Seven myths about young children and technology

Parents and educators tend to have many questions about young children's play with computers and other technologies at home. They can find it difficult to know what is best for children because these toys and products were not around when they were young. Some will tell you that children have an affinity for technology that will be valuable in their future lives. Others think that children should not be playing with technology when they could be playing outside or reading a book

At home with the future : influences on young children's early experiences with digital technologies

Early years curricula encourage practitioners to build on children's home experiences. Research into the kinds of activities that young children engage in at home and considerations of how to link these to their experiences in pre-school settings can therefore make an important contribution to practice. This chapter, which draws on studies investigating young children's home experiences with digital technologies, seeks to identify some of the key factors that influence the nature and extent of these experiences. Although digital divides - reflecting classic social divisions of economic status, gender and ethnicity - have been extensively explored in order to understand the causes of inequalities in access to digital technologies, our research concluded that parental attitudes towards these technologies are more influential than economic disadvantage in determining young children's experiences. To explore this issue in greater detail, we have drawn on the concept of prolepsis, a key influence on parents' interactions with their children deriving from the projection of their memories of their own idealised past into the children's futures (Cole, 1996). Parents' assumptions, values and expectations are influenced by their past experiences, enacted in the present, and are then carried by their children into the future as they move from home to formal education. We argue that prolepsis has powerful explanatory force for understanding the kinds of decisions parents make about activities such as the extent to which children engage in technological play

The home as a technological learning environment: children's early encounters with digital technologies

Today's children are growing up in homes with an ever-growing array of technologies supporting families as they work, play, communicate and learn. How have recent rapid changes to the home as a technological environment influenced what and how preschool children learn? This paper, based on a series of studies of young children's experiences with digital technology at home, identifies key factors - including the structure and layout of the home, family practices, family values and family interactions - which shape the ways in which children: a) learn to use technologies; b) learn about the world via the medium of technologies; c) develop learning dispositions; and d) learn about the role of different technologies in family and community contexts

Children's interactions with interactive toy technology

Abstract Digital toys offer the opportunity to explore software scaffolding through tangible interfaces that are not bound to the desktop computer. This paper describes the empirical work completed by the CACHET (Computers and Children's Electronic Toys) project team investigating young children's use of interactive toy technology. The interactive toys in question are plush and cuddly cartoon characters with embedded sensors that can be squeezed to evoke spoken feedback from the toy. In addition to playing with the toy as it stands, the toy can be linked to a desktop PC with compatible software using a wireless radio connection. Once this connection is made the toy offers hints and tips to the children as they play with the accompanying software games. If the toy is absent, the same hints and tips are available through an on-screen animated icon of the toy's cartoon character. The toys as they stand are not impressive as collaborative learning partners, as their help repertoire is inadequate and even inappropriate. However, the technology has potential: children can master the multiple interfaces of toy and screen and, when the task requires it and the help provided is appropriate, they will both seek and use it. In particular, the cuddly interface experience can offer an advantage and the potential for fun interfaces that might address both the affective and the effective dimensions of learners' interactions

A 'benign addition'? Research on ICT and pre-school children

This paper reviews the international research evidence on the ways in which information and communication technologies (ICT) are used in both formal and informal pre-school settings. The review addresses the debate over the value and desirability of young children using computers and computational toys; the relationship of these technologies to a media environment which encompasses television, video, books and magazines; the literacies involved in using these media; and interface design and interactivity

Supporting learning with ICT in pre-school settings

The introduction of ICT (information and communication technologies) to the playroom can present challenges. How can practitioners respond to changes and create opportunities for learning with ICT? Practitioners and researchers worked together in the project Interplay to address these questions. They reflected on ways in which children’s encounters with ICT could be enhanced. They used the concept of guided interaction to initiate small projects which explored different approaches to supporting learning in different settings, and shared their findings with each other

Guided Interaction: Exploring how Adults can Support Children's Learning with Technology in Preschool Settings

We report research that was initially a response to our observations of the difficulties that three- and four-year-old children in Scottish preschool settings may experience during free play at the computer. In conjunction with preschool educators, we observed and made video recordings of children’s encounters with more varied forms of technology. We identified ways in which educators could support children’s learning, calling this support guided interaction. Analysis revealed indirect (distal) and direct (proximal) forms of guided interaction. We conclude by commenting on our research into children’s learning with technology in their family homes and provide some implications of these findings for consideration by educators

Digital technologies, play and learning

This paper gives an account of the findings of a series of qualitative research studies which explored the technologies with which children aged 3-5 years old play, the forms of learning related to these activities and the conditions which shaped their experiences with digital resources. Three forms of learning were observed in educational settings and an additional form identified when children engaged with technologies at home. However, the proactive support of adults was identified as crucial if children were to have the kind of positive encounters with technology which support learning. We found no evidence that playing with technologies dominated the everyday experience of young children but their individual preferences, the attitudes of their parents towards technologies and ways of learning and their family practices all make a difference to what is played and the opportunities for learning