Technology a Relatable Tool to Help Kids Learn
I recently wrote about the technology Pine Belt school districts are employing to enhance learning for their students. Kids in grades as low as kindergarten now are using devices such iPod Touches to learn math skills and practice reading.
"(Technology) is current, and it relates to the society the children live in," said Carrie Hornsby, principal of Thames Elementary School in the Hattiesburg Public School District.
A new study by the children's research group Common Sense Media bears out what Hornsby is saying.
In "Zero to Eight: Children's Media Use in America," the group found a substantial proportion of the time that young children spend with screen media is spent with computers, video game players, cellphones, video iPods, and iPad-style tablet devices.
In fact, the study found 52 percent of children now have access to one of the newer mobile devices at home. The group reported 41 percent of children in the study had access to a smartphone.
In reaction to the pervasiveness of cellphones, the Hattiesburg Public School District and the Lamar County School District now allow students to carry the phones at school.
At Hattiesburg High School, some teachers use smartphones as part of their lesson plans. They might, for instance, encourage students to look up tough vocabulary words on Google.
Hattiesburg High School senior Aaron Watson told me he enjoyed using cellphones in class.
"I think it's great," he said. "It gives us an opportunity to take something we love, which is our cellphone, and use it in the proper way in a school environment, which is educational."
Common Sense Media found computer use was even more common among young children than cellphone use.
Fifty-three percent of all 2- to 4-year-olds in the study had used a computer, while 90 percent of 5- to 8-year-olds had done so.
For many of these children, computer use was a regular occurrence: 22 percent of 5- to 8-year-olds used a computer at least once a day, and another 46 percent used it at least once a week.
Among all children who have used a computer, the average age at first use was just 3 years old.
All this technology has raised questions about how it's used. The American Academy of Pediatrics stresses unstructured play over time with media devices.
Principal Hornsby told me technology, while useful, can never take the place of a good teacher.
I wonder about the use of smartphones and video devices by young children. It seems to me, a colorfully illustrated book is sometimes a better way for youngsters to occupy themselves.
But I do understand technology is here to stay. And I have been impressed by how I've seen it used in local classrooms.
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