Sophie Bernstein

Position Paper
Introduction
Technology use in the classroom has become an increasingly important
debate in modern education. How much should it be used? Should it
even be used at all? If so, at what age should it be introduced? From
experiences in field placements and college courses, I have seen the
use of technology be both beneficial and harmful. I have improved my
understanding of broader issues regarding the topic by analyzing
recent studies. I argue that students and teachers should not use
technology in an early childhood education classroom. Teachers should
not even use PowerPoint or smartboards. Without technology, students
and teachers will have fewer distractions and be more self-sufficient.
There will also be more funding available to invest in other necessary
resources for the school.
Part One: Distractions
Technology distracts both teachers and students. From personal
experiences, I have seen teachers be distracted by technology,
especially when they do not know how to use it properly. I have had
lectures canceled because a PowerPoint presentation does not work. I
have also seen professors sit at the front of the classroom trying to set
up a PowerPoint, wasting 10 minutes of class time. If teachers do not
take the time to familiarize themselves, they will not successfully
implement it into their classrooms. A study conducted by Bauer and
Kenton (2005) provides justification for how technology can be
distracting. Bauer and Kenton researched technology integration in
classrooms. They wanted to understand why certain classrooms have
technology more successfully integrated than others. Thirty teachers
participated in the study. The following two results support my

argument that technology should not be used in early childhood

education classrooms because it is distracting.
First, Bauer and Kenton (2005) found that 47% of teachers have
to overcome software problems. Software problems, especially related
to computers, prevent teachers from presenting fully effective lessons.
There is often a mismatch between computer capabilities and
computer software applications. 47% of the teachers had to overcome
technical difficulties because devices were old, slow, incompatible
with new educational software, and lacked proper networking (Bauer
& Kenton, 2005, p. 536). Newer applications are created to work under
certain software conditions. The required conditions may not be
available on outdated computers. I even face these difficulties in my
everyday life outside of the classroom. My spotify music application or
group me messaging application malfunctions if my phones operating
system is out of date. The applications will freeze or close
automatically until I update my phone. It can become impossible for
teachers to use new, and beneficial applications because of outdated
operating systems. The programs will not run properly and distract the
teacher and students.
The 47% of teachers that faced software difficulties are also
distracted by non-reliable Internet connectivity. Teachers and students
lose focus when waiting for necessary pages to load. I have seen even
college classrooms become rowdy after waiting several minutes for a
Professors page to load. I have even seen Professors lesson plans be
altered because the Internet is malfunctioning.
Second, 25% of teachers in Bauer and Kentons (2005) study
recognize that students enter the classroom a different baseline of
familiarity. In any given classroom, there will be a range in how
acquainted students are with technology. Skill levels on a computer
usually refer to the ability to use a keyboard and the ability to work
with menu systems. I have seen both teachers and students be

distracted by different levels of student knowledge. If the teacher

guides the class as a whole, students who are not as familiar with the
technology cannot keep up. Teachers have to continue answering
personal questions, and students constantly be waiting for help. My
experiences in college level classes can directly relate to early
childhood education classes. I was enrolled in an Environmental
Research Design course. Most of the labs required the use of GIS or
Excel. The professor assumed that all students had a basic knowledge
of each program. As a result, those like me, who were unfamiliar with
it, constantly bombarded the professor with questions. She would be
thrown off track. I was also constantly waiting around for her or
another student to help. I also have seen myself race through
assignments because I was already so frustrated with not being able to
use the application well. I have seen this in field placements of mine
too. When I worked in a third grade classroom, not all students
received the same benefits. Experienced students benefited greatly,
while others race through assignments for the sake of completing it.
All the distractions waste time. According to Klaus (2015)
teachers are pressed to make every minute count in the classroom.
Constantly having to help students catch up prevents the teacher from
teaching efficiently. Valuable time is often wasted when technical
troubles have to be dealt with. With increasing requirements at each
grade level, teachers do not have time to waste.
Part Two: Funding
The second main reason why I do not think technology should be
used in early childhood elementary schools is because of funding
issues. In order for technology to be incorporated well, the school has
to provide the teacher and classroom with additional, expensive
resources. I have seen this done successfully. I spent one month as a
student aide in a third grade classroom. It was at the elementary
school I attended. The local property taxes within the town are

incredibly high, so the school district has more than enough funding.
There was an IT teacher that offered mandatory how to lessons for all
the teachers. Several days a week, my classroom would go to the
computer lab. The IT teacher would co-teach with the regular
classroom teacher. The IT teacher taught students how to use the
computer, and the teacher facilitated the lesson. In my high school,
there was also always an IT teacher on call for teachers if they were
experiencing issues within the classroom. The teachers in my
elementary and high school were not distracted by technology.
Teachers did not have to spend time learning how to use the
technology because they were taught from the start. These are two
pieces of evidence that show how technology can be integrated
successfully, if there is school funding.
Unfortunately, I do not think that technology should be used in
an early childhood classroom. Not all schools can afford the necessary
funding to have it integrated well. It is better not to have it at all than
to have it and distract students and teachers. Bauer and Kenton (2005)
justify my evidence by describing costs of using technology. First,
computers, iPads, smartboards, and having high speed, reliable
Internet is expensive. There needs to be funding to buy the pieces of
equipment, hardware and software. Second, a tech-savvy member of
the administrative team who has the time to devote to technology
issues are necessary (Bauer & Kenton, 2005, p. 540). A tech
coordinator could handle ordering software and downloading it so that
teachers can properly use it. This would prevent teachers from having
to work on their own to integrate technology into the classroom. It
would be especially hard for individual teachers to do this without
special training. One teacher in the Bauer and Kenton study claims it
would be great if all schools had a tech teacher to coordinate lessons
with the classroom teacher (2005, p. 537). It is not realistic to think
that all school districts can provide this funding. The money used on

integrating technology into the classroom may have a better use

elsewhere. I had an externship at Harlem Link Charter School in Harlem
New York. I would hope that they would sooner invest in more
nutritious meal programs and more basic resources for the teachers
before spending money on technology.
Part Three: Dependency
The third main reason why technology should not be used in
classrooms is because of dependency issues. Teachers may disengage
from the classroom if technology is used more than just a supplement.
Teachers may become a figure that shows students how to use an
application rather than teaching lessons. I have seen this in college
classroom. When I use GIS mapping applications, my professor shows
the class how to use the system. Then we are handed questions to
guide our own learning. I do not learn well from this. It is left up to me
to complete the activity and comprehend its importance. I often do not
see the point of the activity until the very end of the assignment when
I can finally piece it all together. Sometimes I just race through
activities so I can complete the assignment and do not see its point.
Class sessions that use GIS turns into a workshop on learning how to
use the application rather than my professor teaching.
The method of teaching described above is referred to as
unguided teaching (Kirschner, Sweller & Clark, 2006). Unguided
teaching methods are based on a belief that learners do best when
having to discover and construct information. This would ideally allow
students to construct information on their own. A study conducted by
Kirschner, Sweller and Clark (2006) found that minimal guidance
during instruction might be ineffective. They reviewed literature
studies pertaining to minimal guidance and found no evidence for it
being more beneficial than instructional teaching. Even with students
that have a considerable amount of prior knowledge, strong guidance
is found to be equally beneficial as minimal guidance (Kirschner,

Sweller & Clark, 2006). The reason why I bring up this point is that
teachers will continue to use unguided teaching if they use technology
as more than just a supplement. In early childhood education classes,
as recognized by Klaus, teachers can disengage themselves quite
easily by giving students an iPad to play games with.
Teachers dependency on technology may be at the cost of
students learning. Consider Gardeners Multiple Intelligence Theory.
He recognizes nine intelligences, and suggests that people are smart
in each of these different ways. Some students learn best by
physically and mentally interacting with what they are studying
(Klaus, 2015). When teachers depend on technology, students who
learn best through activity are at a disadvantage. Rather than
participating in hands on learning centers, students will be interacting
with a piece of technology. In one of my biology classes in high school,
we had to dissect a frog. Some students were allowed to use a
computer-animated application to conduct the experiment. This would
prevent hands on learners from truly benefiting. Overusing technology
may also prevent students from developing fine motor skills required to
handwrite, which are normally developed at a very young age.
Conclusion
I do believe that there are benefits to integrating technology into
an early childhood education classroom. Unfortunately, it is not easy or
necessarily feasible to integrate it properly. Teachers have to learn how
to use pieces of equipment, and schools have to fund IT technicians
and buy actual pieces of equipment. This may be feasible in certain
schools and can be successful in a school district like the one I grew up
in. However, when it is overused or not integrated successfully, the
costs to student learning are too high. I would rather see early
childhood education classrooms not incorporate technology at all than
to use it in a less than perfect manner. The skills developed by young

children in the classroom sets them up for success later in life. If

technology hinders with this capability, then it should simply be
avoided.

Bauer, J., & Kenton, J. (2005). Toward technology integration in the

schools: Why it isnt happening. Journal of Technology and Teacher
Education, 13(4), 519- 546.
Kirschner, P.A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance
during
instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of
constructivist,
discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquirybased teaching. Educational psychologist, 41(2), 75-86.
Klaus, Julia. Negative Effects of Using Technology in Todays
Classroom, The Classroom, Synonym. Negative Effects of Using
Technology in Todays Classroom. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.
5 Problems With Technology In Classrooms. TeachThough. N.p., 31
July 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.