by Leanne Li
The effects of digital devices and apps on children have been a frequent concern for parents. These concerns are now more pertinent with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, during which digital learning has been brought to the forefront. In particular, parents and teachers of pre-school children may be concerned given that a child’s early years are crucial for the development of basic skills and literacy.
But does the use of digital devices and apps really hinder the processes of early child language development?
If used in the right ways digital devices and apps can be useful educational tools that assist the early development of cognitive, social and language skills.
In What Ways Can They Be Useful?
Digital devices with touch screens (smartphones, tablets and iPads) and digital apps help language development in early childhood. They generate social interaction with teachers and peers in the classroom, and with parents and caregivers at home. Through this they help to develop crucial skills in communication, collaborative interaction and independent learning. Crucial to this is the process of “scaffolding”, where adults assist children to use digital devices and apps. This facilitates behaviors such as pointing and joint attention to elements on the screen, while also allowing parents and caregivers to provide encouragement and feedback. These provide children with basic precursor skills for learning interaction. Parents and teachers may also communicate with children by asking questions, reading out words and names by which children are exposed to basic vocabulary and pronunciation.
Additionally, the use of digital devices helps preschoolers learn basic digital skills like tapping, swiping and using digital keyboards, which children now require for when they are exposed to more technology in later years.
Several educational language apps can be useful for developing specific language and literacy skills. In particular, letter tracing apps are useful for supporting early writing skills and knowledge of letter names and sounds; writing and spelling can be developed through apps that allow children to move and arrange letters on the screen; interactive e-books and storytelling apps, with the help of parents/teachers, enable the child’s development of skills in reading vocabulary, pronunciation and storytelling.
But it is important to note that while digital devices and apps are useful in the above ways for language development, they are far from being a perfect solution. Some of their features can present roadblocks to effective learning.
What are their negative effects?
The touch screens of these devices do not incorporate the use of basic physical tools like pencils, crayons and paint. Because of this, overusing digital devices may hinder the development of sensory experiences, unlike when children apply various pressures using pencils and crayons, as well as feeling the texture of paint.
Additionally, the quality of available educational apps is often questionable. While there are many apps classified as providing educational content, several of these do not meet appropriate educational standards for pre-school children. Many offer closed content activities such as multiple choice questions and flashcard-based visuals which are repetitive. Such content does not inspire adequate levels of cognitive thinking and problem solving, and most do not allow children to generate their own content.
Several other apps that are described as suitable for preschoolers are too advanced, requiring complex screen gestures like pinching, zooming double tapping, while others contain excessive and complicated text. Many apps also contain elements that distract children away from engaging meaningfully with the content. An excessive presence of multimodal features (sound effects and/or images that are brightly colored or animated) may prove counterproductive. Commercialized elements, such as in-app purchases and third party advertisements are often intrusive and can interrupt the learning process.
Moreover, many apps lack important information about the content being offered, such as whether the app’s content has been evaluated by professionals and what educational goals and strategies are used in the app. This makes it difficult for parents and teachers to select appropriate apps for education.
What these drawbacks tell us is that in order to prove effective, digital devices and apps in particular need to be carefully selected and used.
Recommendations…
There are several criteria that parents, teachers and caregivers can look for when selecting suitable digital apps for preschool children.
A 2015 study suggests several features that a good educational app should have, including the following:
Clear educational goals and strategies and a clear target audience.
Clear design features that assist and encourage children to participate in the activities.
Open-ended activities that encourage the use of creativity, thinking and problem solving skills.
Opportunities for children to co-create their own content with peers or adults.
Adequate use and combination of sounds, images and words to foster language and literacy skills.
Little or no commercial ads or in-app purchases.
Additionally the UK National Literary Trust guidelines can also be useful when selecting apps for children
Warning: Digital learning should not replace traditional play entirely. It is essential for adults to supervise and plan the use of digital devices and apps with children in order to obtain maximum educational benefits.
Sources:
https://news.fiu.edu/2019/educational-apps-can-benefit-young-children,-study-finds