Welcome to the Forgotten ECE, the show where before and after school educators, summer
camp and PD staff and CYWs have a place where they are seen, heard and valued.
I'm your host, Jamie Wagler, and I'm so excited you're here.
Incorporating technology in early childhood education.
Are you for it?
Are you against it?
Do you think there's a place for technology in our programs, specifically in our recreation
of a for and after school programs?
I am going to dive a little deeper into the benefits of technology and what my thoughts
are.
Join me now for the Forgotten ECE.
Educational apps, whiteboards, tablets, oh my, computers and websites and cameras, oh
my, robotics kits, VR and microscopes, oh my, don't forget about coding.
These are just some of the options of technology out there for children, for our kids that
are in before and after school programs or in recreational programs.
And it is up to us to determine as educators what we should allow in these programs.
I am so excited that you're joining me today because I actually am unsure of which way
I sway in this topic.
So I would love to hear from you about which way you sway if you sway away.
The reason I'm bringing this up is because technology is in every part of our life now.
You can't go to a grocery store without seeing self checkout.
People are on their phones 24-7, people are on tablets, computers, TVs, it's all there.
All of these new game systems that are out there.
And I'm not saying that I think we should entertain the idea of having game systems
in our programs.
I mean, I've worked in programs before that would bring in just dance on rainy days, not
every rainy day but once in a while.
I haven't done that in a long, long, long, long time.
But what I am saying is that we are not moving towards a world that doesn't have technology
in it.
We are full-fledged, full-force moving towards a technology-driven world.
We're in the middle of it to be honest.
And we don't want children to get left behind and we also want them to be resourceful.
So how do we balance incorporating technology into our classrooms and not?
Some benefits of having technology in our programs include engagement, individualized
learning, skill development, access to information, preparation for the future, communication,
inclusivity.
These are all important factors.
And when we break it down, the one main thing that stands out for me is the access to information.
We strive as educators to build children up, to make them curious and competent, to learn
from their interests.
And one way we can do that is teaching them on how to find out their own information or
how to find out facts and how to do science experiments and how to look for the place
that tells you how to do the things.
And I strongly believe in that sense of freedom around finding out things for yourself.
And I don't see a lot of harm in having an iPad or some sort of device that can assist
children in looking things up or that can be used to look things up.
Where the lines get blurry or where I kind of think it downfalls is when we give them
too much freedom.
I don't think children should be on YouTube.
I don't think they should be on watching movies all the time.
I don't think they should be watching movies really majority of the time.
I think that if you're ever going to even think about introducing a movie into the classroom,
it's once in a blue moon.
I don't think children should be left alone with the iPad and to search up whatever they
want.
I think there has to be strict boundaries on those, these technology.
And it doesn't have to be an iPad.
It could be a Chromebook.
It could be good old fashioned desktop.
Do they still make those?
They must still make those.
I'm being silly.
But what I do think is that it kind of builds up your independence when you can search things
up for yourself.
For example, we have a classroom iPad at the place I work and we also have a pet axolotl.
The children were wondering the one day if the axolotl has teeth.
So instead of just telling them or searching up the answer myself and robbing them of that
opportunity, I got them to look it up on the iPad.
I mean, they asked Siri, but I mean, I still ask Siri for things all the time.
And then they were able to find out what the inside of the axolotl mouse looked like and
information about them that I wouldn't have been able to teach them.
But instead I would have searched it up and then just told them where, what are they really
learning then being talked at or told to when they could search up the information themselves.
I do want to touch on that if you're allowing technology into the classroom, it is super
important that you talk about digital citizenship.
And by that I mean online safety, responsibility of technology, and that you are using positive
guidance and modeling to help with that topic.
Public safety is something that everyone should know and I don't think there's a too young
of age to teach it.
And I think our before and after school programs is a great way to start, such as protecting
personal information, not giving away your passwords, recognizing and avoiding online
threats and cyber bullying.
I think ensuring that we tell children or explain to children why social media platforms
aren't really great for their age groups and the importance of only surfing appropriate
websites.
I think we also have to teach a sense of responsibility and respectfulness when it comes to communicating
on digital platforms.
Just like we talk about communicating respectively in person, children should know that how they
respond affects people.
It could hurt people's feelings and worse and what they say on these online areas is
extremely important.
Again, like I said, I don't think that they should be left to their own devices and hurrah
on the internet during our programs, but these are important topics to touch on if you're
introducing any sorts of technology into your programs.
What about coding and programming?
What about robotics?
These are all amazing things that we can introduce into the programs, but also require that sense
of responsibility and also that buildup of independence.
What do you think?
What do your programs look like?
Do you let children surf the web?
Do people still say that?
Do they still say surf the web?
I don't even know.
Do you let them explore and research and find out information for themselves?
What does that look like in your program?
I'm genuinely curious and how you set these boundaries and what your rules are and how
you come up with your rules.
Are you setting them with the children?
Is this something that you're like, nope, I'm a firm believer in no internet or I'm
a firm believer in no technology.
I'm curious.
I'm genuinely curious.
I want to take this moment to thank you wholeheartedly for listening in and tuning in every other
week and it's only been a short time, but I hope you're enjoying it and remember to
reach out if you have any questions, concerns, comments, or if you have an idea for a show,
if you're struggling with something at your centers, in your before and after school programs
and you want to hear more.
I know this is a little bit quicker episode, but really it's just what I was thinking and
I wanted to share it with you.
If you have any comments on this topic, please let me know and I'll share them in the next
podcast.
Thanks.
Have the most wonderful day ever.
Thank you.
Amazing listeners for your support.
Don't forget to follow me on Instagram at miss Jamie underscore R E C E.
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Again, thank you so much and happy learning.