Technology is important to a developing child, and we’re not just talking about their periodic use of your tablet to play educational games. Getting your kids exposed to modern technology gives them an edge in today’s world. Just as it can have its downsides, technology can also be very beneficial—especially when introduced at a young age.
Benefits of Exposure to Modern Technology
The following are some of the benefits your child can reap when they’re exposed to modern tech during their early stages of development.
Faster Cognitive Development
Technology has made a lot of things much easier, and among those things is learning how to approach situations with an analytical mind. Kids can develop their cognitive skills quite exponentially when they play games that demand the application of logic and critical thinking, such as mathematical and scientific skills games. They get to learn how to use deductive reasoning much faster. This can be applied to their schoolwork and eventually, it may influence their careers.
Improved Motor Skills
If you think that letting your toddler play games on your tablet is ruining them, you’re wrong. Sure, overexposure to any type of technology may have its downsides, and you still should make sure you practice smart cybersecurity practices when allowing your child access to the internet. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t benefits to be reaped. Games that require your kids to use both their eyes and their hands drastically improve their motor skills.
Simple games that require them to move their hands to touch objects on the screen will improve their hand-eye coordination at a young age, and as far as skills go, this is one that will always have relevance in today’s world.
Problem-Solving Skills
Within the realm of games and interactive apps, there is another benefit to giving your child access to modern technology. Video games are getting better these days, and it takes a respectable amount of mental finesse to overcome some of the in-game obstacles to achieve the goal.
This forces kids to learn how to use their problem-solving skills at a young age. Rather than expecting an easy way out of problematic situations, they will use whatever they have at their disposal to find a way around an obstacle—a useful skill no matter how you look at it.
Exposure to the Outside World
Right before the internet came about, we relied on media outlets and word-of-mouth to keep pace with the happenings of the world. That’s not the case anymore. At the touch of a screen, kids can now view the Seven Wonders of the World, or take a virtual tour of any museum in the world. They can see how children from other parts of the world live, witness how animals live in the wild and visit places we wouldn’t have dreamed of at their age, and it’s all thanks to modern technology.
Granting them access to the outside world helps them have a deeper grasp of how the world works at a much younger age. And because there’s no limit as to how much of the world they can explore using modern technology, the learning potential is endless.
Discovering Skills and Talents
Kids are very impressionable beings, we all know that. Introducing them to modern technology allows them to explore more than just people and locations: they can explore activities too. This alerts them to the numerous possibilities out there, giving them a much broader pool of careers to choose from.
Increased Visual Attention
Most of the educational apps out there teach children how to focus and concentrate better. This improves their visual attention and their overall attention to detail. Some teachers are now integrating the use of mindfulness apps into their lesson plans in an effort to teach kids how to become more alert to hidden clues even within their environment, and this usually leads to increased perceptiveness as they grow up.
Improved Social Skills
Communication is much easier now that we have smartphones, and for kids, these serve as a more productive way to keep in touch with their friends at school. Social games usually require two or more children to participate in simultaneously, and they can do this even when they are not in physical proximity of each other.
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About the Author: Sophie is a marketing specialist at Security Gladiators. A writer by day and a reader by night, she is specialized in tech and cybersecurity. When she is not behind the screen, Sophie can be found playing with her dog.
Sources: STEM Apps for Higher-Order Thinking
