Technology in the Classroom, Yes or No?

In discussions about technology in early childhood environments, opinions vary widely regarding its appropriate use. But what do we mean when we talk about the term ‘technology’? And how can we make it meaningful for the children?

When consulting the Oxford dictionary for the definition of technology, the response is as follows:

“Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry. It entails machinery and equipment developed from the application of scientific knowledge and the branch of knowledge dealing with engineering or applied sciences.”

In simpler terms, Technology involves the use of equipment or tools developed from scientific knowledge, such as cameras, robots, computers, phones, software, and more.

How can we use these tools appropriately in an early childhood setting?

Distinguish between Active and Passive use

In the early childhood years, children establish the fundamentals for social interaction and empathy. To foster this, children require engagement with others. When integrating technology into early years environments, it is imperative to ensure that children can maintain personal interactions¹.

Effectively using technology in early childhood settings, necessitates an understanding of the differences between active and passive technology use:

• Passive Technology use refers to situations where children merely consume content, such as watching videos on a screen without interacting with others.
• Active Technology use occurs when children employ technology as a tool for meaningful learning, such as recording sounds, documenting their stories, or using video chat to communicate with distant individuals².

It is evident that, with early learners, the emphasis should be on active technology use, as it can serve as a valuable learning tool². Appropriate technology experiences enable children to control the medium, explore functionality and stimulate real life use³.

To ensure appropriate technology experiences a guideline with questions has been outlined for parents and educators, using the 3 C’s: content, context, and child’s needs⁴. These questions include:

• Content: How does technology help children to learn, engage, express, imagine, or explore?
• Context: What social interactions are happening before, during, and after technology use? Does it complement, rather than interrupt, children’s learning experiences and play patterns?
• The individual child: What does this child need right now for growth and development? Is this technology an appropriate match for the child’s needs, abilities, interests, and development stage?

It is key that adult supervision and intentional planning is important, when using technology in an early years setting. Effective ways of using technology include engagement through activity apps, communications via video chats, learning with guided apps, creating digital content such as books or songs².

When looking at a Reggio Emilia inspired classroom, we see the children as capable. They are naturally curious and observe the world around them. Seeing adults using technology, they are naturally curious themselves. We can see the use of technology as another language we can interact with, we communicate with it and learn from it. As Loris Malaguzzi has said:

“The meeting of the children and the computer is, in effect, the meeting of two ‘intelligences’ that need to get to know each other. The child’s intelligence is fluid, intuitive, curious, and yet able to ‘decentralize’ itself and assimilate new interactive rules, to adjust its performance, to find and alternate communicative and constructive proposals and solutions. The intelligence of the machine is more linear, rigid, programmed, in many ways an imposition, and in other ways receptive and willing to execute commands, able to listen to children and to encourage them to rethink their actions, to indicate the way out of a problem, to suggest the means for arriving at a ‘joining of forces’.”

Drawing from the findings, technology can be a valuable complement to early childhood environments, provided it is employed purposefully and under the watchful eye of adults. Consider the role of technology in your upcoming project, how do you intend to integrate it thoughtfully and with appropriate supervision?

1. How does technology affect kids’ social development? - Georgene Troseth, PHD, November 2023
2. Guiding Principles for Use of Technology with Early Learners - Office of Educational Technology, N.D.
3. National Association for the Education of Young Children & Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College (2012), page 8.
4. Guernsey, L. (2012) Screen Time: How electronic media—from baby videos to educational software—affects your young child. New York, NY: Basic Books.