Students today are learning and growing in technology heavy environments. Rather than using technology as a babysitter or time filler, teachers have the responsibility to instead utilize the wide variety of information and applications available in today’s connected world by thinking through these questions put forth by the National Association of Education for Young Children when students are using technology.
What is the content?
Is it being used in an intentional manner?
Is it developmentally appropriate?
NAEYC further states that technology used as a tool “can promote effective learning and development when…used intentionally by early childhood educators, within the framework of developmentally appropriate practice (NAEYC 2009a),
In two recent assignments, second graders were tasked with using different applications of technology to enhance their learning and work in language arts. The first assignment had students creating an informational non-fiction book on a subject of their choice, including several different text features and progressing through the writing process to a finished text. The final piece of this assignment had students recording themselves reading their books using the video feature on an ipad. This not only enabled students the opportunity to share their books digitally, but also allowed them practice with reading fluency.
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The second assignment had students write an opinion essay on if which they thought was a better pet – dogs or cats. Students again worked through the writing process to complete a finished text, complete with introductory statements, reasons, evidence and a concluding statement. They then used an apple app called Chatterpix Kids to record their essays.
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By using these technologies, students were allowed creativity and freedom of expression, independence and empowerment over their finished products, as well as engaging in multiple opportunities for work in problem solving and perseverance. These are all important benefits to using technology as laid out in “Benefits of Technology & the Right Kind of Screen Time for Children”, an article by TechID. Students were also more engaged and more invested in the outcomes of their products, as they knew they were sharing them with a broader audience.