Early Connections: Technology in Early Childhood Education
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Learning & Technology

Birth to Three Years

Children's brains develop rapidly during this period. Young children learn through their bodies and are mastering developmental skills such as crawling, walking, talking, and making friends. The physical environment offers rich learning experiences, and each experience increases the brain's capacity to learn.

Consider these questions when evaluating whether a young child can benefit from using a computer:

  • Do images and events on the screen represent experiences that have meaning for the child?
  • Is the child able to make connections between what is on the screen and what is in the real world?
  • Does the child really understand who controls the computer, or is he or she randomly hitting keys?

For very young children the answers to these questions are usually "no." Computers do not provide the kinds of learning they need for the growth and development of social, emotional, and cognitive skills. For these reasons, computer use at this age is usually inappropriate. Parents and care providers are encouraged to engage in other activities with children to provide a strong foundation for learning. Nurture children by reading books with them, and provide opportunities for attachment and time for interactive play. Computers do not match the learning style of most children under the age of three and are not recommended.

Three to Five Years

Around the age of three, the answers to the questions above begin to change from "no" to "yes," according to the development of the individual child. Once a care provider can answer yes to these questions, the child can begin to use a computer with discovery-based software that matches the way young children learn.

Much of the learning at this age comes from the relationship between the child and the significant children and adults in the environment, rather than from interaction with the computer. Remember to plan for the important developmental tasks of the early years before allowing a child to be distracted by too much electronic stimulation.

Social Development

One of the benefits of computer use is that it fosters social interactions in children, increasing their social skills, language skills, and cooperation.
  • Plan for the computer area to be a place for lots of discussion and sharing. Allow space for extra chairs at the computer. Other children may want to watch, talk about the activity, or work together to solve problems.
  • Display children's work and ask open-ended questions about what they have done.
  • Offer comments about what you see them doing and encourage parents to do the same. The nurturing and attention provided by adults is important to their development and self esteem.

Approaches toward Learning

  • Provide lots of opportunities for children to interact with things in their environment. Allow them plenty of time to work with physical objects, such as building blocks, modeling clay, paints, dolls, and toys.
  • Plan for using all the senses when children work on the computer. For example, if using musical software, make sure children can experience a variety of instruments in the "real world" in addition to the "electronic world." Let them hear the music from a real instrument, smell the wood, and feel the strings or keys of different instruments.
  • Limit screen time and provide activities that require sustained attention. Young children's attention naturally jumps around, but flashing or distracting graphics on screens may make it harder for children to pay attention for sustained periods. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests no more than 1 hour per day of quality media time for preschoolers, including all television, video, computer, and video game time.

Language Development

Children build language skills and learn new vocabulary as they play together, discuss their work, share stories. If using a computer, encourage these interactions with open-ended software that promotes creativity, questioning, and conversation.

The four aspects of literacy—speaking, listening, reading, and writing—develop in tandem and are best supported by activities such as lap reading, story telling, and pretend play.

Children need physical experiences with three-dimensional objects to make the connection between letter and number symbols and concepts in the real world. Most alphabet or number software does not provide the necessary physical experiences, and does not develop these connections.

Cognition and General Knowledge

  • Talk with young children to help them understand the "if-then" sequences of computer programs.
  • Explain what is happening while they are working on the computer. "If you move the mouse like this, the arrow on the screen will move like this."
  • Pay attention to social interactions and social situations in software to help teach social-causal reasoning. Ask questions such as, "When you took the mouse away from Jimmy, how do you think that made him feel?"

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