Giving Compass' Take:

• Katrina Youdale, writing for Getting Smart, explores how schools are incorporating digital play for preschoolers. 

• What programs can provide a healthy amount of digital play for preschoolers? Who decides how much exposure kids get to screens?

•  Read more about how schools are preparing students for the future of work, starting with early learners. 

Early childhood is such a coveted time for development it’s heartening to know that there is a great deal of debate as to how that time should be spent.

Definitions of ‘play’ are something that academics have been building up and smashing down in the sandpit for years. Play is different things to different people. Thankfully we all have different interests, different preferences, and different styles. The things that are agreed; play is an enjoyable, engaging and necessary for early childhood education (ECE). Play, learning, and development are interconnected. This has been true across cultures for centuries.

Play encourages a positive approach to learning. It is also more inclusive for those children who are not yet ready for formal education. It inspires curiosity, imagination, and enthusiasm. It promotes ideas generation and collaboration which comes with it the need to negotiate, compromise, empathize and manage the emotional outcomes of winning or losing within a group.

The 2010 launch of the iPad was the wave that started the technology tsunami. The dramatic home computing leap from mouse and keyboard to handheld touch screen devices opened the playing field for users as young as two. Since then, for better or worse, children’s usage has skyrocketed with the increased availability and popularity of smartphones.

Early adoption has become increasingly ‘early’ with an American Academy of Pediatrics report reporting that 75% children at age 4 own mobile device and most 3- and 4-year-olds used devices without help, and one-third engaged in media multitasking.

Schools vary dramatically with the extent to which they are incorporating technology into kindergarten. One leading example is the Early Learning STEM Australia pilot program which is in its second year.

I understand the need to prepare kids for their digital future, but I worry about technology for technology’s sake. I am excited to see the emergence of Augmented Reality (AR). It’s the perfect playmate for pre-schoolers.

Read the full article about digital play for preschool by Katrina Youdale at Getting Smart