Touch Tablet Surprises

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Technology and Young Children New Tools and Strategies for Teachers and Learners

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assandra never thought about having the children in her preschool classroom use touch tablets until she was approached by the technology coordinator for her school. She is guided by her belief that hands-on learning experi-ences are essential and any technology must correspond with developmentally appropriate practice so children can explore and learn about their world. When she found herself with four touch tablets, she wondered what kind of learning experiences these tools could give the young learners. Cassandra experimented with a touch tablet and several free applications (apps) before realizing she needed to see a young child interacting with one. She enlisted her 4-year-old nephew and watched as he easily maneuvered his way around the touch tablet interface and its apps. He seemed to know instinctively about moving his fi nger on the screen to manipulate the apps. Without any instruction from

Cas-Rena Shifﬂ et, EdD, is an assistant professor at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Prior to taking a position in higher education, Rena worked as an elementary classroom teacher and district technology coordinator for over 30 years. Her research work includes the study of preservice and in-service teacher technology use for pre-K–8.

Cheri Toledo, EdD, is an associate professor of educational tech-nology in the curriculum and instruction department at Illinois State University. Her research interests are strategic uses of current and emerging technologies to increase effective teaching and learning.

Cassandra Mattoon, BS in early childhood education, is the preschool teacher at Thomas Metcalf Lab School at Illinois State University. Cassandra is conducting research on the use of tab-lets in early childhood education settings.

Photos courtesy of Cassandra Mattoon.

A Preschool

Teacher’s Story

Touch Tablet

Surprises

Ren

a Shifﬂ et, Cheri Toledo,

and Cassandra Mattoon

A year and a half ago, Rena, Cheri, and Cassan-dra were introduced to each other by a colleague because they shared an interest in exploring the impact newer technologies have on learning in early childhood classrooms. They meet regularly to share ideas and information on how to incorporate

tablets using best practices. Cassandra’s preschool classroom serves as a natural environ-ment for them to test their ideas. This article describes a collaborative effort. The authors are conducting additional research on the use of technology with preschool children.

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Young Children • May 2012 37 sandra, he even discovered activities on the apps that she

had not found. His reaction to the touch tablet fueled her curiosity about using it as a learning tool in her early child-hood classroom.

Cassandra, an early childhood teaching veteran, describes herself as a neophyte technology user. So, add-ing a cuttadd-ing-edge technology like touch tablets caused her some concern. For Cassandra, and many early childhood educators, preschool is a time for children to experience real life in play, use their imaginations, and engage in mul-tiple hands-on experiences as they construct their own understandings of the world. Teachers take great care in designing stimulating learning environments while consid-ering individual needs and differences. It is this intentional-ity that sets the foundation for developmentally

appropri-ate practice (NAEYC & Fred Rogers Center 2012). When educators add technology as an instructional tool, the interface may be differ-ent, but the principles remain the same. The touch tablet is just one of many tools used to expand children’s learning experiences (Guernsey 2010). It is important for teachers to evalu-ate every instructional tool for its effectiveness in context. There are benefi ts and challenges to each (Cooper 2005), and it is the educator’s responsibility to determine when each is advantageous to children’s learning and develop-ment (NAEYC & Fred Rogers Center 2012).

Some educators, researchers, and parents stress that children already spend too much time in front of televi-sion and computer screens (Plowman, McPake, & Stephen 2010), so why add more technology during the school day? This line of thinking led Cassandra to ask herself what role technology should play in a quality preschool program. She also understood that NAEYC and the Fred Rogers Center (2012) recommend that teachers be willing to learn about new technologies, evaluate their purpose, and observe chil-dren’s use of the tools to make informed decisions about how technology is used in the classroom.

Introducing the new technology

Concern about the negative impact that computer use has on children’s social interactions in the classroom is a long-standing issue in education circles (Barnes & Hill 1983; Finegan & Austin 2002). With this in mind, Cassandra slowly integrated the touch tablets by fi rst introducing a single

device for a group of children. She began by showing the tablet to the entire group during circle time and discussing how children could use it. The children then dispersed to play in a variety of centers. Cassandra remained on the rug and worked with a small group of children who were inter-ested in exploring the tablet. Four children then moved to the library center to work together on the tablet. As the week progressed, all of the children had used the tablet. Once she was satisfi ed with their interactions, she gave the children two tablets, eventually making all four touch tab-lets available in the library center. She hoped that without enough tablets for individual play, the children would learn to use them cooperatively.

As Cassandra introduced the touch tablets into her class-room activities, she encountered four surprises. The fi rst came as she sought the answer to the question, “Would using these devices encourage isolated play?”

Surprise 1:

Cooperation!

From the fi rst time she introduced the touch tablets, Cassandra found the children interacting cooperatively. Her observations supported Kumtepe (2006), who notes that rather than fostering social isolation, children’s computer

When educators add

technology as an

instructional tool, the

interface may be

differ-ent, but the principles

remain the same.

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Technology and Young Children: New Tools and Strategies for Teachers and Learners

use increases social skills. Children who use computers more frequently and at a more profi cient level demon-strated more social skill gains and fewer problem behaviors in kindergarten.

One day, Cassandra observed four children sitting around one touch tablet, playing a memory match app. She thought to herself, “Maybe this technology is OK and can encourage cooperative play.” Contrary to her initial concern, she discovered that the children rarely used the touch tablets in isolation. Even when four children were each using a tablet, they huddled together, interacting, teaching, and learning from one another. On one occasion, when four children were each using their own tablet, she purposefully had them sit three to four feet apart. Within moments they had worked their way back into their huddle and resumed their collaborative interactions. The impact on their language skills as they exchanged comments and suggestions was apparent. Children

were sharing ideas, helping each other fi nd apps, and asking each other questions.

The tablets also allowed for more collaboration than traditional art tools. Many apps encourage creativ-ity, such as some of the drawing apps that were popular with the children. They created pictures related to a unit of study, putting much thought and time into the

design of their pictures. While the children used the draw-ing apps,Cassandra discovered the second surprise.

Surprise 2:

Collaboration!

Cassandra found the children working collaboratively to design and create their pictures. In traditional art centers, children rarely work on one piece of art together—each child walks away with his or her own piece of art. With the touch tablet, the children fed off of one another’s sug-gestions and created art together. Three children began to make a picture about fall. One child drew a fall tree. A second child said, “I will add the squirrel.” They then sug-gested that the third child add a bird in the tree. Cassandra heard them say, “Look what we did; we did this together; we were a team.” Not only were they proud of their work of art, but they also took great pride in their collaborative

effort—quite a contrast from the more common single-ownership attitudes seen with traditional, nontechnology-based artwork. As she continued to think through the use of technology with pre-schoolers, Cassandra asked more questions: How much time should she allocate to the devices? Will the children be so enamored with the technology that they won’t want to engage in other activities?

Children were sharing

ideas, helping each other

find apps, and asking

each other questions.

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Young Children • May 2012 39

Surprise 3:

Digital citizenship!

At fi rst, the children’s natural curiosity promoted their desire to use and play with a new toy. As Vygotsky (1978) states, “A child’s greatest achievements are possible in play” (100). Play is part of the natural learning process and one way young children construct meaning. As the children used the tablets and explored the possibilities, some chil-dren seemed more fi xated on using

the technology than others—they just couldn’t get enough time with the tablets. However, some of the initial newness wore off as the tab-lets became a natural part of the classroom environment. Cassandra found that the children still wanted to engage in other hands-on activities in the classroom, and they willingly and naturally moved on to other activities. Her observations support the idea that technology should not replace other forms of active exploration, and when used appropriately and respon-sibly, technology is another tool for teaching and learning (Fisch et al. 2002; Yelland 2005; NAEYC & Fred Rog-ers Center 2012). An important goal is a healthy balance between activities with and without technology.

Initial experience and

reactions

As the children continuously used the touch tablets, Cassandra remained wary that they might prefer the tablet and their apps to parallel real-life ex-periences. She asked herself, “Would a child understand that what he was seeing and doing on the tablet is only a representation of the actual real-world event?” She decided to create an opportunity for them to experience both realand virtual cookie making. They read stories about cookies, watched a short video about a bak-ery, and then set up a bakery in the dramatic play area of the classroom. They were excited when the day to bake real cookies fi nally arrived! Cassandra used a document cam-era (digital overhead projector) to demonstrate how to use the cookie app to virtually mix dough and

decorate cookies. The children then went to centers. In the library center, children continued to read books about cookies. In the writing area, children created signs to pro-mote and sell the cookies. In dramatic play, they assumed the roles of bakery employees and customers. Jilltook a “customer’s order” with the tablet and shared it with the bakers. Another group mixed the “dough” in the sand/water table, while the cookie decorators added the fi nal touches.

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In the cooking area, each child added an ingredient and mixed the batter, fi rst using the application and then with the actual ingredients.Using his fi nger, Marcustouched the egg to make it crack, and the egg fell neatly into the virtual bowl without any pieces of shell. Then Marcus cracked a real egg and dumped it into the actual bowl. Cassandra asked him how it felt when he cracked the egg on the touch tablet and when he cracked a real egg. “It’s hard. It’s sticky. It’s not easy to crack an egg!” Marcusquickly learned that cracking a real egg was nothing like a gentle fi nger tap on the tablet. As each ingredient was measured and added— into both the virtual and the real bowl—the children said, “You can’t smell it on the computer.” “It’s hard to stir the dough.” “The butter really is sticky.” Cassandra asked, “Is making cookies on the tablet anything like making real cookies?” A unanimous “No!” was followed by “And you don’t really get to eat the cookies you make on there!”

Surprise 4:

Connection to the real world!

The children could tell real from virtual, and they still wanted to engage in the real-life experiences. This activity reinforced what Cassandra already knew about develop-mentally appropriate practice—children still need and desire real-life experiences. The touch tablet technology helped reinforce cookie-making steps and the children’s vocabulary—a perfect example of using a technology tool to support and enhance a traditional learning experience,

one that connects real-world experiences with the digital world (Yelland 2005).

As the preschoolers continued their work with the tablets in various center activities, they seemed quite at ease with this technology. This was illustrated when Rena observed a child using the cookie app. Billy selected the dough and rolled it out. He chose a cookie cutter, pressed it into the virtual dough, and instantly saw that the dough was not large enough for

the cutter. Without any hesitation, he tapped the back button to get to the previous screen and rerolled the dough. When he was satisfi ed with the size of the dough, he went to the next screen and instead of selecting the same large cookie cutter, he chose a smaller

cutter that easily fi t his dough. Amazed by Billy’s ability to quickly and effi ciently solve his problem, Renaasked if he had ever used this particular app before. Without stopping his cookie decorating, Billy said he did not have a touch tablet at home, and this was the fi rst time he had used the cookie app. Rena’s observation supports the position of NAEYC and the Fred Rogers Center (2012) that technology can and should provide opportunities for children to be creative, solve problems, think, and make decisions.

Observations

Cassandra has come a long way in the short time she has been using touch tablets in her classroom—from helping the children hold the device for fear it might drop and break, to letting them touch the screen while making cookie dough. Many educators resist using technology out of concern that it is not developmentally appropriate for young children. However, when educators are intentional and selective in its use, technology can enhance early child-hood education (Yelland 2005; NAEYC & Fred Rogers Center 2012). According to Yelland (2005), when such technologies are embedded in the curriculum, “young children can not only experience concepts that were previously well beyond that expected of them, but that they could deploy sophis-ticated strategies and work collaboratively with others in new and dynamic ways” (224).

As early childhood educators, we understand thatmost preschoolers are at ease with technology: it has been con-tinually present in their lives, and they are growing up with it.It is not possible to deny who they are and how they fi t into the digital world in which they live (Zevenbergen 2007). Cassandra stated at the end of the year, “After exper-imenting with technology in my own classroom, my

ques-Questions to Consider when Deciding

to Use a Technology Tool or Application

• How can I incorporate technology into my current cur-riculum in developmentally appropriate ways?

• How am I enhancing the learning experience with the use of technology?

• What am I giving up to make time for the use of technology?

• How can children learn from the technology used for this activity?

• Am I helping to close the learning gap in experiences between the children in my classroom who have and have not previously used technology?

• Is the objective to reinforce or teach a skill? Does the technology activity effectively help me reach this objec-tive, or is there a more appropriate way to reinforce or teach this skill?

• Have I properly evaluated the app for its appropriate-ness in an educational setting, using the criteria I would use for other games, books, and toys?

When educators are

intentional and

selec-tive in its use,

technol-ogy can enhance early

childhood education.

(6)

All at the affordable price you’d expect from a non-profit with a thirty-year history of involvement with children.

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For infant, toddler, and preschool programs... and their families

• Research-based assessment links to curriculum goals

• 3,700 developmentally-appropriate learning experiences enrich any program

• Formative assessment reports meaningful developmental progress

• High-quality curriculum supports school readiness

Coming to the

NAEYC Institute?

Attend our presentation:

The Head Start CDEL

Framework & Common

Core State Standards for

Kindergarten Correlation

Project: A National Continuum

for Early Learning

June 11, 2012 • 2 PM

White River Ballroom C/D (121)

JW Mariott, Indianapolis

naeyc-1205.indd 1 3/5/12 3:43 PM

tion is not should I be using it, but how, in what capacity, and how often. I’ve moved past the question of if.”

References

Barnes, B.J. & S. Hill. 1983. “Should Young Children Work with Micro-computers: Logo before Lego?” The Computing Teacher 10 (9): 11–14. Cooper, L.Z. 2005. “Developmentally Appropriate Digital Environments

for Young Children.” Library Trends 54 (2): 286–302. www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/3477/Cooper _Developmentally.pdf?sequence=2.

Finegan, C., & N.J. Austin. 2002. “Developmentally Appropriate Technol-ogy for Young Children.” Information Technology in Childhood Educa-tion Annual 2002 (1): 87–102. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

Fisch, S.M., J.S. Shulman, A. Akerman, & G.A. Levin. 2002. “Reading between the Pixels: Parent-Child Interaction While Reading Online Storybooks.” Early Education and Development 13 (4): 435–51. Guernsey, L. 2010. “Screens, Kids and the NAEYC Position Statement.”

Early Ed Watch blog (New America Foundation).

http://earlyed.newamerica.net/blogposts/2010/screens_kids_and_the _naeyc_ position_statement-35103.

Kumtepe, A.T. 2006. “The Effects of Computers on Kindergarten Chil-dren’s Social Skills.” The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technol-ogy 5 (4): 52–57.

NAEYC & Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media. 2012. “Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8.” Joint position statement. Washington, DC: NAEYC; Latrobe, PA: Fred Rogers Center at Saint Vincent College.

www.naeyc.org/fi les/naeyc/fi le/positions/PS_technology_WEB2.pdf. Plowman, L., J. McPake, & C. Stephen. 2010. “The Technologisation of Childhood? Young Children and Technology in the Home.” Children & Society 24 (1): 63–74.

Apple iPod

®

_{Touch Tablets}

Shape Builder Preschool Puzzle—Variety of puzzles, including letters, animals, vehicles, instruments, and food. When a puzzle is complete, it shows a photo of the item and the sound it makes, if applicable.

Super Why—Activities based on characters from the PBS Kids series, SUPER WHY. Children practice alphabet, rhyming, spelling, writing, and reading skills.

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox—Activities related to colors, letters, counting, shapes, differences, and matching.

Dr. Seuss Books—Classic interactive stories by Dr. Seuss.

When educators are

intentional and

selec-tive in its use,

technol-ogy can enhance early

childhood education.

Vygotsky, L.S. 1978. Mind in Society:The Development of Higher Psycho-logical Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Yelland, N. 2005. “The Future Is Now: A Review of the Literature on the

Use of Computers in Early Childhood Education (1994–2004).” AACE Journal 13 (3): 201–32.

Zevenbergen, R. 2007. “Digital Natives Come to Preschool: Implications for Early Childhood Practice.” Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood 8 (1): 19–29.