APLING678 Week 10 - Young Learners
Guiding Questions:
- Who is a young learner and who is an English Language Learner?
- What issues and challenges should we consider when we want to use technology and digital resources with young learners and ELLs?
- Should there be a difference in the way we use technology with young learners and/or ELLs compared to older learners (e.g. college, adults)? Why or why not?
Readings: Complete the following readings for this week.
- Text: Walker and White (2013) Chapter 8
- Weblink: NAEYC: Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8. http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/PS_technology_WEB.pdf
- Weblink: NAEYC: Technology and Young Children http://www.naeyc.org/content/technology-and-young-children (Choose one other link besides the link above on technology and interactive media as tools. Be sure to include the insights in your discussion
- [Video]: NAEYCWebcast Presentation http://oldweb.naeyc.org/profdev/webcast/tech_young_children/player.html
Substantive Post:
Week 10 Discussion Post
– Issues and Challenges with Children and Technology
Jonathan, thank you for stepping up and getting our discussion
started this week. As a mother of not-quite-so-young-learners-anymore (ages 13
and 15), I have done lots of research into technology for young learners and
given much thought to screen time issues. My children would still fit into the
“young learners” category as defined by Walker and White (p. 109), but the
NAYEC paper primarily focuses on children up through age 8. However you define
“young”, rules around technology use will be a focus for my husband and me as
long as our children are living at home. Issues surrounding amount of time
spent on screens and potential for cyber-bullying are things both parents and
teachers need to consider.
Pediatricians talk to parents about screen time recommendations
from very early on, so I’ve been aware of the AAP’s position on screen time
(none for children under 2, and less than 2 hours a day for older children) for
many years (NAEYC, p. 3). I find it a somewhat unrealistic policy. I dare you
to count up your screen time in a typical day (time spent reading articles and
writing discussion posts for this class online, TV even running in the
background, checking Facebook, checking email, playing games, Skype with family
members, watching Netflix, and so on). I love nature, I don’t play games on my
iPhone, and we don’t own a TV, but I still spend more than two hours a day on
some sort of screen. And then I have to consider the amount of time my children
spend on their school-issued iPads while they are at school, and the fact that in
the afternoons they read eBooks and write fan fiction on their computers (in
addition to playing video games and watching YouTube). I was glad to see the
NAEYC paper address the fact that not all screens are equal. As a parent, I
have to consider whether my children are using screens to be productive, to be
creative, to play, to communicate, or to veg out. In other words, are the
screens being used actively or passively (p. 4)? As teachers, we need to “make
informed choices that maximize learning opportunities for children while
managing screen time and mediating the potential for misuse and overuse” (p.
3). In considering the overuse of technology, we also need to remember that
children go home after school and will likely use more technology there. Even
though the research findings remain divided on whether or not screen time is
harmful, we should ensure that any screen time we use in class is educationally
worthwhile, because whatever screen time our students are getting in our
classroom, it is probably only a small portion of the screen time they are
getting throughout the day.
Walker and White mention concerns about cyber-bullying (p. 111).
Jonathan, you ask how we would handle such a situation in the classroom. I
think the best course of action is prevention through education, if possible. Here
are some tips for teens on preventing cyber-bullying: http://cyberbullying.org/Top-Ten-Tips-Teens-Prevention.pdf.
This could be shared with students at the first of every school year.
Cyber-bullying can also be prevented, or at least quickly addressed, through
adult awareness and supervision. Many parenting experts recommend that children
and teens not be allowed to have technology in their rooms. There are various
reasons (like sleep hygiene), and one reason often listed is to help prevent or
at least address cyber-bullying. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises
that technology should be kept out of children’s bedrooms, and one of their
reasons for this is supervision. If a child receives a sexually explicit text
or a bullying message, and the parent is in the same room, the parent will be
able to see it happening and be able to address it immediately (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2013,
p. 959). This should be the same at school – if students are using individual
technological devices, hopefully the teacher is present, walking around, and
aware enough to catch problems before they get taken too far. Prevention
through education is key.
References
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