Integrated Information Technology and Early Childhood Education Research Paper

Integrated Information Technology and Early Childhood Education - Research Paper Example An important finding from the study is that integrated information technology can have both negative as well as positive impacts on the above mentioned factors, therefore, the tools need to be used with the right balance. Additionally, empirical and quantitative studies related to the impact of integrated information technology on early childhood and factors such as education, family atmosphere, parenting style and the relationship between the parents and children are still in their nascent stages. Introduction It is often said that children of today belong to the 'Technology Generation' (Jukes and Dosaj, 2006) or the digital natives (Presnsky, 2005). Information technology becomes a part of their life even when they are very young and has a deep influence during the growth years. Over the past decade, the use of integrated information technology continues to increase in early childhood education. During the initial years, both parents as well as teachers were concerned whether using instruments of integrated information technology would be beneficial or harmful to the children (Prensky, 2005). However, the advantages offered by Information technology in education is immense and cannot be ignored. Traditionally, using information technology meant just the use of computers. ... This study takes a look at how integrated information technology can have a major impact on early childhood education, especially from parenting and character education perspectives. In doing so, the study looks at how the instruments of integrated information technology co-related with early childhood education, parenting styles, effectiveness on children's learning, character development, parent-children relationship and family atmosphere. Literature Review and Proposition Development 1. Integrated Information Technology and Early Childhood Education With advancements in information technology, a number of instruments are used to aid learning in children, even those who are in pre-school and kindergarten stages (Donald et al,. 2012). Modern day classrooms for early children are equipped with devices such as computers, cameras, multimedia equipment, voice recorders, conferencing instruments, Internet connection and so on. All these instruments are also integrated with each other to form one cohesive medium of integrated information technology (Presensky, 2006). While there was considerable skepticism on whether integrated information technology should be used for early childhood education, over the past few years, integrated information technology has become an integral part of early childhood education. Additionally, as the world is becoming increasingly technology dependent, it is also necessary that such technology is integrated with their learning process from an early age. One reason as to why early childhood education is effective through information technology is that the human brain is able to relate more to the visual images, 3-d videos, communication tools