A look at how children's lives are affected by the advances of modern technology.

1. Children, Technology,
and the Evolution of
Education
By Claire Renouf
image: pdekker2 - stock.xchng

2. Technology has become more and more
accessible to younger age groups within the
past five years, especially since the release of the
iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad
image: cienpies - stock.xchng

3. When the Apple App Store was launched in July 2008,
the face of the smartphone was changed...
image: evan-amos source: SybaseInc - The Growth of Mobile; youtube.com

4. ...The Appstore launched with 500 Apps, there are
currently over 350 000 Apps available for download.
Apple has sold over 10 billion Apps, as of January
2011.
image: raichinger - stock.xchng source: App Store - wikipedia

5. source: Gartner, Inc image: alemjusic - stock.xchng
In today’s modern world where there’s literally an App for
everything you could want or need, it’s no wonder that
23.6% of mobile communication devices sold
from January-March of 2011 have been smartphones;
that’s an 85% year-on-year increase.

6. It’s also not surprising that according to a survey done
in the U.S. by BabyCenter, 64% more mothers have
adopted the use of smartphones, with over half of
them stating that it was a direct result of becoming
a mother.
source: BabyCenter image: bonvivant

7. So, what does this mean for the
next generation?
image: Chemtec - stock.xchng

8. Just as the number of Apps currently available for
download is growing, the number of Apps directed to
toddlers and young children are growing as well.
image: dtiriba - stock.xchng

9. image: nicephoto - stock.xchng
Not only are smartphones and
tablets being used by adults and
teenagers, but they are now being
used as educational tools for
young children.

10. Desktops and laptops don’t seem to come as
naturally to toddlers as the touch-
screen technology; it takes much more
advanced hand-eye co-ordination to achieve
the motor skills needed to handle a mouse
and keyboard.
image: ante3 - stock.xchng
source: Toronto Star - iPhone apps a hit with preschoolers

11. Elementary school teachers are even
beginning to use tablets in the
classroom as a learning tool. It
has been proven useful by teachers with
developmentally disabled students as
well.
source: Toronto Star - iPhone apps a hit with preschoolers image: mazwebs - stock.xchng

12. Children are beginning their digital
education as early as 18 months. old.
image: qoomomyuko -
source: Karen Thorne-Stone, Ontario Media Development Corporation

13. source: Free Press - The Touch Generation image: diesel_sto - stock.xchng
In this sense, we are now breeding a
generation of true Digital Natives.

14. image: ryencx - stock.xchng
This could lead to many positive outcomes: the
next generation would be almost entirely
fluent with digital media (if we aren’t already),
which would then lead to the development of
superior technology for the future.

15. It could then also lead to an increase
in paper-free options, leading to a
more environmentally friendly
world overall.
image: peej0e - stock.xchng

16. image: theo1krie - stock.xchng
But the fact that children are
starting to use technology at an
earlier age can also cause negative
outcomes.

17. Many parents use technology as “electronic
babysitters”; it is easy to sit your child
down in front of a piece of technology that
will occupy their attention.
source: Elaine M. Doxie, helium.com image: robdav - stock.xchng

18. We need to be careful with how we raise our children
around technology. They can easily become addicted to
it at a very young age if there are no boundaries or
restrictions given. This can lead to a sedentary
lifestyle, and eventually childhood obesity.
image: dspruitt -
stock.xchng

19. With today’s child obesity rate in Canada already
frighteningly high at 26% of children ages 2-17, it is
important to limit childrens’ screen time to 2 hours
or less a day. While technology advances, we must
still keep our health as our first priority, and pass this
message on to future generations.
source: Childhood Obesity Foundation image: morrices - stock.xchng

20. In order to achieve this, we must set a
positive example for our children, and
practice what we preach. After-all,
actions speak much louder than words.
image: MeiTeng -
stock.xchng

21. As they are already so far ahead in their digital
education, it will be interesting to see how their use
of technology at such a young age will affect this new
generation of digital natives and their everyday lives.
image: marcello99 - stock.xchng

22. What do you think the future
holds for these tech-savvy
toddlers?
image: dspruitt -
stock.xchng