Gadgets could be GOOD for five-year-olds

They boost literacy skills (but only if they’re used sparingly)

WORRIES about young children being glued to gadgets may be misplaced, a study suggests.

In fact, five-year-olds who use digital devices such as smartphones and tablets score significantly higher in ‘emergent literacy’ than children who never use them. Emergent skills refer to the crucial phase of learning that takes place before children learn to read, write or use numbers. However, the study indicates a degree of parental rationing of technology is still required. This is because youngsters who had access to technology more than once a month – but less than every week – performed best in literacy overall, with about five months’ worth of development over their peers who never or hardly used it. The same group of children had about three months of development in hand over those who used digital devices every week, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report says. Emergent number skills were unaffected by whether or not children used digital devices. More than 3,000 children were involved in the study. It follows A Growing Up In Ireland Study that previously found that five-year-olds had at least some screen time on the average weekday, with the most common being ‘less than two hours’ (55%), while 14% had three hours or more. In terms of what that screen time was used for, watching some form of television was the most common single activity (37%), while a majority had a mixture of screen-based activities (58%). And as part of their screen time, three-quarters of five-year-olds played on an electronic device of some kind (computer, tablet or smartphone) at least occasionally, with over a quarter doing so every day. Also, some 39% used a device to access the internet at home.

‘The regular use of electronic devices was not associated with stronger or poorer skills across most measured outcomes’, said the new report, entitled Early Learning and Child Wellbeing in England.

‘There were, however, positive correlations with children’s ability to recall short visual sequences (working memory) and their emergent literacy.’ The working memory of children who used technology at least once a week was also significantly higher than that of children who never or hardly ever used it.

Other factors that boost children’s learning abilities include regular role-playing with their parents, going to activities outside of the home, and having regular conversations with their parents about how they feel.

Caroline Sharp of the National Foundation for Educational Research for England and Wales, which carried out the research, said: ‘The findings suggest that moderate use of computers, tablets and smartphones is appropriate for five-year-olds, providing it does not get in the way of other valuable activities between a parent and their child, such as having a conversation and reading them bedtime stories.’