Impact Of Technology

ANGELICA TORRES

The Impact of Technology on Elementary School

Children

Types of Technology:

Assistive Technologies Mobility

Internet/Computer Use Computer games Surfing the web

Television Use

“ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY DEVICE MEANS ANY ITEM, PIECE OF EQUIPMENT, OR PRODUCT SYSTEM,

WHETHER ACQUIRED COMMERCIALLY OFF THE SHELF, MODIFIED, OR CUSTOMIZED, THAT IS USED

TO INCREASE, MAINTAIN, OR IMPROVE THE FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES OF CHILDREN WITH

DISABILITIES.”

(Kelker,1993, p.3)

Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology

(Kelker, 1993, p. 2)

“ Play is an important part of every child’s psychological, physical, and emotional

development.”Play is often said to be the work of children.

Play is the natural way that children grow and learn from one another and are exposed to their surroundings. When young toddlers and preschoolers grow they form relationships with their peers as they share common experiences that is crucial to child development.

Assistive Technology

(Kelker, 1993, p.1)

Congress passed P.L. 99-457, which is the law authorizing early intervention programs as part of the federal special education law. One of the purposes of this law was to prevent institutionalization and segregation of people with disabilities. This law was also meant to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities as part of everyday life.

Assistive Technology will create and support these opportunities for young children to participate in everyday activities and achieve the goal of them being a part of the ‘play process’

Assistive Technology- Mobility

(Kelker, 1993) , ( Baldwin, Euteneur, Anderson, 2004, p.40)

Assistive technology can help children with disabilities accomplish certain developmental tasks like mobility. “Mobility has been proven to be important to the overall development of children.”

Mobility: For children who can not walk, all sorts of devices are available (e.g. walkers, slings, battery operated wheelchairs, etc.) to allow them to move about and explore at will the larger environment they have in front of them.

Assistive Technology - Mobility

(Kelker, 1993, pg.3)

Children with disabilities want to keep up with their friends and peers and it is through these interactions and shared experiences that they develop coordination and communication skills.

To be active participants in outdoor play, children may require modifications to their tricycles or big wheels. Self-propelled devices can give children independent mobility thus enhancing motor as well as social and cognitive functions.

Assistive Technology- Mobility

http://nwboces.schoolfusion.us/modules/cms/pages.phtml?pageid=38220&sessionid=ac14e91f93f5a27514573a31bdac935e

Assistive Technology

(Baldwin, Euteneur, & Anderson, 2004, p.33)

Assistive technology provides various equipment and technology that maximize the individual's ability to perform daily tasks with the highest level of independence and to improve overall quality of life.

http://www.madonna.org/specialized_programs/technology/

“IN 1999, AN ESTIMATED 67% OF HOUSEHOLDS WITH CHILDREN HAD A COMPUTER GAME

SYSTEM SUCH AS SEGA OR NINTENDO,' 60% HAD HOME COMPUTERS, AND 37% HAD HOME ACCESS TO THE INTERNET-MORE THAN TWICE

THE PERCENTAGE WITH ACCESS IN 1996.”

(Subrahmanyam, Kraut, Greenfield, & Gross, 2000, p. 124)

Internet/Computer Use

Physical Development

Risk of Epileptic Seizures: “some research suggests that playing computer

games may trigger epileptic seizures in certain users”

“It appears that the "flicker frequencies," or quickly flashing images, in some video games can trigger seizures in patients with photosensitive epilepsy.”

Risk of Tendinitis: “Excessive computer game playing also has been

associated with a form of tendinitis, called Nintendinitis, which is a sports injury characterized by severe pain in the extensor tendon of the right thumb as a result of the repeated pressing of buttons during game play.”

(Subrahmanyam, Kraut, Greenfield, & Gross, 2000, p. 127)

Cognitive Development

Improvement of visual processing Many computer games are designed to

emphasize visual over verbal information processing skills.

Their use of “rapid movement, imagery, and intense inter- action, plus various activities occurring simultaneously at different locations on the screen” can improve children's “visual intelligence skills-skills that may provide them with "training wheels" for computer literacy .”

(Subrahmanyam, Kraut, Greenfield, & Gross, 2000, p. 128)

Cognitive Development, Continued…

Improved Academic Performance: “Home computer use has been linked to

improvements in general academic performance” a longitudinal study which tracked a group of

students, found that the students with computers at home had higher overall grades and better grades in math and English than those without home computers.

(Subrahmanyam, Kraut, Greenfield, & Gross, 2000, p. 128)

Social Development & Relationships

Parental Interactions In children's interactions with parents and other

adult authority figures, one obvious effect has been the frequent reversal of the traditional parent-child relationship with the computer- savvy child taking on the role of teacher to the parent.

In addition, some have hypothesized that the equality in online communications among computer users of all ages tends to erode authority structures, with the result that children will be less accepting of parental authority.

(Subrahmanyam, Kraut, Greenfield, & Gross, 2000, p. 131)

Social Development and Relationships, Continued…

Social Skills: Surprisingly, “research indicates that moderate

game playing does not significantly impact children's social skills and relationships with friends and family either positively or negatively.”

“Studies often found no differences in the "sociability" and social interactions of computer game players versus non-players, but a few studies found some mildly positive effects.” “For example, one study found that

frequent game players met friends outside school more often than less frequent players.”

(Subrahmanyam, Kraut, Greenfield, & Gross, 2000, p. 131)

Social Development and Relationships, Continued…

Depression and Loneliness: “Despite the use of the Internet for social

purposes, children who spent more time online experienced greater declines in social and psychological well-being during their first year with access to the Internet.”

“Online communications may cause loneliness and depression when they involve "weak tie" relationships, such as those resulting from encounters in Multi-user Domains (MUDs) and chat rooms.”

“Over time, however, these effects appeared to diminish.”

(Subrahmanyam, Kraut, Greenfield, & Gross, 2000, p. 134-135)

“CHILDREN IN THE UNITED STATES WATCH AN AVERAGE OF THREE TO FOUR HOURS OF

TELEVISION A DAY…BY THE TIME OF HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION, THEY WILL HAVE SPENT MORE TIME WATCHING TELEVISION, THAN THEY HAVE IN THE

CLASSROOM.”

Television Use

Physical Development

Risk of Obesity• “…having a TV in the bedroom is a significant

predictor of child overweight…”

Even after controlling expected risk factors, children with a TV in the bedroom were still 1.3 times more likely to be overweight than children without a TV in their bedroom.

“Children with a TV in their bedroom were less likely to be engaged in physical activity and team sports…”

(Adachi-Mejia et al., 2007, p. 647-648)

Physical Development Contd…

Sedentary behavior This is described to be an activity that does not require

much physical activity and requires much sitting.

“One of the most sedentary behaviours ‘per se’ in childhood is television viewing.”

It could replace more vigorous activities and promote unhealthy eating habits.

(Caroli, Argentieri, Cardone, & Masi, 2000, p. S104)

Cognitive Development

“Television viewing exerts an inhibitory effect on the development of children’s reading comprehension.”

At the same time, the development of children’s decoding skills is promoted by watching subtitled foreign television programs.

Decoding skills: the skills necessary to interpret and analyze correctly the spoken of graphic symbols of a familiar language

(Koolstra, van der Voot & van der Kamp, 1997, p. 145-146 )

Social and Personality Development

Risk of Violent Behavior

o Children exposed to violent behavior on film or TV behave more aggressively immediately afterward.

o Although there is a clear relationship, the effect on children depends from child to child, depending on differences in temperament, social environment and age.

o For younger children, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between reality and fantasy. Some shows which incorporate “real people” are the most difficult for them to understand. The characters are more realistic than those that include cartoon or fictional charcters.

(Brodkin, 2005, p. 16-17)

References

Adachi-Mejia, A.M., Longacre, M.R., Gibson, J.J., Beach, M.L., Titus-Ernstoff, L.T., & Dalton, M.A. (2007). Children with a tv in their bedroom at higher risk for being overweight. International Journal of Obesity, 31, 644-651.

Baldwin, J.L., Euteneur, S., & Anderson, K. (2004). Making the case for mobility: Enhancing overall developmental skills of students with physical impairments. Physical Disabilities: Education and Related Services, 23 (1), 33-41.

Brodkin, A.M. (2005). Between teacher & parent: The effect of television violence on children. Early Childhood Today, 19, 16-17.

Caroli, M., Argentieri, L., Cardone, M. & Masi, A. (2004). Role of television in childhood obesity prevention. International Journal of Obesity, 28, S104-S108.

Kelker, K.A. (1993). Assistive technology for young children. Coalition Quarterly,

Koolstra, C.M., van der Voort, T.H.A. & van der Kamp, L.J.T. (1997). Television’s impact on children’s reading comprehension and

decoding skills: A 3-year panel study. Reading Research Quarterly, 32, (2), 128- 152.

Subrahmanyam, K., Kraut, R., Greenfield, P.M., & Gross, E.F. (2000). The impact of home computer use on children’s activities and development. Future of Children, 10(2), 123-144.