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Ben Feller,
Associated Press, June 5, 2005
Before they can even read, almost one in four children in nursery school
is learning a skill that even some adults have yet to master: using the
Internet. Some 23 percent of children in nursery school -- kids age 3, 4
or 5 -- have gone online, according to the Education Department. By
kindergarten, 32 percent have used the Internet, typically under adult
supervision.
The numbers underscore a trend in which the largest group of new users of
the Internet are kids 2 to 5. At school and home, children are viewing Web
sites with interactive stories and animated lessons that teach letters,
numbers and rhymes.
"Young students don't differentiate between the face-to-face world and the
Internet world," said Susan Patrick, who oversees technology for the
department. "They were born into the age of the Internet. They see it as
part of the continuum of the way life is today."
At a preschool age, children need some grown-up help to get online, said
Francie Alexander, chief academic officer for children's book publisher
Scholastic Inc.
One of their favorite computer activities is writing an e-mail to a
grandparent, said Alexander, author of a children's guide to the Internet.
"It's great for letter recognition," she said. "Everybody likes to get
mail and little kids don't have great tolerance for waiting. So the whole
idea that they can write grandma and get an e-mail back a half-hour later
saying, 'I got your note' -- they love that."
Scholastic has a section of its Web site that is intended just for
children, who go online to read, write and play with "Clifford the Big Red
Dog." PBS Kids Online has more than a dozen educational Web sites for
preschool children, including "Sesame Street" and "Barney and Friends."
Overall computer use, too, is becoming more common among the youngest
learners. Department figures show that two-thirds of nursery school
children and 80 percent of kindergartners have used computers.
At the Arnold & Porter Children's Center in Washington, 4- and 5-year-olds
have the option to spend time on a computer, working in small teams. They
learn basic problem-solving and hand-eye coordination, but the social
component of working with classmates on computer exercises is just as
important, said Sally D'Italia, director of the center, which a law firm
offers for its employees.
"It helps them become more relaxed, more adventurous, and more willing to
take risks as they learn," she said. "With adults, we're still afraid that
we're going to blow up the computer. You never know if you're going to
push the wrong button and lose all your data."
Virtually all U.S. schools are connected to the Internet, with about one
computer for every five students, the government reports. Many older
students are often far ahead of their teachers in computer literacy and
they know their younger siblings are gaining on them.
As one high school student told Patrick recently: "You grew up with music
in your blood. Well, we have technology in our blood."
Educators say such access needs scrutiny.
Beyond blocking inappropriate content, schools must be certain the lessons
they choose are based on research and geared to the developmental stage of
the children, experts say.
"Kids have a tremendous ability to expand their learning, and a computer
is just one tool," said Mark Ginsberg, executive director of the National
Association for the Education of Young Children. The potential danger, he
said, is putting 3- and 4-year-olds in front of a computer lesson that
demands graphic skills or word-recognition knowledge for which they are
not ready.
Still, Ginsberg said, more educators are using technology creatively --
and appropriately.
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