FAQ

The Answers You Need

The following is a list of frequently asked questions we believe parents or educators have asked in relation to technology, attention and memory. Please do not forget to interact with our Padlet below!

Should I try to remove technology from my young child’s life between the ages of 0 to 4 completely?

Unfortunately, completely removing technology is unrealistic because technology is all over society and the use of technology is growing every day (Nature Wellbeing, n.d.). In an age of technology, it does have many benefits to child development. Educators in daycares make use of technology at many centers. With that being said, setting age-appropriate time limits on screen time limits at home and educational content is recommended in order to provide children with limited stimulation from technology a day (Nature Wellbeing, n.d.).

The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends:

For children under two years old screen time is not recommended.
For children two to five years old limit screen time to less than one hour a day.
For children older than five limit screen time to less than two hours a day”

(Fraser Health Authority, n.d., para. 3)

How should I approach knowing how much technology my child is exposed to at home and at school?

Though there is no way of completely having control over how much technology a child is exposed to at home and school, it is however important that educators and parents collaborate to be on the same page when it comes to children and technology. School and home are usually a child's two main environments where they learn. The adults in those environments need to work together to support the child and their development. Having simple conversations about what technology use looks like at school and what it looks like at home can be a great start to being informed about how much exposure the child has to screen time or other technologies.

What are some ways to ensure that a child is developing their cognitive development while using technology in class?

Some ways educators can ensure that children are developing their cognitive development (memory and attention development) is by ensuring that all children are using educational resources. These resources are made so that children are learning vital aspects that will ensure that they are promoting their learning skills to become more successful in their education. These sources can help children who are lacking in different areas of development such as memory and attention as these games are creative and fun for all children to play and learn from. Introducing these fun games are great for children as their brains are like sponges and they will retain information more quicker. Playing games fosters collaboration, fosters social skills, and emphasizes the importance of education via experience. Additionally, it helps preschoolers develop their self-confidence and self-esteem while teaching them the virtues of perseverance and attention.

How can I ensure that a child is using technology in ways that will benefit their development and not harm them in the long run?

In order to ensure that all children are using technology that will benefit their development, educators can teach their students the importance and benefits of playing educational games rather than normal ones. These games are fun to play and can develop their skills hence why it can make it easier for you to capture their attention with these games as there is a higher chance that these children will head towards these educational websites to play games on. When you teach a child about all the positive aspects they can gain from these games, they become more intrigued and determined to learn more and become more knowledgeable. They will understand the importance and will most likely click these games to play rather than other kinds. Showcasing these games in a fun way that involves all the students is key as they will be more likely to want to play these educational games when with friends. This allows them to feel and build a positive interaction with these games all while having fun.

When using technology in the classroom, what can educators do, so that while using technology with the children, it will develop their cognitive development and that their attention will be solely on the technology without getting distracted?

Educators can use certain educational games for children to play that will be informative, but also will be of interest to them. Other than using games, educators can follow The Department’s guiding principles and they are, “Guiding Principle #1: Technology—when used appropriately—can be a tool for learning, Guiding Principle #2: Technology should be used to increase access to learning opportunities for all children, Guiding Principle #3: Technology may be used to strengthen relationships among parents, families, early educators, and young children, and Guiding Principle #4: Technology is more effective for learning when adults and peers interact or co-view with young children” (Office of Educational Technology, 2016). With knowing the guiding principles, it can help educators to know what to do and how to use technology in ways that not only will interest the children and keep them engaged, but will also develop and strengthen their cognitive, attention and memory development.

When it comes to children’s memory, what can educators do in the classroom when using technology, to help them improve their memory and their cognitive development?

There are strategies educators can use to enhance children’s memory. The strategies that can help children develop a more efficient and effective memory, would be to give directions in multiple formats, teach students to over-learn material, teach students to use visual images and other memory strategies, give teacher-prepared handouts when doing activities, teach children to be active readers, write down steps and express that they understand maths problems, providing retrieval practice for students, develop cues when storing information, priming the memory prior to teaching and learning, and reviewing the knowledge at home with parents.

For giving direction in multiple formats, it will benefit children to be given “directions in both visual and verbal formats. In addition, their understanding and memorizing of instructions could be checked by encouraging them to repeat the directions given and explain the meaning of these directions. Examples of what needs to be done are also often helpful for enhancing memory of directions” (Throne, 2009). For teaching students to over-learn material, l children would be taught by repetition, which can help to solidify the information learned. For teaching children to use visual images and other memory strategies, l to help children to use word substitution cue, which is a “substitute word system that can be used for information that is hard to visualize, for example, the word occipital or parietal. These words can be converted into words that sound familiar that can be visualized. The word occipital can be converted to exhibit hall (because it sounds like exhibit hall). The student can then make a visual image of walking into an art museum and seeing a big painting of a brain with big bulging eyes (occipital is the region of the brain that controls vision). With this system, the vocabulary word the student is trying to remember actually becomes the cue for the visual image that then cues the definition of the word” (Throne, 2009) For giving teacher-prepared handouts when doing activities to children as well as oral instructions, would be to both enable children to understand what the educators are asking for them to do, as well as to follow the directions the educators are telling them. For teaching children to be active readers, it helps to “enhance short-term memory registration and working memory when reading, students should underline, highlight” when reading. For having the children expressing what and how they understand maths problems would be so that it would work and improve on their working memory, not to just rely on what the educator tells them. For providing retrieval practice for students, educators should test children on the information they have told the children so that the children can work on their long-term memory, which would be “enhanced when students engage in retrieval practice” (Throne, 2009). For helping children develop cues when storing information, educators can provide information using a cue and that cue should be present at the time the information is being retrieved since the information is easier to retrieve by doing it in a way that will help children learn better. For priming the memory prior to teaching and learning, the cues the educators use to children that they know will help them learn better is helpful. It is helpful because, when the child is asked to show their understanding and learning, they can use the cues they have learned to help express their knowledge as well as priming their memory. Reviewing the knowledge at home with parents is very important because not only can they practice, but they can also show what they remember from what they have practiced in the classroom.