Technology And Early Education
– A mixed influence on Preschool Learning!
Today’s generation is born with the skills to become excellent and super fast learners. They have an innate passion to explore, learn and live with fast-paced experiences. To help the preschoolers grow and excel academically, use of technology in the right fashion is essential.
Toddlers and Technology – What’s the matter?
Children are born investigators. They tend to be over curious and wish to explore things around them. And technology, on the other side, provides a perfect platform for them to explore, imagine, create and groom the skills.
In the 21st century, the widened frame of technology has also included early childhood education in the developmental image. Technology helps the Montessori grade children to support an intellectual and advanced learning rather than cramming alphabets through books.
But the impact of this may also vary. Use of technology in the early education is directly proportional to the use and inclusion of technology in the curriculum laid down by the educators. At this stage of development, it is very important for adults to provide an amazingly positive technical overview as well as supervise the digital experience for the toddlers.
What is technology for young learners?
Technology for young learners is to provide an opportunity for the toddlers to grow as trend pacing and investigative students. The technologies that can be used for a toddler are categorized into three mainstreams including:
- Direct Devices
This is to help them explore programs pertaining to their subject of choice. Imparting knowledge through Speaking Books, Tablet learning etc, help in giving the usual playschool classroom scenario, a whole new experience.
- Audio-visual devices
The Audio-visual setting in the playschool structure helps the young children to use their sense organs actively and retain the audio along with visual in a much better way. Smart Classes, let the young children listen to stories, rhymes, songs and subjective audios that enhance their comprehending power and pronunciation too.
- Advanced technology
With trending technology, an advanced approach to learning has led to the emergence of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality that is weaving the thread of early education in a much profound manner.
Use of Technology in the Early Education Sector
Technology at the preschool level helps children to explore the opportunities so as to how well they fit into the modern world. Early childhood learning combined with technology encourages children to be independent, play freely and also gives them the power to tackle problems.
Here are some benefits of using the technology efficiently for children between 3 to 5 years of age:
- Fosters Basic Learning
The use of technology is one of the most beneficial modes of imparting the basic learning in playschool. Use of smart classes, tablets, and speaking books helps children to foster initial days of schooling to learn the basics concepts. Various preschools have developed specialized learning applications and software inclusive of the complete curriculum for all Montessori programs. With technology, boredom classroom learning becomes interesting and hassle-free for the little ones to tackle.
- Enhances the concentration level
In today’s learning, there is a long list of technical teaching aids used by various nursery platforms. On the playschool level, it is very interesting for children to have active play combined with teaching and learning. These products help children to indulge in the process of comprehending while focusing all the senses together without any distractions. This promotes the interaction of children with the technological learning with a smooth transition and less boredom.
- Learn about the environment around them
Technology allows the children at various levels of preschool to read, listen as well as watch videos on various things present around them. Along with this, the new technical provisions like AR and VR creates an artificial environment for kids to study their surroundings closely. This helps the little ones in grasping and retaining things faster along with developing the ability to understand and identify things around them in a better manner as compared to the traditional methods of teaching.
- Develop and encourage creativity
Technology is a boon for the children to build and strengthen their creative skills. With the help of digital technology, children use various methods of learning the same thing, making it easier for every child to adapt to their own comfort of understanding. Later on, this can be used for the practical purposes. By using digital tech-enabled activities, the creative nature of the children can be nurtured in a much profound manner. Providing an open experience of technology to the preschooler for the right purpose will definitely foster more responsible digital citizens in the future.
But, to no doubt, besides being a substance of worth, technology, at a certain point in time has greater chances of imposing a bad effect on your child. Thus, the use of technology in the right fashion is important!
Now, what does “the use of technology in the right fashion means?” Let’s discuss…
It definitely is a very dicey situation to add technology as a mode of instruction in the initial ages. With a booming power of changing world, technology may also have some reverse effects on the growing age of a child.
The best way for technology to be the fore-runner in education is by encouraging toddlers to use technology wisely under supervision. The studies collaborated with technology have shown better output as compared to the conventional methods of early education.
Technology coupled with many minds studying together can build a strong foundation for progressive thinking in children. Active outdoor time collectively joint with technology makes it easier to train children and also document their experiences and observations.
“With portable gadgets, technology can be used for better purposes. An adult supervision and involvement will actually simplify the overall process of play school learning…”