Observing a Child Using Technology

The child I observed using technology is two years old. I observe him regularly. At the most basic, he is like other kids his age and loves to push buttons. It’s even better if the button is connected to something and he can see the result.

Some time ago, he was watching a movie trailer for Toy Story 3 on my laptop. When it ended, he wanted to see it again. And, again. I finally left the cursor on the screen and told him to push the left button. He got the hang of it quickly. Each time it ended, he clicked the left button (this is a PC, not a Mac).

This has continued with almost anything he likes to watch on my computer. He likes to watch movie trailers for animated films and cartoons on YouTube and IMDB. I set it up for him, and each time it ends, he clicks to start it again. This goes on until he gets board or his parents decide that it’s just time to stop.

Recently, he learned how to move the cursor. Clicking on something else on the screen may cause something new to happen. At this point, I stepped in to show him how to move the cursor by moving his finger across the pad above the buttons. He is now able to choose what he wants to watch by setting the cursor above a new item and click on that. An example is YouTube. To the right of the screen you are watching is a list of icons of similar videos. He is able to move the cursor over and pick something new to watch.

As he is only two years old, guidance is needed to show him how it works. If he were a little older, he would easily figure it out for himself. At that point, guidance of a different sort would be needed to explain what he should and shouldn’t be looking at online.

For me, this is interesting. When I was that age, computers took up whole rooms and the general public didn’t have access to them. Television had three channels and they didn’t have buttons. They had knobs.

He will continue growing along with the technology as it grows. What is needed from adults is not necessarily explanations as to how these things work. Children will figure that out on their own. What will be required is guidance to use the technology properly and not abuse it. To define what is proper and what is abuse will change between parents, schools, communities, etc. As educators, we will have to work with the needs/wants of those parents, and schools, and communities.