Early Childhood Corner: The Role of Technology in Early Childhood Learning

Abstract

If you ask, teachers will tell you about the advantages that they find in using computers. For example, writers have reported that fourand five-year-olds from an urban, economically disadvantaged population began making new friends as they asked others to join them in working at the computer. For the first time, they sought help from one another (Bowman 1985). An egocentric child learned cooperation and problem solving. Children's cooperative play paralleled the proportion of cooperative play in the block center and provided a context for initiating and sustaining interaction that could be transferred to play in other areas as well, especially for boys (Anderson 2000). Are these examples unique, or are such advantages widespread? We know that computers are increasingly a part of preschoolers' lives. From 80 percent to 90 percent of early childhood educators attending the annual conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children report using computers (Haugland 1997). Such use is no surprise— research on young children and technology indicates that we no longer need to ask whether the use of technology is “developmentally appropriate” (Clements and Nastasi 1993).