Learning Objectives

• Understand the importance of using digital text, print, and other media in early learning curriculum.
• Identify best practices for using the Early Learning Portal in the classroom.

Using Technology with Preschoolers

Using Technology as a Learning Tool for Early Learners

The Early Bird Gets to Learn with the INFOhio Early Learning Portal - This INFOhio blog post outlines reasons why using technology with young children is important and the benefits of joint media engagment to the development of early learners.

Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens

Authors Lisa Guernsey (New America) and Michael H. Levine (Joan Ganz Center/Sesame Workshop) lay the necessary foundations of helping emerging readers connect and comprehend with text and other media found on screens. Tap, Click, Read is revolutionary in its approach to using technology with early learners, encouraging joint media engagement, a phrase that describes what happens when adults are present, talk to, and interact with children while they use devices and read eBooks or apps. Using research, the authors pave the way for establishing a Readialand for early learners. This is a place where children have access to quality media including digital or print text and audio or visual components, which they can use with support to learn and grow. Using the three C's—Content, Context, and your Child—this team are pioneers in this field who forged ahead using research and logic to help humans tame technology.

Reflecting on Your Learning

1. What are your fears and hopes for using technology in your classroom with early learners? What does the video or the blog content help you understand about these hopes and fears?
2. Respond to this activity in the Early Learning Open Space group Discussions. Look for the question Technology as a Teaching Tool. 
   • Choose the statement you feel is the best guide for you as you consider using technology as a teaching tool:
     • The key to using technology with preschoolers is balance.
     • Integrating technology into the classroom can start by using what you already know.
     • Joint media engagement is important to keep learners engaged and interacting with each other
   • Explain why you chose the statement, and how you will use it to implement the INFOhio Early Learning Portal resources in your teaching.
3. Read the Tips for Educators from the INFOhio Early Learning Portal. Which two or three can you use right away to get started in your classroom?