Today, technology and interactive media have become a magic to make education for children more fascinating and fun. What is technology and interactive media? National Association for the Education of Young Children (2012), says that technology refers to a broad range of digital devices and interactive media refers to digital and analog materials. Some examples of technology are computers, tablets, multitouch screens, interactive whiteboards, mobile devices, cameras, audio recorders, electronic toys, games and e-book readers. Some examples of interactive media are software programs, applications (apps) and the Internet. Integrating technology and interactive media into the learning actually makes the lives of teachers easier and making the …show more content…
Children who spend excessive time with technology and interactive media will not have the opportunity to build the social skills that are important to their overall growth and development. Family, peers, school, community and media, all play an important role in the development of interpersonal skills and social competence by the age of about seven years (Haugland and Wright, 1997). Children nowadays are forming “electronic friendships” instead of human friendships thus preventing the development of interpersonal skills. Teachers should make children work in groups or pair when they are using computers in the classroom. Teachers also can provide activities that require children to interact with peers. Teachers should create an environment where children can engage in various social interactions when using technology and interactive media like computers, smartboard or television. This is to help children to ask for help, managing turn taking, commenting on each other’s actions and disagreeing with it. For example, do activity using the smartboard and let the children to answer the questions or solve the problem using the smartboard. This will let the children to help their friends who don’t know the answer thus increasing their social