Are you ready to teach young children in the 21st century?

Abstract

In 4 years it will be the year 2000 and we will begin our journey into the twenty-first century. It is fitting that we should consider the major issues involved in the use of technology with young children if we intend to meet the new century prepared. In this short essay, I will endeavor to identify the major issues. Are Computers Bad for Young Children? This is a question we should stop asking. Yet, every year at NAEYC people attend our computer sessions who are opposed to the use of computers with young children. In the past 12 years, since the emergence of the first Apple II computer, many qualified people have worked hard to ascertain the answer to this question. In short, computer use with children in early childhood has been shown to have a major, positive impact on social, emotional, language, and cognitive development. Developmental Appropriateness. We all know what this means, yet as I travel around to different classrooms and look at their software or the way in which the computers are being used, I am amazed. Children are being subjected to large dosages of drill-and-practice (the electronic equivalent of a workbook page) and the computer is rarely integrated across the curriculum but used instead as a reward for good behavior in class or for remediation (punishment). We need to begin using the computer to it's fullest potential--to create microworlds where children can explore and discover many wonderful things. Computer Labs vs. Integration Across the Classroom Curriculum. I really don't know the rationale for the computer lab. I suspect it was a cheaper way to put computers in a school than to put two or three computers in each classroom. Seymour Papert (1993) called it the school immunity response to a foreign object. Instead of giving teachers adequate numbers of computers in their classrooms and allowing them to use the computers as a creative tool across all curriculum areas, schools responded instead by making computers themselves a subject. So instead of using word processing for invented spellings and early writing, children must wait until they are older and are taught word processing as part of the "computer literacy" training. Individual Programs vs. Integrated Learning Systems (ILS). Research clearly shows that the most positive benefits of computers in the early childhood classrooms occur when teachers select their own software and integrate it into their curriculum. Yet software companies persist in trying to sell us large curriculum packages (ILSs) that are often touted to be "all you will ever need" to teach literacy. Usually, these expensive curriculum packages contain numerous disks or CDs containing very poorly designed drill software, one or more hardcover copies of the stories used in the software, posters, workbooks, and one or more notebooks with daily lesson plans for the teacher. Imagine reading a short section or a boring or silly story and then having to answer as many as 20 comprehension questions. Equity. Small word, big issue. Actually there are several equity issues we should concentrate on during the next 5 years. Minority children are less likely to have access to a personal computer than are middleclass, Anglo Americans. They are less likely to have one in their home, less likely to live in a neighborhood with access through the public library, and less likely to attend schools that have computers. Currently, about 30% of American homes have a personal computer. And it is projected that by 1998, 50% will. Most of the "have vs. have not" issue is directly related to the cost of computers. The issue of application is related to the racial issue as well. We commonly find that inner city schools rely heavily on drill software to improve the schools' standardized test scores, whereas suburban schools often use the computer in more creative, open-ended ways. As for gender, research shows clearly that we find no difference in terms of time spent on the computer be tween preschool and kindergar ten . Somewhere between 1 st and 3rd grade girls begin to receive a negative, stereotypic message that computers are for boys. From 3rd grade on, girls are less involved in computer activities in or out of school. We have further found that