Technology Materials, Creative Thinking, Play, and the Arts (continued)

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Your Role

Your primary responsibility with technology materials is to ensure that they are used as one of many powerful learning tools for all children. You can do this by providing (1) technology materials that are age-appropriate, individually appropriate, culturally sensitive, and free from stereotypes and violence and (2) equal access to computer use for all children. Select software that does the following:

1. Enhances language skills, such as Bailey’s Book House, which enables very young children to create their own greeting cards and invitations; I Spy, where children select objects to search for in a microworld; or Storybook Weaver, which enables older children to create their own stories with a word processor and multicultural illustrations.
2. Develops and refines subject-area skills, such as Millie’s Math House, which helps very young children learn about sizes, shapes, patterns, and seasons; Blue’s Clues 1 2 3 Time Activities, in which children sort food items into categories, complete patterns on colorful floats, and categorize snacks. Older children tend to benefit from Thinkin’ Things Collection 3, in which children create their own songs and games in a problem-solving environment, or Number Munchers, in which children match numbers that “fit the rule” and avoid those that do not, thereby promoting physical and mental dexterity.
3. Encourages interpersonal and intrapersonal skills that enable children to get along with others and to better understand their own desires and feelings. Very young children may do this with Richard Scarry’s How Things Work in Busytown as they learn about cooperation through building roads and baking bread, while older children might respond favorably to SimCity 2000 by designing fantasy houses of the future. Moreover, Kid Desk! Internet Safe now makes the Web accessible to children without adult assistance.
4. Promotes artistic and creative thought that develops visual-spatial perception, such as Kid Pix 2 for very young children, who create stamped designs and artwork; or Crayola Make a Masterpiece for older children, who use animated traditional art tools (such as watercolor, oil, chalk, and markers), unusual art tools (such as popping corn), and magic effect tools for different styles (such as mosaics) to create computer art.

Whatever the software, girls and boys, children of color, and children with disabilities need equal access to this powerful technology.