Beyza Ş. A. @ MAKALESKOP
What do you think about the usage of technology in preschool education after pandemic? What should change in education and how would you adapt to these changes?
During last decades, technology has become a part of our daily lives and kept taking more time of ours with new apps, devices or any improvement it offers. We are at a point where we cannot deny its role in our lives anymore. Experiencing pandemic and needing to stay at home made us realize it even more that almost any daily activity could be done online by using technological devices. Online shopping, online education, and video conferencess and many other activities got more attention. However, what about children?
Research shows that too much screen time is harmful for children’s cognitive, physical and social development. WHO claims that children should not be exposed to digital screens for more than an hour in a day before the age of 6. In the light of these, it is possible to say that usage of technology in kindergartens should be controlled carefully. The main aim of kindergartens is to support children’s development in all areas and technology doesn’t seem to be able to support these alone. With the guidance of teachers, it is possible to use technology in classes however it should never take priority. It can be used for demonstraiting some videos, pics or audios, but never like a second teacher.
On the other, it is significant to discuss if technology usage is even needed in early childhood education. Early childhood period is a time in which children improve rapidly in all developmental areas and began to explore the world around them. During this period of time, there is already a lot to experience in real life. Therefore, putting technology in children’s live does not seem to be needed in early childhood education classroom since these children are already exposed to technology at their homes more or less. Hands-on activities, outdoor activities, peer interactions, critical thinking, initating games and experiencing leadership or teamwork seem to be more significant for children’s development than learning some unite topics or theme through technological devices. Therefore, usage of technology doesn’t seem to be needed in classrooms. Instead, children can be guided to check out books, do field trips or just imagine the topic and think upon it to understand. This is also why waldorf schools with no technology get more attention nowadays by both parents and educators. This is a generation which is exposed to technology much more than any previous one. Therefore, I am also supporting an early childhood education system with a very limitted technology usage.
Despite of all these, technology usage can take a place when offline education is not available for children. Research on Sesame Street shows positive effects of educational TV programs and how it acted almost like an intervention program for those disadvantaged children. Taking this as an example, during and after pandemic, some educational shows can be used to support children’s development if face-to-face education is not available. Likewise, if preparing an intervention program for children due to Covid19, technology can be used to fasten the process of learning. Apart from that, usage of technology should be aimed to educate parents so that they can provide hands on experiences for their children when kindergartens aren’t available.
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