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Understanding the Importance of Technology in Early Childhood Education

We live at a time when technology has made a significant impact on all aspects of human life. However, there have been some controversies in the recent years regarding the role of technology in early childhood education. Some people believe that exposure to technology may have some adverse impacts on children and their natural development process. However, it is impossible to ignore the positive role of technology in early childhood education. Moreover, in today’s technology heavy world, getting acquainted with technology is considered to be no less than a necessary life skill. Use of technology also makes lives easier for early childhood educators because it provides them access to more innovative teaching methods. 

Benefits: 

Some of the most important benefits of using technology in early childhood education are summarised below. 

• Inclusion of technology is extremely important for teaching basic academic skills to children. Simple technology enabled learning activities using a laptop or tablet can help kids learn sound, colours, letters, numbers, counting, matching shapes, and much more. Compared to traditional printed worksheets and packets, technology makes it much easier to tailor educational activities according to the individual needs of the students. For example, students that complete an online activity quickly can progress immediately to an advanced level. On the other hand, those struggling with the activity can review the material or move to another activity that is suitable for them.  
• There is no denying the fact that all children do not like attending classes, but most of them enjoy using technology. This can be used to their advantage by early childhood educators to get all their students to enjoy the process of learning. There are many fun and innovative ways to use technology to attract the attention of children. 
• Getting children to follow directions can be a challenging task for teachers because young children often find it difficult to listen and recall. However, use of digital devices such as computers, tablets, and smart boards requires children to only follow multi-step directions. Some examples include turning the device on, selecting items on a screen, or swiping to the left or right. 
• Use of technology plays a critical role in supporting a child’s social as well as emotional development. For children in their preschool age, the fine motor skills are in the process of development. By using touchscreen devices in the right manner, it is possible to encourage children to improve their social skills by working together. An excellent example of such activity is taking turns and sharing ideas while viewing educational content and completing online tasks side by side. 
• One of the key objectives of early childhood learning is to help children identify their talent so that they can apply them in the near future. One of the best ways to accomplish this objective is to expose children to different technology enabled platforms and activities. 
• Through technology, it becomes much easier for the educators to communicate effectively with parents. This not only keeps parents well informed about the progress of their children, but also allows teachers to play a role in the developmental initiatives for their students. 

If you have any other questions about the role of technology in your child’s developmental process, please feel free to contact our experienced educators at Valley Heights Preschool.