By Michael Hilkemeijer
why use technology in early childhood education?
Why is technology important in early childhood education?
The following reasons also highlight some of the benefits of ICT in Early Childhood Education.
Reason 1
Firstly, young children are already being exposed to ICT tools and as such it already has an effect on them and on the environment and people that surround them.
ICT tools are becoming a ubiquitous component of physical and social world. It is an important part of private and work life of most people, including young children.
Reason 2
This relates to the many opportunities and potential ICT delivers to the teaching and learning of curriculum.
In early childhood, it can:
- Support and enhance learning and play experiences.
- Support and strengthen your professional learning as an early childhood teacher.
- Support and strengthen your relationships with parents and other people connected to your early childhood education centre.
Reason 3
Many curriculums are now supporting the integration of ICT across the education sector from early childhood to tertiary.
Research shows that the delayed attention to ICT in early childhood has given the sector an advantage that while in the past attention has been given towards getting ICT infrastructure into schools without pedagogical support, the reverse is now occurring.
Reason 4
ICT supports metacognition or ‘learning to learn’. It means knowing that you know and it provides the foundation to what an ICT capable child is.
REASON 5
The use of ICT in early childhood education supports many opportunities for creative development with young children. Through the use of ICT in role plays, they will employ imaginative thinking.
REASON 6
Language development is greatly enhanced when ICT is employed in the learning environments. ICT tools and resources such as word processors may appear to be very basic, but remember the power of word processing is in the ease in which children can easily edit and change their writing whilst developing their language and literacy skills.
REASON 7
Children can increase their world knowledge through the use of modern technology such as the Internet.
REASON 8
The many features that ICT brings with it in the learning environment will in the end improve the fine and motor gross skills of children.
REASON 9
Mathematical development is also enhanced as a result of the visual images which computers can provide.
REASON 10
One of the many benefits that will come with the use of ICT in early childhood education is that of collaboration. This alone helps to build language with children in addition to developing their social skills.
What are the Key Features of ICT that support Early Childhood?
The features of ICT which supports Early Childhood can also have an impact throughout the rest of a child’s school life.
It are these features of ICT which make it stand out from other media, and which cannot be represented in terms of the others.
These include:
Clarity: this feature means that text and images can be produced, combined and reproduced. Children have a choice of neat or artistic fonts for example, is one way that it provides clarity.
Authenticity: ICT tools are professionally throughout life in many fields so to provide children with these at an early stage of their education gives them experience in realistic tasks. Children are also able to make their work look more professional than just the traditional ways in the classroom.
Focusability: rapid narrowing down of information can be achieved through the use of search tools and menu structures. Children can select parts of images and zoom in on them to enlarge them so that they can focus their attention on aspects of images and begin their analysis of it.
Multimodality: information can be easily changed to communicate through multiple senses.
Availability: children and early childhood teachers can choose when and where to use ICT tools and resources.
These key features are at the heart of the impact of technology in early childhood education.
Put these features together and they make ICT tools and resources very powerful as it continues to promote engagement with activities.
The result being that children will persevere longer with ICT tasks. Motivation is a huge and powerful feature to have as an early childhood teacher’s tools in the classroom.
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ICT Tools in Early Childhood Education
