The Role of Technology in Early Childhood Programs - 0 views
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To evaluate whether computers are developmentally appropriate for children over age three, we need to determine the developmental needs of these children. Children this age are developmentally within Piaget’s preoperational stage. This means they are concrete learners who are very interested in using newly learned symbolic representation - speaking, writing, drawing (including maps and geometric figures) and using numbers. Further, children this age are extremely active and mobile. They often have difficulty sitting still; they need frequent changes in learning modalities; and they want a variety of physical experiences involving dance, physical play, climbing and sports. Preoperational children are also are continuing their mastery of language, and exploring various facets of social behavior.
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kristel coulter on 27 Sep 13We should evaluate children to see if they are ready for certain programs. This theory states since some children have problems sitting still the children need more changes and opportunities to move. -
Kelsey Short on 29 Sep 13I do not think evaluating children will help us decide whether or not they will be ready for technology. The new generations are picking it up on their own earlier and earlier. I think the generations we will be teaching will expect this as a daily part of life by the time they reach even the preschool age. -
Lindsay Pasco on 29 Sep 13I think that it is important to know the developmental needs of children. I agree that there should be a variety of physical environment in physical experience and exploring. I think that within the next few years children will already be dependent of the technology and use it in the everyday life, which is important to know because then we must incorporate it in the classroom.
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Clearly many of these developmental needs match up well with appropriate use of technology in the classroom, especially exploration, manipulation of symbolic representation, matching alternative learning styles, and quickly changing learning modalities that individual students can control and pace to meet their individual needs. It is also a very powerful tool for students with specific learning disabilities.
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Every child is different and has different developmental needs and we need to meet the needs of every child.
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The use of computers in a fully integrated classroom is endless. Software can be used to create books, with dictated tests and illustrations; photos of children and the community can be taken with digital cameras and then combined with text and pictures to create journals, biographies, wall newspapers, school/home communications, and neighborhood documents. Older children can use scanners, font selection, and various graphics application, to develop power-point presentations to show the rest of the class and parent gatherings. And, of course, Internet sites can be accessed to do research on almost all topics. There are also wonderful opportunities for correspondence activities with children throughout the world.
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This article talks about the use of technology in early childhood classes. - ...3 more comments...
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I like the article but one thing stuck out to me and that is "Preschool and kindergarten children should first be introduced to computers one at a time, or in small groups." I think this quote is controversial, to me that is. I think technology needs to be introduced to students at a later age like maybe 4th grade. Just definitely not preschoolers and kindergarteners. Lets say you show a kindergarten child a picture of an apple and you only show them pictures of things and you do not integrate actual apples or trips they will only perceive the item as what they saw. My main point is if you show a picture of a red apple and say this is what an apple looks like they will memorize an apple as being that red apple on the screen. Then when they go take a test on fruits and the question says: What color is an apple? A) red B) green or C) red or green. The child will pick A when the correct answer would be C. They will pick A because they only saw a red apple during that lesson. -
I really like how this article addresses the DAP of computers in an early childhood classroom.
