring book'. You can check it out here <https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/paint-sparkles-draw-my-first/id435539858?mt=8>. This really made me reconsider whether I wanted to use technology in teaching my niece as I instantly felt that using these apps would take away physical experiences such as holding a pencil or being able to draw on a paper without touching a screen or ensuring my niece understood that colours on paper aren't as 'bright' or vibrant as on screen. And hence, I decided to look at different perspectives on whether technology (mainly iPad/tablet applications) played a positive of negative role in children's learning.
Pros:
1. Can complement or supplement read-alouds (Dalton 2012)
2. Can supplement development of fine motor skills (Dalton 2012)
3. Provides stimulating and exciting visuals that engage children's attention.
4. Provides an opportunity for children to showcase their learning (Castek 2012)
5. Forms a foundation for future learning in a technology-rich world.
6. Allows information to be more accessible (Cambourne 2010 quotes Thompson 2010)
7. Offers more interactive options for children. (Cambourne 2010)
8. Work can be saved more easily.
9. Allows convenience of transporting multiple resources.
10. Educational games and applications may motivate children to learn.
Cons:
1. Discourages face-to-face interaction
2. Overstimulation can lead to low attention spans when away from technology.
3. Can take away physical experiences vital to children's development.
4. Can be an indicator of ignorance towards children of lower income groups who cannot access technology resources from home.
5. Most technology/apps do not offer time for reflection (Wolpert 2009 cites Greenfield)
Reflection
Based on collective research and my own reflections of the pros and cons of technology and apps in learning, I suppose that at the end of the day, pros definitely do outweigh the cons. It was actually a lot harder to find articles and readings that had a negative view towards technology in classrooms. Perhaps it really just is a traditional and selfish bias to exclude technology from children's learning, especially in a growing society that incorporates technology into almost every aspect of life. While I believe that technology can take away the social aspect of learning, there are many articles that also indicate that social learning can also take place virtually. Many also indicate that using technology is a key in helping students express themselves by recording their own voices, making videos and rewatching these pre-recorded visuals. However, I do believe that there are many other different ways for children to express themselves such as drama, or painting or singing that do not involve technology. I suppose that, while technology should not be completely excluded from early learning, there just needs to be a balance in the amount of technology that should be incorporated in the classroom.
References:
Cambourne, K 2010, Technology in the Classroom in The Sydney Morning Herald, January 19, accessed 21st November 2013, from <http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/back-to-school/technology-in-the-classroom-20100119-mhn3.html>
Castek, J 2012, Expressive Learning: Encouraging Students’ Multimodal Expression to Enhance Content Learning from Literacy Beat, accessed 21st November 2013, from <http://literacybeat.com/2012/05/24/expressive-learning-encouraging-students-multimodal-expression-to-enhance-content-learning/>
Dalton, B 2012, Digital technologies for literacy in early years classrooms from Literacy Beat, accessed 21st November 2013, from <http://literacybeat.com/2012/06/06/digital-technologies-in-early-years-classrooms/ >
Wolpert, S 2009, Is technology producing a decline in critical thinking and analysis? in UCLA Newsroom, accessed 21st November 2013, from <http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/is-technology-producing-a-decline-79127.aspx>
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