Sunday, July 4, 2010

Technogy Education For Young Children

In the 21st century, children are ‘digital learners’, their life take in the world with full filter of computing devises: the cellular phones, iPods, and handheld laptops they bring along everywhere, some more the computers, televisions, With, and other technology toys at home. Children grow up in a rapid changing world and exploration of technology appliances surrounds them. Today, there are some schools offer technology educations for young children and integrating technology tools in teaching programs. Children engage in technology environment as early as possible. In this essay, we will clearly define the benefits that highlight the important and disadvantage of technologies for young children.

Using technologies to learn is highly enjoyable for children and children learn more and keener to do so. Children fascinate by technologies and they able to maintain long attention span while engaging in technology devices. When children build focus and concentration in technology programs, it has enable teachers to offer developmentally needs and seek the positively technology in children’s learning process. For instance, the language and literacy skills, cognitive skills and physical skills can be integrating in technology education. Besides that, technologies can be use in promoting special needs children’s developments, interests, and strengths because it draws the curiosity of them. In addition, technologies can also cater for different learning styles of the children and helping children to learn on individual way, such as visual, auditory- musical, and kinesthetic/tactile learning styles. Every child is unique in the world, they may have similar interests or strengths, but the way they interact and deal with these interests or strengths display their personality. When the interaction between learning styles of children and teaching style of teacher are mismatch, it causes children lack of concentration, inactive and poor academic performance in the classroom. Hence, the interest of children must be at the heart of the entire planning and implementation of the technology education. Moreover, children construct knowledge and expand understanding of the world through multiple technology implements. Technologies use allows greater result in children learning and academic performances. For example, teacher can show lion video clip to the children when teaching wild animals in the classroom. After that, teacher expands the children’s knowledge by requiring them to draw out their own lion base on their imagination and observation from the video clip in art and craft lesson. These child centre teaching strategies encourage children independence learning and learn in the fun way. Furthermore, children learn about social interaction with others and build up social- cultural approach when engaging in technology education. Technologies provide an opportunity for children to communicate with peers and adults about using the technologies and sharing information found on. It also allows children to imitate adults’ works by using technologies tools, such as handheld laptops and cellular phones, to increase self- independence and learn about the culture around them. In addition, technology is a form to communicate and express emotional or thoughts for young children. Children those who difficulty in communication may express their feeling or thoughts by using technology tools, especially for special needs children. From above, we know that technologies are benefits children’s development. By the way, if children are using technologies inappropriately, there are some disadvantages impacts on them.


Children those who spend too much time on technologies will impact the close tie relationship with their parents. In some cases, parents excessively focus on their businesses or works and encourage their child engage in technology devices as replacement for outdoor activities. This has causes children living in an unhealthy lifestyle and stagnant their development. Besides that, some parents are lack of knowledge of how to protect their child from technology injuries, such as childhood obesity, addiction to gaming/ internet and so on. Moreover, children have think loss of ‘reality’ sometimes when get too wrapped up in technologies. They lose the opportunities to socialize with others and live on their imaginative images of the world. However, all of these effects can be resolve with parental guidance, intervention and responsibility.

In the nut shell, technologies are important and significance in childhood education. Educators must use technologies in appropriate way to benefits children’s learning. Parents play as role models to teach children the concept of using technologies in the right way. We, everyone have the responsibility to struggle with the technology issues occur in our daily life so that we can make the world to a better place for children’s learning and healthy growth.

Reference

Constructivism bares its heads (n.d).July,4, 2010,from.

http//hudpages.com/hub/Using-technology-as-educational-tool


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2 comments:

  1. Today, technology devices are very important in childre's learning, especialy for special needs children. Hope there are more technology devices in future to make the children's world to a better place. ~lee chen

    ReplyDelete
  2. Technology is the kids study a wide,children can learn different type of things from technology.
    ^^Ivin^^

    ReplyDelete