A Tablet Computer For Young Children? Exploring It's Viablitily For Early Childhood Education

Article: A Tablet Computer For Young Children? Exploring It's Viablitily For Early Childhood Education

Authors: Leslie Couse & Dora Chen

Link: http://dawnbennett.wiki.westga.edu/file/view/a+tablet+computer+for+young+children.pdf

Review:

Within the article Couse and Chen discuss the positive effects of 1 to 1 tablet computer use in the early childhood classroom. They study a total of 41 three to six year old's and observe how they interact in a classroom that is using tablets on an individual level. The article reflected on their experiment or 'study' findings. Their research findings showed that tablets effectively increased students attention and still allowed for pre-writing skills to develop. The authors shared the point that with the level of technology we have today in our world using tablets to 'draw' (with touch screens, etc) is a completely appropriate way for educators to provide pre-writing skill practice.

Reflection:

I found this article very interesting. I definitely can relate and imagine how the 41 students engagement in their classroom did increase when the tablets started being used. I appreciated how the authors did not down play the importance of coloring, painting, and other art forms. They made the point that tablet computers are effective in the room but the 'classics' (such as coloring, painting) still remain crucial to a child's pre-writing skills development. I believe whole heartedly that it is never all or nothing of something in education. In my current preschool classroom, I used two iPad's at a center daily but also have painting, coloring, cutting, etc. available daily as well. As an early childhood educator, I see my main role as providing opportunities for meaningful experiences to occur in my students lives. In other words, I lay the groundwork for them (having different things available) and they choose what to work with. It's a great way of giving young kids ownership of their learning from the get go! This article was comforting to me. Sometimes I hear negative things about introducing technology too early into a students education. This article affirmed my belief that technology is everywhere in today's world so it should also be in our preschool rooms and the belief that technology can be done in a way that is appropriate for young students.