Adults play an important role in making sure tamariki use digital technologies in healthy and safe ways that add to their learning. This means using technologies that encourage tamariki to explore, create, and produce their own work, and empower them as active learners.
Tips for using digital technologies at home#
Decisions about what digital technologies are used in your home will depend on the needs and preferences of your whānau | family and ages of tamariki.
If you are sharing any photos of people outside your whānau, remember to get permission first. For example, do not take photos, or do not take photos of other people’s tamariki, without permission.
Ideas for digital tools or devices
Choose:
- devices that can be brought out for a purpose and put away
- apps that encourage the creation rather than the consumption of content, for example, an app that lets your tamaiti create animated stories rather than an app of pre-made animated stories
- devices with camera and video functions (with locked access to other inappropriate functions).
Photos and videos can capture learning in action and allows you and your tamaiti to revisit experiences.
Tamariki benefit from being able to reuse play materials and re-enact experiences. They also benefit from being able to watch themselves play.
Learning with digital technologies#
Digital technologies can help tamariki to:
- record their work and achievements
- create content such as art works, stories, and games
- think flexibly and develop a sense of wonder
- revisit and retell past experiences which in turn helps develop memory
- develop critical thinking skills through reviewing photos or videos.
Support your tamaiti#
You can support your tamaiti | child by:
- treating digital technologies like you would a paint brush – a tool to achieve something creative rather than a device to entertain or keep your tamaiti occupied
- being present with your tamaiti when they are using digital technologies and discussing what they are seeing or doing
- modelling and talking to your tamaiti about the safe use of digital devices
- trusting your tamaiti to use digital technologies themselves by providing attentive adult supervision
- using digital technologies as a means to learn about and record local events, places, and experiences
- supporting te reo Māori by listening to online waiata | songs, haka, and pūrākau | ancient stories.
