Children are also using technology for fun and to socialize with their friends and they need to learn how those same tools are just as useful in academics. They may be experts at using apps, accessing websites, and navigating streaming services in their personal lives. They should be just as skilled at navigating those platforms and the broader internet for the information they need to be successful students and become well-informed and productive adults.
Allow children to freely explore touch screens loaded with a wide variety of developmentally appropriate interactive media experiences that are well designed and enhance feelings of success. Provide opportunities for children to begin to explore and feel comfortable using “traditional” mouse and keyboard computers to use Websites or look up answers with a search engine. Capture photos of block buildings or artwork that children have created; videotape dramatic play to replay for children. Celebrate children’s accomplishments with digital media displayed on a digital projector or on a classroom Website. Incorporate assistive technologies as appropriate for children with special needs and/or developmental delays. Record children’s stories about their drawings or their play; make digital audio or video files to document their progress. Explore digital storytelling with children. Co-create digital books with photos of the children’s play or work; attach digital audio files with the child as the narrator.
