Not all apps are created equal!
Little Man and I playing with the iPad
I was really disappointed to read a blog post in a similar vein from a blogger I really like – Lisa Sunbury on RegardingBaby.org. (Incidentally, while we might disagree on this one point, Lisa’s blog is always interesting and thought-provoking. So if you haven’t read it before, I highly recommend that you check it out. Lisa is an advocate of the RIE parenting philosophy, which teaches parents to tune into their babies’ individual needs. )
The blog post I took exception to was “Five Good Reasons to Hand Your Car Keys Over to Your Toddler“. In this post, Lisa makes a tongue-in-cheek comparison between handing your toddler the car keys, and giving them your iPhone or iPad to play with. She concludes the article with the following:
Imagine if I rewrote that paragraph replacing the word “computers” with “books”. Imagine the uproar, the outrage! I can imagine the responses:
“But children have so much to gain from reading books!”
“Story-time with my child is a wonderful bonding experience for us both!”
“Learning to read is a vital tool for my child’s future success!”
“Reading books increases children’s attention spans!”
“Books allow me to expose my child to cultures and stories that we wouldn’t otherwise encounter in our day-to-day lives!”
And you know what? I would agree – 100% One of my favourite parts of each day is sitting down with Little Man, reading him his favourite story. (This week we are reading “The Three Little Pigs” three to four times each night. I admit, I’m getting a little tired of it, but Little Man just loves it!) Storytime is a special time for us, that involves snuggling up, holding the book together, turning the pages of the book – mostly forwards but sometimes backwards! – and reading each page and talking about everything we see on it. I don’t doubt for a second that Little Man benefits from it. And I know he enjoys his storybooks, because he regularly pulls one down from the shelf to flick through for himself.
But where my opinion differs from that of Lisa Sunbury (and others who believe iPad apps are similar to TV in terms of their impact on children’s development) is that I believe many apps are more closely related to books than they are to TV programmes. I’d even go so far as to say some are better than books.
Like many things in life, there are good ways and there are bad ways that iPads and iPhones can be used with children. If you sit and read a story app with your child on the iPad, how is that detrimental to them when reading a book is accepted as being beneficial? What about parents who have difficulty reading? Think about how beneficial the iPad can be to them in helping them enjoy storytime with their kids. Many apps have the option to read the story to you if you can’t read it yourself.
Many of our favourite storybooks are on the iPad – Spot the Puppy, Nursery Rhymes, Thomas and Friends.
Or what about the Flashcard apps? I never really hear people complain about Flashcards being used in early education, but in many ways traditional Flashcards are so limited compared to iPad versions. Consider First Words – one of our favourite apps. In this app, a picture appears with some blank letter spaces beneath it and the letters for the word appear as scattered tiles across the screen. You and your child drag each letter to the appropriate placeholder and once the word is complete, it is read aloud. Through this app, Little Man learned to manipulate objects onscreen, he learned to shape-match letters, he learned quite a number of his letters in context, and he learned object names just as he would if he was reading a picture book with me.
Or the simpler apps like Peekaboo Barn, which taught him to recognise Farm Animals, again just like a picture book? Or I Hear Ewe, which taught him animal sounds? He was 18 months old when he started making buzzing noises when he saw a picture of a bee – he hadn’t even started saying words at that stage.
Talking about apps as though they are all the same – worthless entertainment that dulls our children’s brains – is no different to dismissing all forms of music out of hand, because you’ve heard some questionable pop songs! Not all apps are created equal.
Sure if you hand children an iPad, and allow them do nothing other than watch clips on YouTube, or play Space Invaders on it all day, I doubt you’ll see any educational benefits for them! But if you pick and choose the apps you download for your child – and then you use those apps with your child, the experience can be beneficial to you both.
And one final note – I think we are all agreed that learning to read and write are life skills. I would argue that in today’s world, using technology is a life skill. It’s part of the world around him, and Little Man is naturally curious about it, as children tend to be about their surroundings! So just as we guide Little Man through his first experiences with reading and writing, so too we guide him through his first experiences with technology.
Hi Lisa,
I appreciate your thoughtful post in response to mine, and I also appreciate your kind words about, and the link to my blog. I love that the fact that my post got you thinking so much you were inspired to write your own post- that is exactly what I hope to accomplish with my blog! It’s not so important to me if you agree, or disagree; it is the conversation, and exchange of ideas that I love.
It is my goal to offer parents and educators information that will help them to understand how children learn and grow, and allow them to make informed, thoughtful, parenting and teaching choices.
You have put a lot of thought into this issue, and have made a choice for yourself and your child that feels right and works for you, and I completely respect that. It sounds like you use the ipad judiciously, choose appropriate apps, and sit with, and guide your son in the use of the computer, in addition to giving him plenty of free play time. In all likelihood, your boy will suffer no ill effects from being exposed to the ipad as a toddler, given the care and thought with which you are introducing him to it.
But here is where we begin to disagree. Apple (in a stroke of marketing genius) has developed tools (ipads and apps) that are so easy, and so intuitive to use, that even babies can successfully navigate them. Babies are drawn to the colorful images, and quickly come to understand that by moving a finger they can make something happen.What’s not to like?
Well, just because babies and toddlers enjoy something, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are learning anything or gaining any benefit from it. The truth is, we just don’t know enough to say whether or not babies and toddlers gain anything from using computers at such an early age. We don’t know if computer use impacts babies in the same negative ways that early exposure to t.v. does, because there haven’t been very many studies yet. So, in keeping with my education, beliefs and experiences, I tend to encourage parents to take a slow and cautious approach when it comes to introducing children to screens of any kind. What can the harm be in waiting?
I’m a big believer in “the right experience at the right time.” I also believe that children are learning all the time, and we can trust them to be self initiated learners. I don’t think we need to “teach” babies their letters, their colors, animal sounds- we can trust them to learn these things in time, when they are ready, through their play, and their “real world” experiences. (I may actually have to write a post about flash cards because I abhor the use of flash cards as a teaching tool for young children.In fact, one of my favorite books of all time on the subject of how children learn and how we can best support their learning and growth is called “Einstein never used flash cards: how our children really learn–and why they need to play more and memorize less” by Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, and Diane E. Eyer.)
What we do know, is that babies learn best through self initiated movement, hands on interaction and exploration of three dimensional objects in their environments, and frequent, warm, interaction with real live people. When you hold your son in your lap, and read a book with him, he is engaged and interacting with you, not a machine, and you can tailor the experience and respond to your son’s needs, questions, and interests in a way a computer can not. When you take your son to the zoo, and point out all of the animals, and imitate their sounds, he is taking in information with all of his senses- he can see the animals, hear them, smell them, watch and imitate how they move,etc, and he is experiencing all of this in the context of the warm human relationship he has with you.He does not get this same experience viewing animals and listening to sounds on a computer screen. It is my belief that babies and toddlers need to have lots of real world experiences before entering into symbolic,virtual, and representational play and learning, such as manipulating letters on a computer screen.
So, it’s not that I’m judging any parent who chooses to introduce their toddler to an ipad, nor am I predicting dire outcomes. I am just dedicated to helping parents and educators to understand the possible drawbacks, and I am encouraging a thoughtful approach.Thanks again, Lisa, for the opportunity to engage in this conversation with you!
Hi Lisa,
I appreciate your thoughtful post in response to mine, and I also appreciate your kind words about, and the link to my blog. I love that the fact that my post got you thinking so much you were inspired to write your own post- that is exactly what I hope to accomplish with my blog! It’s not so important to me if you agree, or disagree; it is the conversation, and exchange of ideas that I love.
It is my goal to offer parents and educators information that will help them to understand how children learn and grow, and allow them to make informed, thoughtful, parenting and teaching choices.
You have put a lot of thought into this issue, and have made a choice for yourself and your child that feels right and works for you, and I completely respect that. It sounds like you use the ipad judiciously, choose appropriate apps, and sit with, and guide your son in the use of the computer, in addition to giving him plenty of free play time. In all likelihood, your boy will suffer no ill effects from being exposed to the ipad as a toddler, given the care and thought with which you are introducing him to it.
But here is where we begin to disagree. Apple (in a stroke of marketing genius) has developed tools (ipads and apps) that are so easy, and so intuitive to use, that even babies can successfully navigate them. Babies are drawn to the colorful images, and quickly come to understand that by moving a finger they can make something happen.What’s not to like?
Well, just because babies and toddlers enjoy something, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are learning anything or gaining any benefit from it. The truth is, we just don’t know enough to say whether or not babies and toddlers gain anything from using computers at such an early age. We don’t know if computer use impacts babies in the same negative ways that early exposure to t.v. does, because there haven’t been very many studies yet. So, in keeping with my education, beliefs and experiences, I tend to encourage parents to take a slow and cautious approach when it comes to introducing children to screens of any kind. What can the harm be in waiting?
I’m a big believer in “the right experience at the right time.” I also believe that children are learning all the time, and we can trust them to be self initiated learners. I don’t think we need to “teach” babies their letters, their colors, animal sounds- we can trust them to learn these things in time, when they are ready, through their play, and their “real world” experiences. (I may actually have to write a post about flash cards because I abhor the use of flash cards as a teaching tool for young children.In fact, one of my favorite books of all time on the subject of how children learn and how we can best support their learning and growth is called “Einstein never used flash cards: how our children really learn–and why they need to play more and memorize less” by Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, and Diane E. Eyer.)
What we do know, is that babies learn best through self initiated movement, hands on interaction and exploration of three dimensional objects in their environments, and frequent, warm, interaction with real live people. When you hold your son in your lap, and read a book with him, he is engaged and interacting with you, not a machine, and you can tailor the experience and respond to your son’s needs, questions, and interests in a way a computer can not. When you take your son to the zoo, and point out all of the animals, and imitate their sounds, he is taking in information with all of his senses- he can see the animals, hear them, smell them, watch and imitate how they move,etc, and he is experiencing all of this in the context of the warm human relationship he has with you.He does not get this same experience viewing animals and listening to sounds on a computer screen. It is my belief that babies and toddlers need to have lots of real world experiences before entering into symbolic,virtual, and representational play and learning, such as manipulating letters on a computer screen.
So, it’s not that I’m judging any parent who chooses to introduce their toddler to an ipad, nor am I predicting dire outcomes. I am just dedicated to helping parents and educators to understand the possible drawbacks, and I am encouraging a thoughtful approach.Thanks again, Lisa, for the opportunity to engage in this conversation with you!
Hi Lisa,
Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a detailed response. Reading your response, I think that we agree more than we disagree on the issues here! It seems to me now that the main difference in our thinking is how we regard iPads!
I’ve come to realise that I definitely distinguish between introducing the iPad to my Little Man and introducing an actual computer or laptop to him. Other than letting him tap on the keyboard if he wants to hear the noise the keys make, I would never actually set him up with a game on a computer – no matter how educational it claimed to be.But I have no hesitation doing the same with an app on the iPad, because I find the experience much closer to our experience with books.
My background is in adult learning and training, and while I have a lot of knowledge of adult instructional design theories, I have no experience or education in children’s learning. But as the months pass, my Little Man is opening my eyes to the ways that children learn, and I am fascinated to watch and learn from him. So much of what you say resonates with me, and my observations of him. He has learned his colours from games played with plastic balls and playdough – not from Flash cards or apps!
I know I mentioned Flash cards in my post, but the truth is that although we own two packs, I was never very impressed with our experiences using them. After a few weeks, they were relegated to the bottom of the arts and crafts box and they have stayed there. Little Man didn’t enjoy looking at the cards, or reading them, so he didn’t learn from them or engage with them. But the First Words app that I mentioned was a different story. While we were busy dragging and dropping the letters into place to build words, and naming the pictures onscreen, he was learning some of his letters without being explicitly taught them. I didn’t even realise that he had picked them up until one day when we were playing with some soft foam alphabet jigsaw squares, and he was able to pick out the appropriate square when I mentioned the letter shown on it. I was shocked and he was delighted!
I agree with you on the importance of real-world experiences. I have witnessed first hand the joy a visit to the zoo or an afternoon spent stacking cups can bring to a child. Without a doubt, I agree that through physical interaction and exploration of the world around them, a child’s best learning is done. But I think that the moment you introduce books, you are introducing symbolism and representational experiences. So it has been my experience that appropriate apps can be fun, stimulating, and educational for a child, when they are used in a similar manner (combined parent/child usage) to storybooks. And I believe that there are good children’s apps available on the iPad, which are suitable for introduction at the same time that you would introduce books aimed at a similar age group. It’s just a matter of testing them out to determine whether they are worthwhile or not!
Thanks again for your response,
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a detailed response. Reading your response, I think that we agree more than we disagree on the issues here! It seems to me now that the main difference in our thinking is how we regard iPads!
I’ve come to realise that I definitely distinguish between introducing the iPad to my Little Man and introducing an actual computer or laptop to him. Other than letting him tap on the keyboard if he wants to hear the noise the keys make, I would never actually set him up with a game on a computer – no matter how educational it claimed to be.But I have no hesitation doing the same with an app on the iPad, because I find the experience much closer to our experience with books.
My background is in adult learning and training, and while I have a lot of knowledge of adult instructional design theories, I have no experience or education in children’s learning. But as the months pass, my Little Man is opening my eyes to the ways that children learn, and I am fascinated to watch and learn from him. So much of what you say resonates with me, and my observations of him. He has learned his colours from games played with plastic balls and playdough – not from Flash cards or apps!
I know I mentioned Flash cards in my post, but the truth is that although we own two packs, I was never very impressed with our experiences using them. After a few weeks, they were relegated to the bottom of the arts and crafts box and they have stayed there. Little Man didn’t enjoy looking at the cards, or reading them, so he didn’t learn from them or engage with them. But the First Words app that I mentioned was a different story. While we were busy dragging and dropping the letters into place to build words, and naming the pictures onscreen, he was learning some of his letters without being explicitly taught them. I didn’t even realise that he had picked them up until one day when we were playing with some soft foam alphabet jigsaw squares, and he was able to pick out the appropriate square when I mentioned the letter shown on it. I was shocked and he was delighted!
I agree with you on the importance of real-world experiences. I have witnessed first hand the joy a visit to the zoo or an afternoon spent stacking cups can bring to a child. Without a doubt, I agree that through physical interaction and exploration of the world around them, a child’s best learning is done. But I think that the moment you introduce books, you are introducing symbolism and representational experiences. So it has been my experience that appropriate apps can be fun, stimulating, and educational for a child, when they are used in a similar manner (combined parent/child usage) to storybooks. And I believe that there are good children’s apps available on the iPad, which are suitable for introduction at the same time that you would introduce books aimed at a similar age group. It’s just a matter of testing them out to determine whether they are worthwhile or not!
Thanks again for your response,
Lisa