Civilizations have evolved due to humans’ continuous efforts to develop new technology. It can not be denied that technology dictates each and every step of our movement. It has made life easy for the stakeholders of the society. Here we discuss the student community focusing mainly on preschool.
The need for technology in education was advocated by experts long ago, but it was realized deeply during COVID-19, which locked and stagnated the mobility of society. At that time, the students used mobile phones with internet connections to attend classes.
The use of technology in preschool education includes smartphones, gaming systems, TVs, tablets, and others. But the various counter observations and ideas question the benefits of it. They opine that technology can harm the learning process of young learners. The following article discusses the role of technology in preschool education and its pros and cons.
The Role Of Technology In Preschool Education: Pros And Cons
Everything on earth has its pros and cons, and this is no exception for technology. Though you can perceive the benefits in the long run, inwardly, you have to bear with the cons. So here we discuss the pros and cons of using technology in preschool education.
Pros Of Using Technology In Preschool Education
There are certain advantages of technology and its use in preschool education. Let’s try to observe and understand things here.
1. Technology Provides A Source Of Education And Entertainment
You may have observed that children get easily distracted from their studies. Yes, the minds are like a pendulum, always wayward all the time. If you think that taking them on a trip and encouraging them to study will be extremely challenging, to say the least. Moreover, it does not look feasible.
Educational apps can be of immense help to children. You can download them to most of the devices. In the apps, you can get videos and fundamentals of mathematics. These applications are easy to use.
2. The Child Has Access To More Information
Preschool is the area where your child learns basic knowledge and concepts. Toddlers and preschool-aged children must be familiar with concepts like:
This stage is not formal schooling. Rather than this, preschool students are exposed to challenging situations where they learn and adapt to virtues. Video materials can help them understand the culture, costumes, values, and different political and religious views. Through the help of technology, they broaden their thought process.
3. Technology Prepares Children For Future
The preschool center tries to ensure preschool children develop for the future. They take the help of interesting videos that discuss different basic concepts. Developing the concepts is unquestionably one of the key elements of education. If the student fails in it, they can find it difficult to manage their future studies.
For instance, if the child does not develop a sense of shapes, they might feel problems with geometry. These learning apps help develop the cognitive learning of students.
4. Developing Hand And Eye Coordination
There are programs and applications which encourage hand-eye coordination. Eye tracking develops with technology. Here the learners participate in the application activities.
With the development of your child, you can better read and write. Children are accustomed to using their hands and eyes to understand and communicate things.
5. Learn About Animals
Technology can be beneficial in understanding animals. You can use software to learn about the anatomy of different animals. The software also allows the children to paint over the animals with their fingers on computer screens.
It can help the children figure out the animal’s appearance, both the outside and inside anatomy. You can get these facilities with the best play school center. It is an important development so far as child development is concerned.
6. Encouraging Creativity
Creativity is a virtue that makes one a good student and professional. But it essentially develops right from childhood. The guardian and teachers ensure that the students learn creativity.
The children can take pictures and write a description on them. They can be highly valuable, communicative, and creative. You can even use apps that help them paint objects and draw pictures. They are essential in developing the creative self of the children.
Cons Of Technology In Preschool Education
Apart from the advantages, there are also disadvantages to using technology in preschool education.
1. Obesity Among Child
Studies revealed the use of technology-enabled students to lead a sedentary lifestyle without much activity. Lack of mobility makes them physically inactive, and they increase their body mass by it.
Yes, it is a fact that the use of technology promotes learning, but at the same time, it also increases the risk of weight gain.
2. Safety Risk For Children
According to an observation or survey conducted on 825 children aged between seven to sixteen, it was found that there emerged safety risks while using technology.
It is found from a study that around 29% of parents do not have any restrictions on internet usage. It emerged that the students were exposed to adult videos or pornography. One out of five children below the age was exposed to adult content while studying online. Hence the risk remains quite high with the use of technology.
3. Dullness In The Thinking Process
Another side effect of using technology is the need to improve the thinking process. When the child spends hours watching cartoons and other entertaining videos on their mobile, it reflects on their thought process. Even engagement in learning applications affects the brain functioning of the individual.
This development can be attributed to spending hours in the world of mobile and computer screens and keeping aloof from worldly activity. Though apparently they are engaged in their studies, they are not active in the real world.
4. Shortcuts And Laziness In Doing Work
Physical engagement is much better than digital engagement. If preschool students are asked to run and jump, it increases their physical agility.
But at the same time, if the child gets engaged in cartoon and online learning apps, they become indolent, and they stop employing their brains as they easily win in the world of games and applications. This is why preschool centers and playschool centers arrange for physical activities.
5. Over-Reliance On Technology Reduces The Imagination Of A Child
Imagination is one of the powers that makes an individual creative. Over-reliance on technology has reduced to quite an extent.
It is because hourly engagement in virtual work robs the capability of an individual and leaves them dry. The preschool level is about understanding people, nature, shapes, sizes, and colors and developing virtues like empathy. But over-reliance on technology reduces the capability of imagination and leaves your child dumb.
This is why the preschool or playschool centers try to create a mix between physical activity and online education to help the student cultivate positive thoughts and physical alacrity.
Bringing The Discussion To A Close
Preschool education is all about learning and development; the child is exposed to the world around them. Therefore the teachers and the guardian try to ensure that they oversee every aspect of the child’s growth and maturity using technology.
They also need to be aware and make continuous efforts so that the child eliminates the negative aspects of technology.