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Technology Use in Early Childhood Education: Beneficial or Not?
An Annotated Bibliography
Critical Preface
Questions have evolved debating whether technology should be incorporated into early
childhood education, such as preschools and Head Start programs. This subject is up for
debate in early childhood communities because of the questions of whether or not the use
of technology is more effective than previous forms of exploratory play. Parents and
educators have debated whether technology has potential benefits or brings harm to young
children. This controversy forms the basis for my research questions: (1) Should young
children use technology in their preschool classrooms? And (2) Is the use of technology
developmentally appropriate and meaningful to young children? These questions should be
examined because as educators try to keep up with the fast-expanding world of technology,
they must know if research supports the incorporation of these new technologies.
This research was conducted between 5 October 2011 and 13 October 2011. All articles
were accessed through online educational databases on Utah Valley University’s library
website. All sources in this bibliography are from scholarly, peer-reviewed journals. These
articles address my specific research questions, explaining both the benefits and harms of
using technology in early childhood education, and why technology is used in today’s
classrooms.
Annotated Bibliography
Parette, Howard P., Quesenberry, Amanda C., Blum, Craig. "Missing the Boat with
Technology Usage in Early Childhood Settings: A 21st Century View of Developmentally
Appropriate Practice." Early Childhood Education Journal 37.5 (2010): 335-43. Education
Full Text. Web. 7 Oct. 2011.
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This article is written for early childhood educators. It begins with a scenario of typical
children and their high usage of various sources of technology in their everyday lives. The
authors, Parette, Quesenberry, and Blum, argue that early educators may be "missing the
boat" by not incorporating these technologies into their teaching. The authors note that
although young children's use of technology in their lives has been rapidly increasing, some
schools and teachers are lacking Developmentally Appropriate Practices for using new
technologies. The authors address the challenges of technology incorporation: some
teacher’s negative attitudes, and the limited research on the effectiveness of technology on
young children. The authors encourage educators to become strong advocates for the
incorporation of technology into early childhood education. The authors use strong
rhetorical strategies of other’s personal stories, and uplifting phrases to frame their subject
in a positive light. This source highlights the benefits of using technology in classrooms and
lists specific ways in which it can be incorporated; thus, it would be very beneficial to use in
the section of my essay supporting technological advancements.
Couse, Leslie J., and Dora W. Chen. "A Tablet Computer for Young Children? Exploring Its
Viability for Early Childhood Education." Journal of Research on Technology in Education
43.1 (2010): 75-98. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.
In this academic journal article, the authors, Couse and Chen, note that it is crucial to use
appropriate technology for young children, but that keeping up with technology is an
obstacle for educators. Course and Chen state that other credible researchers have
discovered that young children are more likely to be internally motivated by computerrelated activities. The author’s research shows that children who often use computers in
their education show greater increases in intelligence skills, language skills, and problem
solving compared to those who do not use technology. In an educational study, Barton and
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Collura found that the use of tablet computers was beneficial for middle and high school
students, improving writing and organizational skills. A similar study by Matthews and
Seow, found that stylus-using tools were far superior when using tablet computers
compared to using traditional media. This study did not provide specific information about
the children and their cultural context; thus, it is difficult to prove that it is beneficial for all.
The authors use mostly ethos by presenting detailed charts and research from other
scholars to add validity to their research about tablet computers. This source promotes the
use of tablet computers for preschool children, but also explains that it is an obstacle for
educators, therefore will be useful in two sections of my research paper, the support for
children as well as the drawback for educators.
Van Scoter, Judy, Debbie Ellis, and Jennifer Railsback. “Technology in Early Childhood
Education: Finding the Balance.” Educational Connection. Northwest Regional Educational
Laboratory, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.
This article explains the potential benefits and harm of technology in the lives of young
children. Van Scoter, Ellis, and Railsback, the authors of the article, explain that critics
believe that technology is a waste of time, money, and opportunities for development. The
authors also explain how supporters of technology believe that children should be granted
the use of new technology, as long as the activities are developmentally appropriate. The
authors go on to explain crucial parts of child development through social, emotional,
language, cognition, and motor development. The authors explain potential benefits of
computers in the classroom, address appropriate software to use, and discuss other
possible technologies that should be incorporated into classrooms. The authors conclude
that technology is a beneficial tool for children to use, and educators should strive to use
appropriate software. The authors use the rhetorical strategy of immense background
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information about average child development to emphasize their point that technology
should be incorporated into the lives of young children. This article provides a great
overview of child development, therefor will be beneficial in my research paper.
Hew, Khe Foon, and Thomas Brush. “Integrating Technology into K-12 Teaching and
Learning: Current Knowledge Gaps and Recommendations for Future Research.”
Educational Technology Research and Development 55.3 (2007): 223-52. JSTOR. Web. 12
Oct. 2011
In this scholarly article, the authors, Hew and Brush, examine the barriers of incorporating
technology by K-12 school in the United States and other countries. The authors list several
barriers that exist, including (1) resources, (2) knowledge and skills, (3) institution, (4)
attitudes and beliefs, (5) assessment, and (6) subject culture. The authors go on to explain
each one of these categories in depth, addressing why they are a problem for children,
parents, educators, and communities. The authors conclude by listing specific strategies in
which educators can overcome these specific barriers. Hew and Brush use the strong
rhetorical strategy of directly stating their intention, and note that barriers are a significant
drawback to the incorporation of new technology in education; however, there are ways to
get around these barriers. The authors conclude by specifically addressing barriers
educators face, and providing valid reason why technology is much too difficult to
incorporate into early childhood education; however, will not be beneficial in my research
paper because it fails to answer my questions of technological advancements being
developmentally appropriate for children.
Kimmel, Howard, and Fadi Deek. “Instructional Technology: A Tool or a Panacea?” Journal
of Science Education and Technology 5.1 (1996): 87-92. JSTOR. Web. 13 Oct. 2011
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In this article, the authors, Kimmel and Deek, note that some people believe that the
incorporation of new technology will cure all problems in education. The authors say that
they approve of incorporating technology, but there are various problems with it. The
authors give the examples of teachers switching their responsibilities to technology,
children lacking the knowledge that reading is essential for learning, and children believing
that reading and writing are not important. The authors conclude by stating that
technology can be a highly effective teaching tool; however, children must also learn to
interact and work with their peers and these social skills cannot be replaced with
technology. The authors use the rhetorical strategy of directly stating their intention,
expressing that instructive technology should not replace teacher responsibilities. This
article addresses specific ways the incorporation of technology can thwart teacher
responsibilities and children learning social skills; therefore it is beneficial to use in my
research paper for opposing viewpoints.
Edwards, Suzy. “The Reasoning Behind the Scene: Why do Early Childhood Educators use
Computers in their Classrooms?” Australian Journal of Early Childhood 30.4 (2005): 25-33.
Educational Full Text. Web. 13 Oct. 2011.
In her scholarly article, Edwards informs readers that teachers use computers in their
classrooms: (1) in an effort to keep up with technology, (2) to allow children a useful extra
tool for learning and (3) because their management decided to use them. The author aims
to explain how computers have become a common tool in early childhood education.
Edwards’ research includes interviewing various teachers to discover why computers are
most frequently used in classrooms. Her findings report that the three main reasons
teachers use computers in their classroom, as listed above, differ from the arguments about
how and why computers should be used in the lives of young children. Edwards uses
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mostly ethos by and explains the various studies and research done by other scholars; thus
adds credibility to her research. This article specifically addresses my research question of
whether technology should be used in classrooms; therefore, it will be vital to use in my
classical argument essay.