Developmentally Appropriate Practices and Technology In Early Childhood

Perhaps I made an error when naming this website. I think the name freaks early childhood educators out a little bit. I imagine their thinking goes something like this, “Technology?? In Early Childhood?? What kind of developmentally appropriate practices heresy is this?? ‘Technology’ can’t be ‘developmentally appropriate.’ Those two phrases don’t belong in the same sentence.” And then I consider what sort of images they might see in their head: A grid of desks, 4×5, with a computer sitting on top of each desk and a preschooler stationed at each desk, eyes glued to the monitor with little feet dangling from a chair that is much too tall. The children are sitting there, motionless, staring at screens for hour, after hour after hour. And that image, really freaks them out. Honestly, if that’s what I were seeing in my mind when I thought about technology in early childhood, I’d be freaked out too.

Fortunately, it’s not what I see. It doesn’t match the reality of our classroom at all. I’ve addressed this issue before, in one of my earliest posts, Is it Really OK to Put Technology in an Early Childhood Classroom? but in the time since I wrote that first post, my thinking on the issue has become more clear. My experiences in actually teaching technology to young children have informed my ideas about just what exactly it looks like to implement technology in a way that is developmentally appropriate for four and five year olds. I’ve put together a list of statements that help define what a developmentally appropriate technology in early childhood program would look like.

Technology in Early Childhood is deliberate:

We’re not just throwing children in front of screens because it’s a time killer, because its convenient, or even because it’s fun. We’re exposing them to carefully selected apps and activities because we believe that those activities will improve their learning and thinking. We’ve chosen apps and created technology based activities that we truly believe will benefit our students in the long run. Not all screens are created equally. Asking a child to create something on an iPad, or even play a skill based game is a far different thing from putting them in front of a TV to watch a movie or show.

Technology in Early Childhood

is age appropriate:

We make sure that the apps we select for our children are introducing our students to concepts that are at their level. Whether we are asking them to play a skills based game, or asking them to create a piece of work (writing, video, art etc) on their iPad we ensure that the app and concepts are appropriate for the children that will be using them.

Technology in Early Childhood

is limited (temporal):

As important as it is for us to be teaching children the skills that they are going to need to function in our computer based society, even more important is making sure that we’re not being excessive in our use of technology. Experts in the field vary in the ways that they recommend imposing limits. Some suggest a minutes per day limit (often 20-40 minutes), others suggest a more flexible activity based approach, but all of them agree that extended periods of time in front of a screen (hours) is not helpful. In our classroom, students spend at most 20-30 minutes, twice a week, on iPad based activities. Honestly, I’d be comfortable adding to that time, but logistics just don’t allow it.

Technology in Early Childhood

is open ended (conceptual):

Children need room to explore. Whether it’s in the block area or on the iPad, they need the freedom to build, make mistakes, rebuild, make more mistakes and rebuild again, and again, and again. When we lock children in to certain apps, or severely limit the ways that they can use technology, we limit their potential. Now of course we need to keep point number two firmly in mind as we allow children this freedom. We need to be certain that the material that they have access to is age appropriate, but as much as possible, we also need to allow them to make their own mistakes, do their own learning and have the freedom to explore a little bit. This is easier said than done. It takes a lot of work to create an environment on the iPad where a child can safely explore, just like it takes a lot of work to create a safe classroom environment, but it’s important none the less.

Technology in Early Childhood

is creative:

My students sometimes play drill and practice games on their iPads. They just do. I’m glad they have a chance to practice many of those skills. But what they really love to do, and what I love to watch them do, is to build and create things with their iPads. They write stories with pictures and invented spelling. They create amazing pieces of art with drawing programs. They make short videos with their drawing programs and they create elaborate geometric designs with digital geoboards. It’s with these creative activities that the learning really happens. They get so excited about their creations that you can almost see the synapses firing as they build, design and create. Activities and apps that require creativity are more engaging and meaningful for our students and are the most important kind of technology activity to implement in an early childhood environment.

Technology in Early Childhood

develops critical thinking skills:

The technology that we expose children to in an early childhood program should as much as possible engage them in higher level thinking skills, not passive activities. We want the activities we introduce to them to be encouraging them to think, just as they would have to think when they build a block structure or engage in a dramatic play activity. We want to plan and select activities that will ask children to think outside the box and act accordingly. Right now in our classroom, this happens when children play the “learn to code” apps that we’ve introduced to them. Coding requires complex, multidimensional thinking, often times teamwork, and a lot of logic. When you evaluate it in the context of Bloom’s Taxonomy, it ranks pretty high. I love the fact that the children are engaged in, and it turns out very capable of, such complex thinking. It’s important that this sophisticated thinking (which they also use in dramatic play and the block area, etc) also be part of the technology component of their day.

Technology in Early Childhood

is one small part of a complete ECE program:

I saved this point for last because I think it is the most important, and the most often misunderstood. It’s so important, that I’m going to say it again: Technology in early childhood is one small part of a complete Early Childhood Education (ECE) program. It does not replace the program. You don’t take out the block area and put in iPads instead. You don’t replace the dress up area with a set of laptops. You don’t cut out outdoor play time in order to add more computer time. Even though a child can create fantastic art on an iPad, you keep the classroom easels up in the art center and keep them well stocked with real paint! Because paint is still important. And dress-up is important. And blocks are important. All of it is important. All of the components of a fantastic ECE program should remain firmly in place when one is looking at using technology in early childhood. Technology is just one piece that a teacher can add to his or her already balanced and rich ECE program. It adds to the program. It doesn’t take away.