As Yogi Berra once observed, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."
Even so, there are some clear trends in
American society today that are likely to have
long-term consequences. Since one of the
major roles of education is to prepare students
for life in the next century, an awareness
of these trends by educators and policy
makers is essential if our educational
system is to achieve its objectives.
~ Thornburg (1997)
The current technology chosen for
this assignment that has emerged over the last few years in the early childhood
field (in my area of Massachusetts) is Apple’s iPad. As a licensed home childcare owner/provider I
have noticed the increased use of iPads by other licensed home childcare
owners/providers in my area as well as some of the secondary schools.
Blackwell, et al., (2013) stated,
“The increased access to, but continued under-use of, technology in education
makes it imperative to understand the barriers teachers face when integrating
technology into their classrooms. While
prior research suggests teachers encounter both first-order extrinsic barriers
and second-order personal barriers, much of this research has focused on K-12
teachers, not early childhood educators.”
With the emerging of anything new there will undoubtedly
challenges. When working with the
technology in an educational setting with young children there will definitely
be some challenges.
In the case of incorporating the
iPad into early childhood curriculum, specific challenges are, but not limited
to:
- Children
are, at times, more technologically savvy than adults and may figure out how to
bypass the filtering software that would need to be put in place. In this day and age it is easy to surf the
web and search for this information.
- There
are times when the limited version of the apps do not give a full demonstration
of the full potential of the full app could do.
- The
price of educational apps can be expensive (i.e. apps for differing abilities).
- Storage
capacity can cost almost $1,000 depending on the amount of space required for
the curriculum.
- There
is no external storage options available on the iPad - what you buy is what you
have. There is no method available to
increase the memory.
- There
is only one log in account so all of the information cannot be kept
confidential between students (Biersdorfer, 2010).
One of the largest
societal needs an iPad meets (in my daughter’s work with children of differing
abilities) is that of a light-weight compact communication device. The iPad opens the doors of communication for
individuals who need assistance. It is
also less bulky to be transported and therefore more convenient for individuals
of all ages to transport (blogs.kqed.org,
2014).
Some ideas on what
would make an iPad even better are, but not limited to:
- Adding parental
controls/school controls so the children cannot access inappropriate
material.
- It would also be
helpful if there were more workshops to demonstrate the use of the iPad for individuals
in the early childhood field. These
workshops should include examples of how to incorporate an iPad into the
curriculum.
- More regulation of
limited version of apps so the consumer will know what they are paying for with
the full-version purchase.
- Offer bundles of apps
for an inexpensive price per app.
- Incorporate an external
storage outlet on the iPad.
- Create a way for
multiple users to keep their information safe and secure.
References
2020 visions (WP). (1997). Retrieved from
http://tcpd.org/Thornburg/Handouts/2020visions.html
Biersdorfer, J. D. (2010). IPad.
Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media.
Retrieved from
http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1595/en_US/ipad_user_guide.pdf
Blackwell, C. K., Lauricella, A. R., &
Wartella, E. (2014). Factors influencing digital technology
use
in early childhood education. Computers & Education, 77,
82-90.
The Invisible iPad: It’s Not About the Device. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/05/the-invisible-ipad-its-not-about-the-device/
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Blogs I Posted To
http://dspringsteen.blogspot.com/
randompinkrain.wordpress.com
http://cottrellsidblog.blogspot.com/
http://dspringsteen.blogspot.com/
randompinkrain.wordpress.com
http://cottrellsidblog.blogspot.com/
Do you think iPads and iPhones are over-rated? Do you think Windows and Android devices will start to become more accepted into schools?
ReplyDeleteHi Robin,
ReplyDeleteYou make some great points in your blog post. The iPad has definitely come along way and is now one of the pinnacle devices being used to assist in the educational growth of children and adults around the globe. It feels as though we are at the highest level of technology at this point. Where do you see devices like the iPad advancing in the next 10 years?
I work in the public schools system and I have found teachers reluctant to incorporate emerging technology. If you have been in education long enough you realize their is a new buzz almost every year. Teachers are expected to jump on the bandwagon of all the fly by night new ideas. I have even heard them say, "This will not work. It didn't work the last time we tried it". I think teachers do not see the value in many of the emerging technologies because of the amount of training needed to successfully implement the technology only to have it end up in the closet the next year. According to Saettler their is a novelty effect when it comes to implementing new technology. Initially their is an excitement when something new is introduced but then as the novelty wears off so does the motivation for people to implement the technology (Seattler, 2004).
ReplyDeleteReference:
Saettler, Paul. (2004). The Evolution of American Educational Technology. Greenwich, Connecticut. Information Age Publishing.
Do you think Apple products are better than Android products for students? There is an ongoing debate about which operating system is more compatible for educational purposes. Which do you prefer ad why?
ReplyDelete