Digital Technology Is Changing The Early Years Of Elementary Education

Even though some experts feel children’s physical health is at risk once they are introduced to technology, it is a must, that early childhood educators do just that. In a world where technology is ever changing it is imperative that children are exposed as early as two years old so that they are not left at a disadvantage for the future. Young children must be exposed to technology early so they can explore its usage; it will help them become more interactive in their learning using hands-on technology; technology will help them become more aware of the

Since children today have become digital natives; they will never truly know a world that is not touched with technology. This means that the educational paradigm has to shift in order to keep up with the needs of our young learners (Jo, 2016). In the last thirty years, technological advances

Technology has many attributes and applications that improve livelihoods. As a student myself, one of the most obvious advancements is in the field of education. Educational technology has slowly been integrated into classrooms over the last decade. Today, the basis of technology, digital literacy, is a crucial skill for academics. “Students who are digitally literate know how to effectively use technology to collaborate, create original content, and conduct in-depth research for academic purposes” (Dotterer, “Fostering Digital Citizenship In The Classroom”). Some worry that the use of technology will encourage people to “cease to exercise their memory and become forgetful” (qtd. In Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”).

In response to Mitoko Rich, “Literacy Debate – Online, R U Really Reading?” In the 21st century, children are learning via many different sources, whether through textbooks, internet, blogs, etc. Therefore, it was not surprising to read what was mentioned in this article. Reading in the digital age is causing a debate, especially in regards to students. After reading the article, I began to wonder; is it possible that digital text can cause more harm than good? Can digital text take away the value of reading books? And what is happening psychologically to a child when they are using digital text?

We are currently living in a digital age where our students are notably technologically proficient. This poses a challenge with how some of our students are currently learning (or trying to learn) in our classrooms. Many students have grown tired of reading dense texts for homework assignments and tired of listening to long, boring lectures from teachers at school. The way in which students are currently analyzing and interpreting texts that they read and videos that they watch have not been up to our standards here at North Windsor High School. The thing is, a lot of our teachers are also struggling between teaching with both print text and by digital means. North Windsor High School acknowledges the fact that many seniors graduate not having the digital skills and print text literacy necessary to lead successful lives after high school. We are beginning to implement some changes with our teaching methods and hope to incorporate technology and print text in different and more engaging ways.

Carr’s premise is that the Web is interfering with our ability to focus on lengthy material. On the contrary, the internet is actually aiding our ability to focus on reading. This holds true for younger children, who are known as the digital natives in our generation. In a research conducted by The National Center for Education shows that “by altering the mode of reading material from traditional paper-based reading to online reading,” the interest of elementary school children increased (Wright 367). Because children of the 21st century are surrounded by technology, they are more likely to gear towards digital media for their mode of learning. Contrary to Carr’s view that the internet “is chipping away [the] capacity for concentration and contemplation,” these children are more likely to read and focus as a result of

Computers are the foundation of instructional technology but despite their many uses and importance in nearly every workplace many schools have poor funding for technology. Kids who are in schools that don’t have adequate tech funding end up behind their peers, and their lack of computer skills can affect everything from their ability to research for academic projects to their ability to enter STEM related jobs and programs.

The internet is something that has affected the last few generations. Today's students are affected immensely because they are young, impressionable, and exposed to many more resources through the internet. In Andrea Lunsford’s article, “Our Semi-Literate Youth? Not So Fast,” she and her research team prove that, when used wisely, the internet is not harming students and enhancing their writing skills. In Nicholas Carr's article, “Hal And Me,” he writes through personal and second hand experiences about how the internet is reducing people's ability to absorb information. Many people have different opinions on technology. The ongoing debate is whether or not the internet is affecting people, mostly the younger generations, in a bad way or in a good way.

Before the Internet, students did work in books and teachers taught through books. Almost everyone in the same grade was taught the same, with a limited curriculum until technology took over the world. Now that society has endless resources from the advancements of technology, students, teachers, and others use it to expand their knowledge on certain subjects and also to complete their work faster. The effects of technology is explained in the text, “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” by Amy Goldwasser, she argues that the Internet actually aids kids in developing skills in writing and problem solving. Steven Pinker also defends the use of technology in his essay, “Mind Over Mass Media” by claiming that people just need to control their use of technology.

Technology has transformed the way people produce, disseminate, and receive information. As the authors explain, the new technology also challenges our definition of what it means to be literate. Whereas text was once available only as a print medium, the concept of text has evolved to include the Internet, film and television. Children who

Computer literacy has played an extremely significant role in defining who I am today, in a more unique and personal way than any traditional spoken language, and is set to define my future as well. My ability to understand and communicate with computers is something I pride myself in greatly, and is a topic in which

Every day the world is changing and things are done differently. Technology has also affected the way students are taught and in which they learn. It has changed the classroom. Technology saves us time and allows us to access material in only minutes. “The Internet and online subscription databases, even as a supplement to the printed works in the library, allow students to see, and force them to consider or reject, points of view that they might never have encountered in decades past” (Gow 4).With all the time technology produces, it also has downsides and it also may have created a less intelligent society.

As schools promote 21st-century learning, there has been a push for literacies which encourage students to be 21st-century learners. The two overarching literacies, new and digital, has taken over the three R’s literacy, reading, writing, and arithmetic. New Literacies continuously change due to the new technology emerging providing different ways to get information and communicate with others (Leu et al., 2015). In contrast, digital literacy is the ability to use digital tools to access information for understanding and communication (Jose, 2016). New literacies and digital literacies also differ in aspects of use in the classroom. New literacies are the building blocks for digital literacy; which are the skills students need to understand the internet (Maloy, Verock-O'Loughlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2017). New literacies can be taught without the use of technology because students are learning to locate, evaluate, synthesize, and communicate information. Teachers can demonstrate these skills using encyclopedias and journal articles to gain a minimalistic comprehension. Once students learn the necessary understanding, teachers can transfer these skills to online which will promote digital literacy; furthermore, digital literacy can only be taught using digital tools. Teachers would teach students how to use computers and the social practices of the new literacies to gain an understanding of the digital literacy (Jose, 2016). Furthermore, digital literacies

This article attempts to enlighten educators to allow computers in the classroom as a workshop to help improve literacy. The computer allows for students to have both a visual and a verbal reference to a topic, thus, solidifying a concrete comprehension of the text, allowing the student to be further engaged and stimulated with the assignment. Over the years, educators have seen such a vast change in technology, especially in the classroom. It is time now, that educators embrace the change and use it to their advantage. “If students can be motivated and engaged when using technology, teachers should continue to support this type of learning when appropriate.”

Being proficient in using technology will be a prerequisite for almost any employment for younger students. It is the school’s job to prepare many of these kids for employment, and that is especially true for the lower socioeconomic areas where students with computers at home are rare. Eisenberg and Johnson describe this basic skills education as the “laundry list” approach to computer education. By ‘list” they mean isolated skills, such as word processing, or searching the Internet. “Students need to be able to use computers and other technology flexibly, creatively and purposefully. All learners should be able to recognize what they need to accomplish, determine whether a computer will help them to do so, and then be able to use the computer as part of the process of accomplishing their task.”1