We now live in a global economy with a knowledge-based marketplace, where the ultimate measure of our success is
becoming less about what we know, but more about what we do with what we know, and learning new skills to fit a rapidly
changing world.
Technology has helped to accelerate this pace of change, retooling nearly every aspect of our daily life, from how we
communicate, to how we shop, to how we receive medical care. Schools — many of which have been slow to embrace
innovation — are beginning to engage in this digital revolution.
It is during the early school-age years that children begin to use the tools of their society with competence. technology has
become an important part of daily life for young children. On a typical day, children ages 3–5 spend an average of four hours
with technology, and technology use is increasing among children of all ages. In our culture, that typically means learning to read
and write, calculate, and investigate. Children use books, touch screens, writing instruments, and tools for studying scientific and
social concepts. As digital technologies increasingly become the tools that older children and adults use in their work and home
lives, younger children seek to emulate this usage, first through imitation and representational play and then later through
mastery of the tools for their own self-expression and learning. New web-based technologies allow the child to be the producer
of the technology, adding to the appropriateness, motivation, and usability of technology tools.
Not everyone agrees that technology should be in
early childhood education. Debates about the role of
technology in early childhood education are ongoing, with
some providers, parents, and others yet to be convinced
about the potential benefits of technology.
Children now rely on technology for the majority of
their play, grossly limiting challenges to their creativity and
imaginations, as well as limiting necessary challenges to their
bodies to achieve optimal sensory and motor development.
Sedentary bodies bombarded with chaotic sensory stimulation
are resulting in delays in attaining child developmental
milestones, with subsequent negative impact on basic
foundation skills for achieving literacy. Hard-wired for high
speed, today’s young are entering school struggling with self
regulation and attention skills necessary for learning,
eventually becoming significant behavior management
problems for teachers in the classroom.