Technology Usage in Early Childhood Education by Leslyee Sanchez

Is the use of technology in early childhood education 100% beneficial? According to Francis Wardle’s article on technology in early childhood education, “The danger, however, is that computers will be used only to reinforce the national trend toward earlier and more academic skill acquisition, and that other important developmental needs will be ignored” (Wardle). The implementation of technology in early childhood education affects academic progress in many aspects: such as, lack of meaningful lectures between instructors and students, demeaning the challenge of critical thinking in school, and ultimately altering the mindset of students in search of accurate information through technological nonsense.

Learning in an educational environment gives ability to communicate personally with instructors and leads to a more academic achievement. However, with the advanced technology society uses today, many students do not always rely on asking questions, visiting the library, or one-on-one conversations with their professors. Technology has reached a level where students are most dependent on it to succeed in academics. For example, online classes at a four-year University creating lack of social learning environments. College level classes are much more challenging and questions come about. Students are discouraged to ask frequent questions to their professors simply because its not a one-on-one lecture so they turn over to the Internet. Of course, technology has made a significant impact in learning throughout all leveled schools nationwide, but has it made students dumber or lazier? The goal of a professor while lecturing to an entire classroom of students is for students to learn thoughtfully and proficiently. Doug Valentine from the University of Oklahoma states: “distance-learning tutors sometimes become demoralized from feeling isolated and professionally deprived, having a negative impact on their students' online learning experience” (Walmsley-Lockhart).  Both instructors and students are negatively affected by habits of relying on the Internet as useful source, which it is, but learning won’t be achieved successfully. Thus, learning environments should consider more about setting a more classic lectures as opposed to always relying on technology leading for demeaning curriculum standards.

Knowing how technology is affecting academic learning, it is easy to say that the standards of academic skills and concepts are starting to become demeaning. Technology is not a full negative affect on students’ academic developments skills. However, it can get in the way of learning important methods and strategies that may be needed in the long run. As a college student, technology has always opened a different path to answers, but these paths are not always reliable and it can eventually be no good. Personally, learning in a classroom and having the ability to freely ask questions is the reason as to why knowledge is gained and obtained. “A major part of learning, which is not on the curriculum per se, is learning to interact and socialize with other classmates” (Grady). Instead of typing a study question in a search engine, going to an instructor and receiving feedback has always been more accurate and proficient. Critical thinking is one of the most important things a student should always learn to work with and apply to situations on a daily basis. Academic subjects such as Math, Philosophy, History, Science etc., are all subjects where lecturing tangibly to a group of students is extremely important in order to understand and express their concepts thoroughly. The Internet is such a fast way of finding answers, and most students do not realize how their standards in learning are lowering. Technology can be integrated into learning environments, but cannot replace methods like one-on-one lectures.  This ultimately leads to the possibility to learning the wrong information for certain concepts.

By today, all sorts of technology methods and devices have been integrated in some educational social environment. Once students begin to work with technology, especially at a young age, they make it as a source that can be considered as one of the required materials for learning. This mindset has altered the way of seeking information correctly. Research papers, letters, resumes, etc., are all driven in by technology nonsense. What ever happened to seeking for information through books at a local library? Students who use any type of technology as a main resource daily basis are compared to those who don’t use much technology at all—the results are shocking. For example, the different learning progresses between students using the abacus to solve math problems as opposed to students using a calculator. Studies show that “by the age of twelve,” Japanese students using the abacus on a daily basis are “wiz kids plastic killing human calculators.” (Youtube).  In this study, children are trained to use the abacus on a daily basis in order to solve challenging math problems at their grade level. These students who are trained in a critical thinking way rank higher SAT scores than the average student. Challenging the mind to seek information will always be a lot more proficient in the present and future in regards of critical thinking in any situation.

The implementation of technology in early childhood education affects academic learning by replacing meaningful lectures between professors and students. Students feel less acknowledged when not learning in an educational environment. Technology has demeaned the challenge of academic curriculums because the Internet is such an easy access to find quick answers. Lastly, technological nonsense has altered the mindset of students when seeking for accurate information. Technology is moving towards a position in education where we should want it to avoid most. It will begin to replace with other academic methods and skills that are extremely significant to know for the future.