The modern child is growing in a constantly changing digital age different from that of their parents or grandparents. Modern homes and schools harbor a variety of technological tools, which if utilized wisely, can effectively support the growth, and learning of the child.
This will develop their educational background and mold them into creative beings. For instance, pre-school children have exposure to playing with cars and colors on iPads. Snapdragons nursery school in Britain is an example where children learn basics about colors, numbers, and letters using iPads (Hong & Trepanier-Street, 2004). Therefore, the use of technology in schools is beneficial to the initial development stages of a child.
Because of the extended internet usage, children experience the varied scope of digital challenges. Exposure to different technological machines gives different feelings to the child. Families in the United Kingdom possess personal computers and internet-enabled phones (Gutnick, et al, 2011). Children from this environment have a different experience from a child in Korea using iPads for learning basics.
The exposure to digital experiences is slowly rewiring and reshaping the cognitive process of the modern child. This has a direct influence on the education layout of the modern child. Children prefer digital experience as it has multi-task parallel processing, is more comfortable, and works faster. Technology, therefore, affects the development of children in various aspects. The digital problem intensifies as more children get exposed to digital life.
The dire expectation is that the problem is to become worse in the future with the spread of digital technology. Studies and research have found digital exposure to influence the language and cognitive development of a child. In the long term, this influence will affect the behavioral contacts of children in most of the life disciplines. Children will influence to take subjects that expand their digital life or those which in a way have the link to the same.
References
Australian Communications and Media Authority (2011). Use of electronic media and communications: Early childhood to teenage years Growing up in Australia; the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Web.
Gutnick, A. L., Robb, M., Takeuchi, L., & Kotler, J. (2011). Always connected: The new digital media habits of young children. New York: The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. Web.
Hong, S. B., & Trepanier-Street, M. (2004). Technology: A tool for knowledge construction in a Reggio Emilia inspired teacher education program. Early childhood education Journal, 32(2), 87-94. Web.
Takeuchi, L. M. (2011). Families matter: Designing media for a digital age. Web.