Presentation on screen time and strategies for balancing technology exposure with other learning activities for early learners. For the Early Childhood Education Conference at Purdue University North Central, April 26, 2014

1. Screen Time and the Young Child:
Strategies for Balance
Anastasia M. Trekles, Ph.D.
Clinical Professor of Instructional Technology
Purdue University North Central
atrekles@pnc.edu

2. Your Kids and Screen Time
• How do you balance
“high-tech” and “low-
tech” or “no-tech”
activities?
• Share, share, share!

3. You Can’t Just Say No Anymore
• Media and technology are everywhere
• Just saying no can create a wedge
between kids and parents as well as other
kids
• Kids need tools to understand and make
decisions

4. What do we do?

5. Conflicting Messages
• Conflicting research abounds in technology and
early childhood
• Pay careful attention as you read about this
subject – many studies and articles have agendas
• NAEYC, AAP hold positions that no child under 2
should be exposed to a screen; children 2-5
should have very limited access
• But, at the same time, NAEYC acknowledges that
not all screens are the same

6. Conflicting Messages
Opponents
• Screen time can:
– Cause obesity
– Influence children with
negative messages and
models
– Compromises attention and
psychological well being
– Limits creativity and true
play activities
Advocates and “Moderates”
• INTERACTIVE types of
“screen time” can:
– Enhance problem solving
and creativity
– Provide new platforms for
play and social interaction
– Provide foundation for
media literacy necessary
for success in a modern
world

7. Who’s right?

8. Digital Natives
• Marc Prensky argues that the digital world is a
new extension of the playground – a world full of
possibilities for inquisitive minds
• Some studies in neuroscience back him up
• Growing up with technology changes the way kids
think – multitasking “hypertext” minds
• Result is more information literacy, quicker
adaptation and mental model construction
• In other words, they’re not distracted – they’re just
bored with traditional ways of doing things

9. Technology and Intellectual
Development
• When guided, technology can stimulate thinking
for children
• Immersive, open-ended games and apps can be
great ways to enhance development while kids
have screen time
• A “good game” is:
– Interactive
– Social and collaborative
– Open-ended with no set outcome
– Not too highly structured

10. Sounds promising?

11. The Downside
• Kids may be losing their reflection and
self-evaluation skills in our twitch-speed,
achievement-focused world
• Our worlds move too fast to provide for
this kind of thinking time
• Guidance from adults is key to this critical
piece in intellectual development

12. Play for Development
• In early childhood,
children are
preoperational (Piaget)
• Academic skills for
young children are
often seen as in direct
conflict with Piaget’s
theories
• Agency and
individualized learning
must be part of any
child’s play activity
• Academic skills put
children in a very highly
structured environment
that goes against their
developmental needs

13. Independent Learning
• “Too much” structured time?
• When directed by what they see in the media
or through academic activities, kids lose out
on developing important skills for
independent learning
• Kids need time to learn, play, explore, and
make mistakes on their own
• Regardless of the activity or tech used, we
can’t get rid of unstructured playtime

14. What can we do?

15. NAEYC Guidelines for Early
Childhood Educators
• Select, use, integrate, and evaluate technology and
interactive media in intentional and developmentally
appropriate ways
• Balance activities, recognizing that technology and
interactive media can be valuable tools when used to
extend and support active, hands-on, creative, and
authentic engagement
• Prohibit and discourage the passive use of television,
videos, DVDs, and other non-interactive technologies for
kids

16. NAEYC Guidelines, cont’d.
• Limit any use of technology and interactive media
in programs for children younger than 2 to those
that appropriately support and strengthen adult-
child relationships.
• Carefully consider screen time recommendations
from birth through age 5 to determine appropriate
limits on technology and media use
• Provide leadership in ensuring equitable access to
technology and interactive experiences for kids
and families

17. Working with Kids and
Technology
• Supervise and help kids select appropriate
media/toys/play experiences
• Balance between technology and the
physical world
• Guide but do not force any particular beliefs
and inclinations on the child
• Ask questions and be part of the experience
• Moderation is key for ANY activity, tech or no-
tech

18. Some Scenarios
• Your little one grabs
your iPhone and begins
experimenting
– How can you turn the
situation into a learning
experience?
• Your child throws a
tantrum when you turn
off the TV
– What now?

19. Apps for Creative Play
• Avoid apps that do not let kids explore openly and
only give one way to use them – many “kids’
learning games” are this way
• Great apps for kids
– Montessori Crosswords
– Williamspurrrg HD
– iCreate
– Voice Record (comes with iOS)
– iPhoto (or any picture-taking app)
– iMovie (or any movie-capture app)

20. Resources
• ICT in the Early Years:
http://ictearlyyears.e2bn.org/resources.html
• Website of Diane Levin, author of many
useful books on early childhood and screen
time concerns: http://dianeelevin.com
• Article on the role of tech in ECE:
http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychil
dhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=302

21. Resources
• Chapter 3 of The Best Schools (Armstrong, 2006):
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/106044/chapters/Early
-Childhood-Education-Programs@-Play.aspx
• Co-viewing – Joan Ganz Cooney Center:
http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/publication/the-new-
coviewing-designing-for-learning-through-joint-media-
engagement/
• Merits of SmartBoards for ECE:
http://tnt.asu.edu/files/Smartboards_Newsletter_Aug.pdf
• Research and statistics on Games for Learning:
http://www.sri.com/work/projects/glasslab-research

22. Resources
• Marc Prensky’s research:
http://www.marcprensky.com
• Early Childhood Education and Technology – Fred
Rogers Center:
http://www.fredrogerscenter.org/blog/how-early-
childhood-educators-use-technology-in-the-classroom/
• NAEYC Technology Guidelines:
http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/PS_technology_WEB
.pdf
• Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood:
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/screendilemm
a

23. Thank you!
• Slides available:
http://www.slideshare.net/andella
• Email me: atrekles@pnc.edu
• Twitter: @instruct_tech and @PNCOLT