The technology that is powering the digital age is increasingly impacting the different aspects of child development, at home and in school. On the one hand, technologies like smartphones, TVs, tablets, e-book readers, gaming stations, and other interactive technologies are expanding the children's worldview ad their connection to their environments (McHaney, 2012). On the other hand, there are increasing concerns that technological innovations will have short and long-term negative impacts on children (Radich, 2013). According to Rosen et al. (2014), research has established that the consumption of different content through technological innovations, such as social media, has negative health impacts on their physical wellbeing. Furthermore, Hollis et al. (2020) raise a concern about the impact of digital technologies on a child's mental health outcomes. Regardless of these concerns, however, digital technologies are here to stay. This paper is a comprehensive summary of the key points in the position statement paper: Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8. Its purpose is to explore how the position statements will influence the implementation of STEAM education in the author's learning environment.
Key Points of each Position Statement
Issues with Technology in Child Education and Development
While technology and interactive media are here to stay, researchers and other stakeholders in education are concerned about their proliferation. For instance, digital technologies are increasingly being used to communicate, collaborate, and sustain a culture that consumes user-generated content (Nguyen, 2020). As a result, digital technologies are changing the mainstream culture at a rapid pace through how children and families seek and consume entertainment, how families interact with each other, how teachers are professionally developed, and even how the professional development impacts the delivery of materials in the classroom (Radich, 2013). Therefore, Radich (2013) is concerned about whether digital technologies should be introduced in early childhood programs as they have been established to be the cause of several child developments and health problems like obesity. These concerns also question the value of technology in child education and development. Previous research had established that children who excessively engage with different forms of technology experience altered circadian rhythms, lack the socialization and language development of their peers, and even impact their ability to focus on a single task for the required period (Radich, 2013). Therefore, integrating technology further into early childhood education could potentially have more negative impacts than the benefits it provides.
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For instance, digital technologies are a tool to supplement normal early childhood education and learning. When used, they must have a specific purpose. However, Radich (2013) notes that "the appeal of technology and the steady stream of new devices may lead some educators to use technology for technology's sake, rather than as a means to an end" (p.4). Furthermore, technology should not be used unless the issues of equity and access are resolved. In other words, unless the social factors that propagate inequalities are eliminated, technology will only serve to amplify the existing biases (Terrasse et al., 2019). Children in low-income neighborhoods will not benefit from technological innovations if the existing teachers do not have the expertise to use the technologies to deliver the learning materials. As a result, these children will be disproportionately affected as their peers from better schools reap the benefits.
The Position
Though the paper, representing the position of the NAEYC and the Fred Rogers Center, is not against the use of technology in early childhood education, it holds that its application must be within the framework of developmentally appropriate practice (Radich, 2013). As a result, it proposes several principles to guide the use of technology and interactive media in early childhood programs. First, the use of digital technologies should not pose any harm to the children. In other words, the technology should ensure the total health of the child, from physical health to emotional, developmental, social, and cognitive health aspects.
Secondly, the decision to integrate digital technologies in early childhood programs must be guided by professional judgment, especially in the determination of the specific digital technology to be used. As a result, the teachers are required to continuously evaluate digital technology and select the tool that engages the children most (Radich, 2013). The corollary is that the teachers must be willing to learn about the different technological tools and select them not for the technology's sake but for their value to the children. Therefore, the proper use of technology will depend on the child's age, needs, socio-cultural background, and even their level of development.
Thirdly, the technologies used must not amplify existing biases and inequalities. All children, especially those with special needs, must have equitable access to technology. Furthermore, the application of technology should not interrupt normal development activities. For instance, children learn by interacting with their environment through play, pretend play, exploration, and even outdoor activities (Sandseter et al., 2020). If digital technology does not facilitate these activities, its value in early childhood development does not justify its use.
Recommendations
The position paper by Radich (2013) makes the following recommendations about the use of technology and interactive media in early childhood education. First, the selection criteria for digital technologies should satisfy any development needs of the children. Secondly, technology should not be applied for the sake of application. Instead, it should be used to balance other activities, such that it extends and complements other methods used to teach the children. Thirdly, technology and interactive media should not be used passively in early childhood programs, especially among children younger than 2. Furthermore, the user should be limited to children younger than 2, especially those that are used to support positive interactions between children and adults. Fourth, limits should be placed following the screen time recommendations of several stakeholders, such as public health organizations. Lastly, equitable access to technology and interactive media should be guaranteed, especially among children with special needs.
How the Position Statements Impact Steam Education
The first impact relates to the teacher's professional development. Unlike before, where the early childhood teachers were passively engaged with technology, the position statements will require teachers to be active and self-driven in discovering and learning about how to use the technologies and interactive media in the classroom. However, the rapid rate of change in technology means that the teachers could perpetually be caught in a loop whereby the time they are familiar with a digital tool, it has already been replaced with better tools. Therefore, teachers could potentially be spending a significant amount of their practice keeping up with the technological advancements.
Different solutions exist to resolve the issue. For instance, the teachers could only focus on digital technologies whose rates of advancement is slow or where the changes are done incrementally. Furthermore, there will be a need to select technologies that guarantee backward compatibility. On the other hand, the alternative would be to have the teachers be the creators of the technologies and interactive media tools. As a result, they will be cognizant of the challenges and integrate solutions into the final technological products. Regardless of the solution applied, the teacher's professional development will have to include technical aspects like understanding the software and hardware development processes and how to move from an idea to a product.
The second impact relates to the nature of teaching practice. The position statements require that the teachers continuously evaluate the digital technology and select the tool that engages the children most (Radich, 2013). Therefore, the teachers must be willing to learn about the different technological tools and select them not for the technology's sake but for their value to the children. However, there are some unresolved issues. First, it is still unclear how the teachers will evaluate and select the different technology and interactive media to integrate into early childhood programs. If the teachers are given the autonomy to select their evaluation and selection criteria, the result would be an educational system that lacks consistency. Furthermore, most of the technologies use could not be selected using the principles of evidence-based practice. Therefore, the final outcome will be the development of early childhood programs that amplify existing inequalities and biases.
Secondly, the current educational framework does not encourage independent explorations, especially among the teachers. Instead, the frameworks and teaching materials are mainly decided by school boards and other stakeholders. In other words, the current educational framework does not encourage bottom-up development. As a result, the current teachers will not have the capacity to integrate technology and interactive media tools to satisfy the conditions set by the position statements. Furthermore, what the teachers can do is limited by the resources allocated to them by other governing bodies, like local and state governments.
It should be noted that the satisfactory implementation of some of the position statements will require a transformation of the ethical frameworks for early childhood education. For instance, Radich (2013) recommends that the integration of technology and interactive media in early childhood programs be guided by developmentally appropriate practices. Therefore, the knowledge about each child and their developmental status must be considered. However, there is no capacity to meet the diverse needs of every child using technology and interactive media. It would be ethically negligent in ignoring the needs of every child. However, there will always be a deficiency of resources to allocate to each teacher and child.
In other words, without changing the current educational framework, including its ethical standards, it would be impossible to implement the position statements in any learning environment. For instance, Radich (2013) requires that any technology or interactive media should provide equitable access, especially for children with special needs. However, the position statement does not explore the means through which the position can be implemented and its implications on teaching practice.
Conclusion
In summary, the position paper, representing the position of the NAEYC and the Fred Rogers Center, is not against the use of technology in early childhood education; it holds that its application must be within the framework of developmentally appropriate practice. As a result, it proposes several principles to guide the use of technology and interactive media in early childhood programs. For instance, the use of digital technologies should not pose any harm to the children. Furthermore, the technologies used must not amplify existing biases and inequalities. However, these statements will impact teaching practice, especially when implementing STEAM education in any learning environment. For instance, the position statements will require teachers to be active and self-driven in discovering and learning about how to use the technologies and interactive media in the classroom. However, the current educational framework does not encourage independent explorations, especially among the teachers. Instead, the frameworks and teaching materials are mainly decided by school boards and other stakeholders. Therefore, without transforming the current educational framework, the position statements proposed will do more harm than good.
References
Hollis, C., Livingstone, S., & Sonuga‐Barke, E. (2020). The role of digital technology in children and young people's mental health–a triple‐edged sword?.
McHaney, R. (2012). The new digital shoreline: How Web 2.0 and millennials are revolutionizing higher education . Stylus Publishing, LLC..
Nguyen, T. (2020). Protecting children from online risks while using Hatch's game streaming service.
Radich, J. (2013). Technology and interactive media as tools in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Every Child , 19 (4), 18.
Rosen, L. D., Lim, A. F., Felt, J., Carrier, L. M., Cheever, N. A., Lara-Ruiz, J. M., ... & Rokkum, J. (2014). Media and technology use predicts ill-being among children, preteens and teenagers independent of the negative health impacts of exercise and eating habits. Computers in human behavior , 35 , 364-375.
Sandseter, E. B. H., Storli, R., & Sando, O. J. (2020). The dynamic relationship between outdoor environments and children's play. Education 3-13 , 1-14.
Terrasse, M., Gorin, M., & Sisti, D. (2019). Social Media, E‐Health, and Medical Ethics. Hastings Center Report , 49 (1), 24-33.
