The first article that I visited was titled, “Researchers: Using an iPad or smartphone can harm a toddler’s learning and social skills” by Terrence McCoy of The Washington Post- it can be accessed here.
To give a brief background of where Terrence McCoy’s article is coming from,
McCoy reflects on a study published in Pediatrics and further elaborated on by researches with the Boston University School of Medicine. Their findings- “children younger than 30 months cannot learn from television and videos as they do from real-life interactions”, and “to use a mobile device before that age on tasks that aren’t educational can be detrimental to the social-emotional development of the child.” Like many studies, the article yields both negative AND positive results. Among the positive results, if an iPad is used for educational purposes such as “vocabulary acquisition or to read electronic book”, it can help in the educational development of a child. On the negative side, “mobile media use replaces the amount of time spent engaging in direct human-human interaction”, resulting in a decline in a child’s social-emotional development.
Lastly, the article calls for much further research. It uses the word “could” too many times for my liking. I don’t have a say on either side of the controversy because I need more research and evidence based practice.
The second article I visited was titled “No research does not say iPads and smartphones may damage toddlers’ brains” by Pete Etchell of The Guardian, a best-selling weekly international newspaper- It can be accessed here.
To give a brief background of where Pete Etchell’s article is coming from, it is largely in response to a three-page commentary published by Pediatrics that highlights the negative and positive effects of iPads and smartphones on toddlers. To summarize Etchell’s article, it appears that far more research is needed to determine whether or not the claim is true because the research that HAS been conducted has yielded mixed results. In some results, there have been beneficial results of toddlers using iPads and smartphones. Among these beneficial effects, improving early literacy skills and improving academic engagement in students with autism. As with any study, there have been several negative effects. Among these negative effects, ebooks that tack on sound effects or games proved to distract children from understanding the actual story they are reading. Convinced? Neither am I. I need more research and evidence base.
Lastly, this article urges that scientists need to be more careful when writing these sorts of opinion pieces because they appear to over-exaggerate in the press. The author stresses that the headline of the article he was responding to was “wrong, devoid of evidence, and served to derail public understanding of a very controversial and heated area of debate.”
Although the articles appear to “contradict” each other in nature, I feel that they “co-exist” as well because each article calls for the need of further research and evidence base. What are your thoughts? It reminds me all too much of the phonics versus whole language debate that has been occurring over the last several decades. I don’t think there is a right way… perhaps, just a happy median with what works for each individual learner.
Here is a short YouTube clip that I found of a 2-year old using an iPad on his own. I thought it was a great "food for thought" to leave you thinking as you form your own opinions!