Tech Talk: A guide to using technology with your children

Technology comes in many forms. For modern families, you don’t have to look hard to find a range of devices within an arm’s reach. Children are exposed to iPhones, tablets, televisions, computers and many high-tech toys at an early age, ever-increasing the adage “give it to your grandchild and they will show you how to work it”. Most toddlers know how to unlock their parent’s phone and find their favourite app or turn on the TV to find their favourite programs, but are we really teaching them independence with these skills? One of the difficult questions for families with our increasing reliance on technology life is ‘how much is too much?’

The American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) surveyed families in the United States, asking questions about how their children use technology. More than two-thirds of the families surveyed said their two-year-olds are using tablets and more than half know (at a basic level) how to use smart phones. As we become more reliant on technology as a tool for learning, it is essential that we continue to encourage good communication environments for our children to learn – in conjunction with technology use.

The easiest and most effective way that children learn is simply by talking. Studies have proven the link between the number and variety of words a child hears and later academic achievement. At AEIOU, we focus more on interacting with the children in a variety of settings with the occasional use of technology. You will find iPads, interactive whiteboards and other devices in our classrooms but what you will also see is a high level of interaction during their use. Children may be receiving a short time on the iPad as a reward, requesting using PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) to access their favourite video or they may be following instructions from a therapist and responding by using the interactive whiteboard.

In order to help our families encourage a healthy relationship for their children with technology, we have compiled a list of 5 top tips on how to manage technology use at home to keep communication at the forefront.

1. Create Tech-Free ‘zones’ or ‘times’:  A great time to encourage technology free time is mealtimes. Mealtimes are a social occasion and provide a great time for face to face interaction with your child. Talk about their day, the foods you are eating and encourage them to interact with the family. By switching off technology, you are also encouraging children to focus on the task of eating rather than relying on distractions. Some children who use PECS to communicate can use mealtimes as a time to practice requesting for their favourite foods. You can also get siblings involved and help them model requesting for your child too.
2. Use technology together: When your child wants to use their tablet or your smart phone, play with them. Model language, give instructions on how to play and see if they can teach you how to play too! By making it more interactive with other people, you can still maintain the joint attention, shared interactions and language opportunities just as you would if you were playing together with toys. This is a great opportunity to play together as kids are often very motivated to use technology and will maintain attention for a longer period of time. It will also provide an opportunity for your child to learn that playing with you AND the device is more fun than playing alone.
3. Reduce your use as a babysitter tool: We get that families are busy. Sometimes it is important for you to have 15 minutes to cook dinner, do the washing or eat your lunch at a café. But, remember that these are all opportunities that you could be encouraging your child to participate too! Get them involved in the cooking or ask them to help sort the washing, labelling things as you pull them out of the washing basket!
4. Don't overestimate the value of educational apps. Children learn best simply through talking, conversing, and reading. Some apps are often marketed as “communication” apps or “educational” apps but they don’t actually teach any specific skills or they may be targeted too high or too low for your child. Speak to your Speech pathologist if you want information on how to determine what app could work for your child – or have a play yourself!  Be aware that often the advice you will receive will be to not use a device for teaching a skill such as communication unless it’s part of the reward. Children who are not yet verbal will often be exposed to PECS for communicating before they are trialled using a device as a communication system.
5. Practice what you preach: If you set a daily time limit for your children or limit the use at certain times of the day, this applies to you too! Children are very aware of adult’s behaviours and it is important that we reinforce rules by modelling the ideal behaviours. Facebook can wait!

Whilst research is still catching up on whether we need to limit children at different ages to certain amounts of time using technology, we know that children learn best from those around us. This time can be with and without the use of a device as long as there is still interaction.

So don’t be afraid of technology use for your child, just get involved too! Also, make sure that you have more time set aside to play and interact together without technology than the time that you do use devices. This time together is where your child will learn the most.

About the author

Becky Mead is the Senior Speech Pathologist and one of the Program Coordinators at AEIOU Foundation.  She is responsible for the clinical supervision of speech pathologists across AEIOU’s centres and along with the other program coordinators, supports all AEIOU centres in implementing our program. Becky has been a part of AEIOU for more than five years, starting as a new graduate speech pathologist at the Gold Coast and Nathan centres.