Role of iPad in preschoolers.
By DoctorDidi
@DoctorDidi (7018)
India
July 3, 2011 8:06am CST
Apple’s colourful technology has preschoolers going mad for gadgets. They can learn themselves how to use the modern gadgets without the help of their guardians. Some scientists working on education now advocate iPad as a very powerful tool for learning of kids as according to them smart devices can provide powerful multi-sensory interactions in a family context and so it is widely used in the western developed countries for the kids where there is great demand for this device. The situation is such that some claim that the children of today what ask as their first choice is a iPad and nothing else. But there are some who have just the opposite view. The most disadvantage under such cases of using iPad from preschool age is that this tendency displaces other more labor-intensive activities such as outdoor play. According to them, nothing can compensate for the undivided attention of a significant adult. Some are even more aggressive and suggest banning of computers from schools until children reach the age of nine. Thus this dispute will go on. One school will point out that there may be possible repetitive-strain injuries, lack of exercise, risks of obesity, decreased creativity, impaired language and literacy, poor concentration, social isolation, decreased motivation and even depression. But the other school will defend them by pointing towards the benefits in fine motor skills, communication, emergent literacy and reading readiness, mathematical thinking, problem-solving, self-esteem, self-confidence, co-operation and positive attitudes towards learning. Thus the common people will definitely be confused like me. What’s about you?
6 responses
@GemmaR (8517)
•
3 Jul 11
I think that the iPad is an extremely powerful tool which certainly does have the capability of enhancing people's education, including young children. However, you have to be careful because there are many things which are available which are certainly not appropriate for young children to be viewing. With an iPad, they have full access to the internet, meaning that they can be just as much in danger on one of those as a child would be if they were using a desktop computer. The trick is to supervise your child. For every 20 minutes that your child plays online, you should ensure that you spot check on what they're playing on to make sure that they're playing the right thing. Never let them know the password to the app store that is on the iPad, as then you will have to be the one who approves everything that goes on there. The iPad can be fabulous when it is used correctly, and there is no reason why children cannot enjoy them every bit as much as the adults in the world.
@DoctorDidi (7018)
• India
3 Jul 11
That means there will be a constant supervision on the proper and useful utilization of the gadget.
@toniganzon (72517)
• Philippines
3 Jul 11
My seven year old son has his own iPad that he alone uses. It's all up to the parents to guide their children on how to make this gadget useful foe the benefit of the child's intellectual enhancement. My son was able to count numbers to millions at the age of four and unto billions if you let him read that. It was because of a computer online game his uncles were playing then and he was just an observer. His keen mind became analytical and responsive,
Going back to the iPad I don't think that preschoolers can fully operate it without adult's supervision because to download applications they need to encode an apple Id and to have that, one must have a credit card. It has a password too. So in that case parents can regulate what their kids can do in their iPad.
I never let my son play on weekdays with his iPad and I limit his time on weekends. His creativity in drawing was enhance because of the game called Max and the Magic Marker.
So whether it's beneficial or harmful will depend on the parent's guidance.
@DoctorDidi (7018)
• India
3 Jul 11
What I personally believe is that everything has merits and demerits. But we must always try to take the good things and to stay away from the bad things. So, we the parents must be very careful and supervise our children continuously so that they are not exposed to the bad things and be able to take only the good things properly which will definitely help them in the long run.
@celticeagle (168126)
• Boise, Idaho
4 Jul 11
As fast as kids are developing now days I think that this might be of benefit to children. As you said it will help them in fine motor skills, communication, emergent literacy and reading readiness, mathematical thinking, problem-solving, self-esteem, self-confidence, co-operation and positive attitudes towards learning which are all going to be very important to children. And not all kids are becoming obese. If this is kept to afew hours daily and not an all day thing it shouldn't hurt them.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
6 Jul 11
Well, we don't have an iPad in our household, but we do have very many personal computers and laptops that we do own. From the time that my daughter was three years old and my son was allowed to start playing on the computer when he was two years old, I've let them use them for education websites. I think that using technology to our advantage is a great thing for the children of today because technology is very important in the classroom. With that said, I limit the amount of time that the children are allowed to spend on the computer so that they do still have physical activity and social time with their friends.
@spankiepunk (12)
• Philippines
4 Jul 11
i think the role of ipad for preschoolers is only for playing angry birds ahaha
