Effects of Technology

I found this interesting article from the National Institute of Early Education Research. This article discusses the benefits throughout the years from technology use with young children, as well as some concerns about how preschoolers today are immersed in technology almost from birth. The article states that research discovered "that children who were exposed to television in the 1950's and 1960's had the same or slightly higher test scores than those who did not have a television. Positive results were more pronounced where the household was nonwhite, English was a second language, or the mother had less than a high school education."

The article also pointed out concerns about the educational quality of the technology that is typically being presented to preschool children in their homes- such as video games.

Like Buckleitner, Traylor is pro-technology when it comes to education applications. Yet he is suspicious of bombarding 3- and 4-year-olds with technology when the educational merits of the products are not known. His rule of thumb: "I try to think, 'What would Mr. Rogers do?'"

Sharapan also recognizes the limitations of the technology. "My child development background says to me that there's something very different about building with blocks that are three-dimensional, that I can touch and that I'm balancing in my hand, than manipulating something onscreen. We need children to have real experiences with objects and then the virtual experiences can give them another level of understanding," she says. Or as Fred Rogers was fond of saying, "A computer can help you know how to spell hug, but it can't help you get those feelings."

Once again, the usage of technology with very young children is still slightly controversial and needs to be researched further to uncover the best way to use these resources in an educational and developmentally appropriate way.