Pasnik says she sees a lot of learning potential in these newer technologies. Tablet computers for example, offer repetition, portability and the possibility of learning with gestural movements, all of which hold promise for preschool students.
She cautions that many of the apps being developed today place too much emphasis on academic skills and not enough emphasis on making things, discovering, sharing and turn taking.
“We do a disservice to young children in attending to a very rigid and narrow sense of math and literacy and not really paying attention to the developmental needs of this age group,” said Pasnik.
“The uptake of adoption here is far in advance of the research. But that’s not to say that we can’t be really thoughtful about what we do know about children’s development.”
LaToya Wilkerson on 21 Feb 09Site for creating artwork and images ideally for children ages 3 to 12. Anyone can access and download the application for free from the website (tuxpaint.org). The application has special features to engage children, including sound effects when tools are selected and used, and a cartoon displayed in the corner to give help and hints. The drawing tools that are available for children to use are paint brush, rubber stamp, line tool, shape tool, text tool, special effects (magic) tools, eraser, and undo. Also, teachers and children can easily open, save, and print creations.This program could be used in an early childhood setting to help children work on fine motor skills by using the mouse on the computer. It can also foster creativity because the children are allowed to create whatever they want, however they want, and there is no limit on the amount of pictures that can be created. I would use this program in centers in the early childhood setting so that children could get equal opportunity and assistance, if needed.
