(Taken from the DfES Learning and Teaching using ICT materials)

Technology is an integral part of all young children’s environment and world. They are surrounded by ICT just as they are surrounded by language, print and numbers. In the home, technology includes remote controls for television, DVDs and sound systems, toys that have buttons and buzzers, mobile phones, washing machines, microwave ovens and other machines that require programming, and of course personal computers. Outside the home, children are also immersed in the technological world: they see automatic doors, cash machines, bar code scanners, digital tills and weighing machines, and security cameras. Technology is something children are going to grow up with, learn about and master, and use as a tool to increase their understanding in all areas of learning.

Many activities in the early years revolve around children developing an understanding of their environment. Settings encourage children to explore, observe, solve problems, predict, discuss and consider. ICT resources can provide tools for using these skills as well as being examined in their own right, with computers not the only ICT resources.

Children can learn through the use of a digital camera: reflecting on past experiences; observing details; sharing personal likes and dislikes; sequencing events; recording and sharing significant events. Or through a programmable toy: pressing buttons causes an action; they can control the action – left, right, forwards, backwards; numbers of presses equals number of moves. An overhead projector introduces shadow and pattern; scanners and photocopiers can allow a child to take an exact copy of their work home while still leaving one for the setting; walkie-talkies can encourage children’s use of language; metal detectors can help children identify differences in materials; musical mats or keyboards can encourage children to move to a rhythm and create patterns with sound; cassette recorders can encourage children to listen to and retell stories; and a karaoke machine encourages children in their singing.

ICT equipment added to role-play reflects the real world, builds on children’s experiences and allows them opportunities to understand how, why, when and where different forms of technology are used in everyday life. Environments such as a shop, café or office can be set up in role-play areas, making use of ICT to record and access information with a real purpose in mind. Computers can be added to role-play areas to reflect their use in day-to-day living, or used around the setting for children to develop creatively with paint or music software or learn more about literacy and numeracy. Software can bring in different environments for children to explore that would otherwise be impossible to gain experience of. With a computer other applications become possible: access to the Internet and its widening range of resources for learning, webcams for seeing themselves and their activities, digital microscopes to investigate with and digital camcorders to use for their own recording. Computers are also an excellent tool for adults to use in their own work and, along with digital cameras and camcorders, can be used to great effect to communicate with parents and the community.

ICT is particularly effective for children with special educational needs: it can provide access to experiences that might be hard for some children to access through any other means, and thereby aid children’s development. It is also highly motivating, can help build children’s confidence in their abilities and is an excellent focus for social interaction.

All children can benefit from learning with and about ICT. There must be equitable access to all ICT equipment. ICT resources must be selected with care and used with creative and critical thought to reflect and celebrate the true diversity and richness of cultures and religions in our society and to include all children, regardless of race or gender. Observation, recording, assessment and intervention are required to help children extend their learning, solve problems and express themselves.

Technology allows children to engage positively in imaginative, active learning. It can motivate, provide practice, reassure, build confidence, encourage children to persist in taking the next steps and build their self-esteem. Indeed, we continually hear adults express the wish that all of this had been available when they were young, as they would have learned so much more!