Conclusion

 

Throughout the development of this blog I have researched and discovered a lot about ICT in early childhood education. As ICT is a recent introduction to ECE settings for use with children I found it hard to find research and evidence about the effects of this technology at this age level. But throughout my research I have found that the Ministry of Education is putting guidelines and initiatives in place to help support the effective use of ICT within ECE settings. I found it very interesting to find that the development and introduction of teaching machines by Skinner (2010) prompted the movement to having ICT technology for children to use (Bates). It was intriguing to follow the history of ICT technology from Skinner’s teaching machine to the ipads and computers of today’s classrooms.

One of the most interesting parts of my research was learning that the Ministry of Education has developed a well regulated set of guidelines for appropriate and safe ICT use in early childhood education. This shows that the Ministry of Education is aware of the rise in early childhood education settings that are introducing and using ICT technology with children and acknowledges the need for regulations and policies around ICT.  This is essential for the protection of children, educators and children. This is evident through the sound achievable goals that the Ministry of Education have set and are working towards based on the smart use of ICT across all education sectors. These are stated clearly in the strategic framework for education which I have linked at the bottom of this blog.

Despite all these wonderful aspects of the use of ICT technology in early childhood education settings that I have discovered along with the many ways in which ICT technology can affect children’s learning and development, there is still little sound research into the effects of being exposed to such technology at a young age. I have found many articles describing personal opinions on why technology has no place in ECE and why it does have a place in ECE but none of which so far tell me precisely whether it is a necessary addition to ECE settings. So after extensive reading and researching I have been left to come to my own conclusion about the use of ICT technology in early childhood education, and I hope that this blog will offer some insight and open some doors for the development of your own opinion on this issue.

Retrieved from source: http://www.miseshispano.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/exploring-children.jpg

Coming from a ECE setting that supports no ICT technology before the age of seven has had a large impact on my values as an educator and has definitely led me to being very surprised when visiting ECE settings who use a lot if ICT technology. I have a personal believe that young children will not be disadvantaged by not being exposed to ICT technology, and this is because I believe that children need to take time to engage in rich real life experiences within their environment such as discovering mud and sand and engaging in dramatic play and collaborative relationship building face to face with friends and adults. There is little evidence to support this but time will hopefully provide new research that will enable us to see whether or not this is the case. I do not doubt the benefits of ICT technology for children especially as the world progresses and become a more technology based place to grow up, but I do however question the necessity of it being introduced in early childhood.

 

 

References:

Bates, T. (2010). A Short History of Educational Technology. Retrieved from source: http://www.tonybates.ca/2014/12/10/a-short-history-of-educational-technology/

Ministry of Education. (2006). ICT Strategic Framework for Education. Supporting learning in a connected sector through the smart use of ICT. Retrieved from source: http://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Felearning.tki.org.nz%2Fcontent%2Fdownload%2F393%2F1910%2Ffile%2FICTStrategicFrameworkEducation.pdf&ei=nA8-VfLTHOKxmwWgwIHAAw&usg=AFQjCNG5st2ogNRD-E3qwaoPktYqyLFWnA&sig2=FNFYI_7jUdaivdlXmhsXxw&bvm=bv.91665533,d.dGY