'Four-year-old addicted to iPad'
‘Preschoolers treated on digital detox diets’
'Shocking rise in children hooked on using smartphones and tablets'
— read the headlines of articles featuring in newspapers around the world during April following reports of a British preschooler spending up to four hours a day on her iPad.
Should we be concerned about device-use or how we let children use the device?
Should we be concerned? And if so, do these concerns arise from the iPad or the way adults allow children to use the device?
Certainly, if tablets are only being used as ‘iBabysitter’ devices, where children watch videos and e-books are ‘read’ aloud, then referral to ‘screen-time’ research is relevant. We need, however, to move past the notion of ‘screen-time’ when these devices are used in ways that encourage interaction and creativity, as this level of interaction demands more of the user than just watching the screen.
Research shows the benefits of tablets
Modern mobile devices, such as iPads and tablets, have been around for just over three years, so research around their use in early childhood education has been relatively limited. Early research is showing that when used well, and in moderation, there are benefits to iPads as a tool for learning, even with young children. Quality open-ended applications afford young children early learning opportunities when they engage, interact, and create in new ways on these devices, particularly when offered as part of a well-balanced environment.
In 2010, UNESCO reported that new technologies (such as tablets) are important in supporting the creativity of young children. In part, this is because technology is changing the way we operate as a society. We see this change reflected in young children’s play. How often do you see young children playing with a phone and putting it up to their ear to speak? Instead, children generally press the buttons to ‘text’, imitating the actions of the adults they see around them. This is an important point: if we want children to be technologically healthy we need to think about their exposure to these tools.
How children use these devices starts with us
This exposure starts with us:
- How do we interact with our technology?
- What messages are we sending to children through the way we interact with these devices?
- How often do we sit and text others instead of engaging with those in the same room?
- Do we model healthy use of technology?
Further exposure occurs in the range of mobile devices and accessories that are marketed to parents of young children that suggest that these are ‘must-have’ items for early learning. An example of just how extreme some of this marketing is can be seen in the ’i-Potty’ – a toilet training potty that incorporates an iPad stand. This device might suit some, but I would question just how much valued learning would come from the iPad in this situation.
Balance—like anything in life—is essential to being healthy.
For young children (and even older ones), four hours a day is a significant chunk of time to be spent on any one tool or activity—particularly if there is little interaction. It is up to us to ensure our young children are healthy and have a range of experiences.
it is up to us to ensure that young children are healthy and have a range of experiences.
Tara, along with Tania Coutts have completed a small research report into iPads in ECE, and together they co-author the Exploring Apps blog.
Tara Fagan
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Very valid points. It is how we model what we have that influences our children/grandchildren. Also, just as with computers, we need to monitor the types of apps we expose children to. Moderation is also a key just as you have already stated.
My grandaughter showed my teacher husband how to use the Tablet at the age of 3 years but I get really annoyed when both she and her brother bring digital devices to visit and sit on the couch pressing buttons when they come. Recently they even rejected using a dice when playing a game of snakes and ladders-a real, tactile old fashioned game with real counters, in favour of a dice on their father's mobile phone.
Moderation may be the key but it is only a short step from this attitude at an early age to be told that visiting is "boring " because I don't give them digital devices and prefer that they run in the paddock with the sheep, collect autumn leaves and play with a ball etc.They can't tear themsleves away from the flashing lights of technology.
It is very hard for parents who are busy with work which involves technology to insist on no digital devices for a period while they themselves are at the beck and call of the iphone all the time
Hi, I have just stumbled upon your site and think it's a great resource – lucky NZers! but I am surprised at how little interest there was in this topic. just as we recognise that children are developmentally different from adults, we should also recognise that there may be unexpected and unintended outcomes from exposing young children to the same technology as adults without any awareness of their needs and special circumstances. Digital Technology is so different from other past forms of innovatory technology such as cameras, voice recorders, let along the good old computer as a word processor. Children's brains are being shaped by digital interactivity – and it's no surprise that some are going to lose their pleasure in less "rewarding" experiences where they have to put more in eg more imagination, more patience, more effort, more physical coordination and skills. A digital diet is definitely needed – let's be aware of the realities with which we are dealing when we introduce this technology to young children in a service setting, remembering that they may already have spent a lot of time on mum/dad's carer's's phone before they got to the service, and may do so again while travelling home, waiting for the adults to finish shopping afterwards, or while they are getting dinner etc….
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