Technology In Early Childhood Education

In the article, The Role of Technology in Early Childhood Programs by Francis Wardle, it states that technology will increase academic skills, reduce dropout rates, eliminate the racial divide in academic performance, and increase SAT scores. And it will make the lives of teachers easier. Well, it may not accomplish all of these goals, but educational technology does have a place in early childhood. Right? It depends on an early childhood program’s overall program goals and objectives, and the program’s goals and objectives for each student. And it depends on how computers are incorporated into the early childhood curriculum. Most experts believe computers are not developmentally appropriate for children under the age of three (Elkind, 1998; Haugland, 1999; NAEYC, 1996). However, these same experts believe children three years old and older can begin to effectively explore and use computers. Surely, many of the factors that make computers developmentally inappropriate for children under age three are also present in older children: active learners busily manipulating a wide variety of objects…and in the process of learning about themselves and their environment." Use of technology in the early childhood program must not be a goal unto itself: the purpose is not to teach children how to use computers; they can do this as they get older, just as they can learn to drive a car later in their lives (Wardle, 1999). Appropriate use of technology in the classroom is to expand, enrich, implement, individualize, differentiate, and extend the overall curriculum. And, obviously, curricula goals change with age, and differ from program to program. If a goal of the literacy curricula for a certain age child is to learn to write personal journals, then the computer can naturally support that through writing software, digital cameras, and other methods. A science goal that requires learning the habitat of different zoo animals can be augmented by using specific CD ROMS and accessing zoo web sites. Similarly, studying extinct and endangered animals becomes more real and educational through the use of specific software and websites. (Wardle) I agree with this article about integrating technology in to the classroom because it provides a great way for children to learn and enhance their learning capabilities. Technology often offers something that a teacher can not provide in the classroom. We as teachers, need to learn how to properly incorporate the use of technology in to our lesson plans so our students will get the best possible learning experience.

Citation:
Wardle, Francis. "The Role of Technolgy In Early Childhood Programs." EarlyChildhoodNEWS. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Jun 2012.