Can The Use of Technology Be Helpful For Children?

Children today have interactions with technology earlier and more quickly than others will have before. They will never know what it was like to not just call out to Alexa to find out what the weather forecast will be or the answer to something, or know what life was like without a screen always being close by. They can be in constant communication with the world around them, and it is something that generations before did not grow up with. Are there benefits to children with all of this technology, or should it be avoided for as long as possible? 

We could all probably agree that too much Peppa Pig on the iPad or watching mindless YouTube videos of toys being unboxed doesn’t have any real benefit. But there are some benefits that do come from technology, when used in the right way. Here are some benefits and good things to come from technology that you can consider. 

Greater independence

The internet and the online resources that can be used are much more accessible than ever. This can help children when it comes to early education which generations before will have missed out on. Research can be done without having to leave home and go to the library, for example, and if your children are at the age of learning how to read, there are many online resources and books that they have access to, meaning thor reading won’t just be limited to the books you have on your shelves. When children can look things up and research, it helps them to gain independence with their learning and knowledge in general. This can all help to build independence in them, as well as improve academic confidence, and nurture interests and new hobbies.  

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Engagement and imagination

Technology can encourage and help with social interaction, believe it or not. The whole process can also help school-aged pupils to be more active in their education as a whole. Through the use of interactive games, it can help kids to develop things like their logical reasoning. Certain online games can help them to focus on achieving short term goals, which could be to get to a particular level or get a particular score, playing a part in the development of logical skills and math skills, as they figure out what they’re doing wrong and make changes to improve.

Having access to the internet, at an age-appropriate level, of course, means that they have access to different points of view, world views, cultures, and news that they may not know about otherwise. This can help with empathy, as well as bringing the world to life for them, helping their imagination and their creativity. 

There are a number of ways that using technology can be beneficial and actually help children to learn and grow. It can be tempting to just leave kids with a screen, but when they are on educational games or videos, supervised by you, it will help them to use the tech in the best ways that will end up being beneficial to them in the long run.