Technology as a Learning Tool: A Purposeful Approach with Elizabeth Fraley Kinder Ready
Considering technology as a learning tool means the transformation of passive consumption to active, intentional use. In the case of children at an early age, it is important to note that digital devices must not be a major source of amusement and education, but a well-intended tool that can be applied to help them achieve certain developmental objectives under tight restrictions. This intentional view is the main feature of the Elizabeth Fraley Kinder Ready philosophy, according to which all the educational strategies are assessed because of their contribution to an overall readiness that involves hands-on learning. Technology in its right place may serve a very minimal supplementary role. Still, it should never displace the indispensable interpersonal and sensory opportunities offered by such programs as Kinder Ready Tutoring, which represents the full-fledged Kinder Ready Elizabeth Fraley program.
To be effective as a means of learning, technology needs to be interactive and demands active thought processes. Applications that will provoke a child to solve a problem, sequence events, make a choice, or produce a digital product are the most suitable ones. There should be no passive media of time wasting. A device where the child has to identify the shapes, or trace the letters with his finger, or fill a simple pattern targets the use of cognitive abilities. This criterion of interactivity replicates the active participatory model of Kinder Ready Tutoring in which learning is not a spectator sport, but a working-class process.
It should also be extremely limited in its usage and co-experienced. Technology is best used as an instrument whereby sessions are short, 15 to 20 minutes, and overseen by an adult who can cross the digital activity to the actual world. A parent can say, You have just matched the triangles on the screen, and now, we will find triangles in our kitchen. This co-engagement will make a single task a networked learning process and impose the required limits. This is a guiding, relational learning principle that forms the basis of Kinder Ready Tutoring and the Kinder Ready Elizabeth Fraley approach.
Moreover, digital content must be an addition or continuation of practical learning, and not an initial one, to be considered an effective learning tool. The sequence is critical. The child must learn to read letters with physical blocks or sand trays, and only after this, go through the app to recognize letters. Technology is then used as practice and a reinforcement mechanism for an idea that has already been presented in a tangible fashion. This makes sure that the major neural tracks are developed by the experience of the senses, which is a fundamental principle of the Elizabeth Fraley Kinder Ready philosophy.
Most importantly, a learning tool should not interfere with the state of attention and patience development. Thus, the role of technology should be secondary to the activities that naturally create the focus: the ability to read physical books, solve puzzles, and play an imaginary game in the long term. Technology, in effect, is only justified to be a learning tool when it is used precisely, sparingly and with an educational purpose. The Elizabeth Fraley Kinder Ready model assists the family in utilizing these filters so that any digital time can be supportive, and not detrimental, of the overall preparation provided by the full-time affection and physical orientation.
For further details on Kinder Ready’s programs, visit their website: https://www.kinderready.com/.
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ElizabethFraleyKinderReady
