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THE BENEFITS OF DIGITAL PLAY IN EARLY YEARS LEARNING
In today’s early years learning landscape children have access to devices and content to enable multi-sensory exploration through digital play. Digital play need not be passive – it can be active, creative and collaborative. When the content, device and interactivity are purposefully designed well for their age group, digital play can support physical, cognitive and social-emotional development.
It’s crucial that creators take into account the developmental needs of their audience to ensure their learning resources are effective, engaging and age appropriate. Educational materials that are too advanced or too simplistic can be frustrating and disengaging for children. Similarly, technology that is not appropriate for a child’s developmental stage can be overwhelming if too difficult and tedious if too easy.
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Technology has revolutionised the learning landscape and will continue to do so in the future with AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), biometrics and AI (artificial intelligence). While there are many benefits to including digital play in early years learning, it’s important to not let it become a replacement for face-to-face interactions and hands-on learning experiences. Children benefit most from a balanced learning framework using digital play and traditional learning methods.
“EARLY YEARS CHILDREN ARE VERY CURIOUS AND ON OUR DIGITAL PLATFORM, WE ARE ABLE TO ADD SOUND, ANIMATED, AND INTERACTIVE VISUALS. MOST OF OUR DIGITAL GAMES AND STORIES ENCOURAGE CHILDREN TO EXPLORE THE WORLD AROUND THEM, TURNING THE DEVICE INTO MORE OF A WINDOW THAN JUST A SCREEN!”
Dr Sophie Dauvois
“TECHNOLOGY IS ALL AROUND AND CHILDREN AND EDUCATORS ARE USING TECH AS TOOLS ALL THE TIME. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT SCREEN-BASED TECHNOLOGY, WHAT’S IMPORTANT FOR EARLY YEARS IS THAT THE CONTENT THEY ARE WATCHING OR INTERACTING WITH HAS BEEN DEVELOPED FOR THEIR AGE GROUP.”
Dr Sophie Dauvois, co-founder and editor of Okido.
At Okido, the make/do, smell, touch, and see activities in our magazine are very important and we see digital content as part of that same discovery journey. By using Okido magazine, the World of OKIDO app and the Messy goes to OKIDO tv show* we enrich the Okido learning framework. Using physical and digital play designed specifically for 3-7-year-olds allows us to transform learning into a multisensorial and interactive experience for early years development.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Fine Motor Skills: Pressing buttons, dragging and swiping on a tablet help improve their precision and dexterity.
Coordination & Reaction Time: Each time they visually track and handle objects on a screen, they strengthen hand-eye coordination.
Some of the benefits of including digital play in EYFS are:
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SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Problem Solving: Working through problems develops critical thinking, decision-making and creativity.
Collaboration: A foundation of collaborative problem solving promotes social development and positive relationship-building.
Cultural Awareness: Technology allows children to explore, experience and learn about different cultures.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Language Development: Technology can help young children with letter recognition and vocabulary.
Digital Literacy: Technology is rapidly evolving, its important children learn skills to navigate diverse learning environments.
Information Processing: Children learn more effectively from animated and narrated content.
From Benefits of Technology for Early Childhood Learning, Children’s Museum Pittsburgh.