Tech Talk Appropriately Using

Technology with Young Children:

Learning approaches for selecting, using, integrating, and evaluating digital

tools with early learners

Amanda Armstrong, M.S.

TEC Center Program Coordinator

About Erikson Institute

Our vision is that every adult who works with young children or on their behalf will be knowledgeable, aware, skilled, and alive to the possibilities of each child’s life.

Technology and Media

Your tech experience

• I consider myself a tech-savvy parent.

• I currently use tech and media as a parenting tool.

• I currently use tech and media as a tool to support learning.

• I am confident in my ability to appropriately integrate technology and interactive media in my children’s lives.

• I believe my tech behavior influences my children.

Technology in society Common Sense Media, Zero to Eight: Children’s Media Use in America 2013

• 1,463 parents of children age 8 and under

• May 20 – June 12, 2013

• Key Findings:

– Increase in access to mobile media devices

– Time spent using mobile devices has tripled

– “Traditional” screen media usage has decreased

– TV most prevalent media

– Increase access to mobile media and apps among poor and minority children

Concerns • Overexposure to harmful commercialization, violence, and

inappropriate content; Negative influence

• Hyperactivity, shortened attention, and emotional problems

• Contributes to risk and health problems

• Decrease in social interaction and creative play

• Replace traditional family time activities

• Childhood obesity

• Disrupts sleep

• “Technology Addiction”

• Less time outdoors

Parenting in the Age of Digital Tech Center on Media & Human Development, Northwestern U. • National survey [English & Spanish] of 2,326 parents • Children aged eight years old and younger

http://cmhd.northwestern.edu/?page_id=265

Parenting in the Age of Digital Tech Center on Media & Human Development, Northwestern U. • National survey [English & Spanish] of 2,326 parents • Children aged eight years old and younger

http://cmhd.northwestern.edu/?page_id=265

Approaches to technology • How has our role as parents and caring adults changed

with the increased use of technology and digital media?

• How do we best create positive learning experiences with the integration of digital tools?

• Consider children’s growth

– Physical

– Social-emotional

– Cognitive

Children with Technology

“Technology is most productive in young children’s lives when it enhances their engagement in the rich activities of childhood – talking, interacting, manipulating, pretending, reading, constructing, exploring – as well as in children’s reflection of their actions and experiences.”

A joint position statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College

Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8

Creating a framework “Educators must be knowledgeable and prepared to make informed decisions about how and when to appropriately select, use, integrate, and evaluate technology and media to meet the cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and linguistic needs of young children.”

Select

Use

Integrate

Evaluate

Selection Small Group Discussion Questions:

• How do you decide which books/toys/games to purchase for your children?

• What is the basis of your decision?

• Do your decisions change with the integration of technology?

Selection • Extends learning and development

• Balances with other experiences

• Intentional use

• Passive vs. Interactive

• Appropriate

Context, Child, Culture, Content

• Teaching Goals

• Access and Equity

Lisa Guernsey: The 3 C’s Guiding Questions for Technology and Media Choices

• Content: Is the content appropriate for your child?

• Context: Is it a “relatively small part of your child’s interaction with you and the real world”?

• Child: Is this media and technology meeting your child’s individual needs and interests?

AAP – Children and Technology Council on Communications and Media – Policy Statement: Children, Adolescents, and the Media

• Media is dominant in children’s lives.

• There are concerns about the amount and media content.

• Media literacy and prosocial uses of media may enhance knowledge, connectedness, and health.

• Parents are encouraged to coview TV, movies, and videos with children and teenagers.

• It is recommended that families establish a media use plan.

Effective Tech Use • Joint Media Engagement (JME) – “a spontaneous

and designed experiences of people using media together, and can happen anywhere and at any time when there are multiple people interacting together with digital or traditional media.”

• “When it comes to young children, parent are key JME partners. Parents indirectly influence learning by providing particular toys or media and by arranging excursions that provide new experiences and opportunities for conversation.”

Use • Active, hands-on, engaging and empowering

• Access new content

• Document

• Share and reflect

• Promote digital citizenship

• Encourage exploration

• Encourage physical movement

Use • Build relationships - Students, parents, educators,

other family members, various professionals

• Enhance communication

• Inspire creativity

• Offer assistive technology

• Support home language

• Give children control

Parents’ TV Use Bleakley, Jordan, and Hennessy

• Survey of 1550 parents of children up to age 17 years

• Parent TVV had a stronger relationship to child TVV than parental rules about TVV and coviewing – consistent in all ages.

• Heavy viewing parents may be modeling TVV habits for their children – observational learning.

Integration • Incorporate with other active, hands-on

experiences

• Diverse types of digital tools - mobility

• Tool for learning and communicating

• Throughout the home environment

• Focus on activity and exploration

• Support family’s goals

Learning with Tech Roseberry, Hirsh-Pasek & Golinkoff

36 children – ages 24 – 30 months

• Children under 3 do not learn language from video alone.

• Toddlers learned novel words from video chats and live interactions – socially contingent interactions.

Evaluation • Reflection

– Experience and outcomes

• Observe children’s usage

• Identify opportunities and problems

• Make appropriate adaptations

• Discussions with parents, teachers, and administrators

Let’s play Quick demonstrations of a few of our favorite apps

Would you use this app in your children? Why or why not?

If you choose to use this app, how would you integrate this app into your family life?

Doodlecast MyStory Easy Studio

Hair Salon Me ABC Action Endless Alphabet

Reflections

What are your thoughts about the different types of digital tools?

Share some of your stories of effective use of digital tools in your home.

Making Digital Choices that EMPOWER • Examine ways technology enhances children’s

learning and development

• Merge devices with other hands-on experiences

• Play with digital tools

• Open PLN to include professionals and parents

• Watch young children’s responses to tools

• Establish a framework for digital choices

• Research ways to build knowledge

Applying Knowledge • The 3 C’s = Content, Context, Child – Lisa Guernsey

• Be mindful of your “tech behavior” and its impact; modeling behavior for children

• Include technology in meaningful family experiences if appropriate

• Create a family philosophy on technology and interactive media

• What’s your family’s media ecology?

Quality Children’s Media

Top 5 Apps that Your Kids Will Love This Week by Chris Crowell

Tech and the Young Child Resources

Tech and the Young Child Resources

www.teccenter.erikson.edu

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Photos courtesy of Erikson Institute, NAEYC, Fred Rogers Center, Early Learning Community at Pacific University, Burley Elementary School, University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability

Studies, Cassandra Mattoon and Chris Crowell