Stop worrying about your children’s screen time!

Especially with lockdown, many parents might be worried about the number of hours their young children are spending using digital devices, but it’s not about the quantity of time, it’s about the quality of experience.

“Digital media can be exceptionally important in a young child’s development. In particular, it can be helpful in structural learning and play, improving a child’s ability to approach and solve problems,” explains Dr Leo Casey, the Director of the Centre for Education and Lifelong Learning (CELL) at National College of Ireland (NCI).

Dr Meera Oke, lecturer and director of NCI’s BA (hons) in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), adds “We have to stop thinking of digital play as any different from being outdoors in a play park. To a very young child, there is no difference between digital and non-digital, it is all just play: it is the quality of play that matters.

Here are Dr Oke’s three tips for high-quality digital play:

—  Children really enjoy listening to their own voices and seeing themselves. Create a play space which is safe and allow children to use a digital device to actively record what they do, see and hear, and play it back.

—  Children will do what they see around them, be a role model. Let children see you use screens for an exercise regime, or trying out a recipe. Limit the time they see you just watching a screen. Encourage use of apps that stimulate active rather than passive watching. For instance, use apps which will ask children to be off screen for a bit, to find objects or construct characters or track movements.

—  Avoid ‘do’s and ‘don’t’s: be a playmate when children use digital tools, such as cameras and recording devices, just tune into the play and participate in the drama and pretence.

“Of course,” says Dr Oke, “it is good to get your child outside in the fresh air during daylight whenever you can safely do that, but that’s not always possible during current restrictions, so focus on the quality of their play, wherever they are, and not the number of hours they are on a device.”

Today CELL holds a seminar for ECEC professionals, examining the Curation and Co-creation of Digital Stories.

Focusing on teaching teachers how to best use digital tools in ECEC education, Professor Marilyn Fleer, from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, will share the research work she leads at the university’s ‘Conceptual Play Lab’; and Dr Marianne Undheim, from the University of Stavanger in Norway, will share her particular experience of children’s and teachers’ use of ‘digitech’ stories.

“Early Childhood Education and Care is in the early stages of its professionalisation here in Ireland,” observes Dr Casey, “however, we are quickly catching up on other countries, and ECEC is a hugely rewarding area of educational expertise. This seminar is part of the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 2020/21 National Seminar Series. CELL is delighted to make available to educational professionals in Ireland these insights from international best practice.”