Technology in the Classroom:  The Good and the Bad

In this ever growing technological world where kids are starting to get there hands on devices earlier and earlier, I wanted to take the time to look at technology from another perspective, from the parents point of view.  In an article by Brian Braiker, he explores the good, the bad, and the ugly of technology for younger children.  The American Academy of Pediatrics has always suggested that children under 2 years old should not be exposed to any screens at all.  Recently though, they have been more open to the possibility of screens for children and felt that they should "reassess" their ideas to fit into the technological advances of our day.  The article went on to explain that more then half of all children age 8 and younger have access to a mobile device at home.  If students are having this much exposure to technology at home, should we mirror that at school?   In many ways I believe that we should.  Students are engaged and interested in technology so by having educational apps on ipads in the classroom, students are actually learning.  As educators we can use websites such as commonsense.org to see how people have rated the educational apps.  These apps can transfer back home as well.  Parents can take the same apps that students are using in school and apply them back home.   Even more then just apps and web 2.0 technology, students are learning earlier on how to program.  I know that as a future parent, if technology inside of the classroom is improving my child's success and expertise on interesting subject areas. 

Braiker, B. (n.d.). Technology in the classroom: The good and the bad Parenting , Retrieved from http://www.parenting.com/article/technology-classroom?page=0,2