Computers in the Early YearsCase Study

With computers ever more a part of day-to-day life, their relevance in early years settings has long been a

hot topic. How can they be used to support learning and development? What needs to be considered, when

using them in a nursery or playgroup? This short case study looks at how one private nursery school, Milton

Park Nursery, is using computers as part of a holistic approach to supporting its children’s development.

Milton Park NurseryMilton Park Nursery, part of the Kidsunlimited chain of private

nurseries, is based on a large industrial estate in the south of

England. It offers a range of provision for around 150 children,

from three months to five years of age. The nursery was judged, by

Ofsted, to be providing a good quality of nursery education. A key

focus of the nursery revolves around how to build on this, using the

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).

The nursery combines areas for different ages of children, with the

older, three- and four-year-old children working in spacious, well-lit

rooms, at the end of the building nearest the outdoor play area.

These rooms open out onto a communal open area, in which a

range of toys and resources is kept for children’s use.

This open area contains a role-play space, with equipment,

costumes and decorations, to foster imaginative play. It also hosts

the nursery’s two computers, freely available for children to use.

It’s telling that the role-play and computer areas are next to each

other, as both areas are used to support the nursery’s philosophy of

enriching and developing the whole child.

For information on RM’s work in Early Years visit www.rm.com/earlyyears

Computers, Learning and Development

Although specifically referred to, in the EYFS, under Knowledge

and Understanding of the World, the computers at the nursery are

recognised, by the staff there, for their potential to support a wide

range of educational and developmental outcomes. As in almost

any nursery or playgroup, where budgets are tight, the staff are

experts at squeezing every possible benefit from those resources

available to them!

Children are encouraged to work around the computers, in pairs

and groups. Interactive puzzles, with varying levels of difficulty,

stimulate talking among the children, helping to support language

development. As children move between the computers and

other activity areas, staff also use the appeal of the computers to

promote social skills, such as turn-taking.

The nursery has made use of Living Books software, to support

language and early literacy development. Such software titles as

‘Bananas in Pyjamas’ encourage children to talk to one another

about the stories, as well as about the nature of cause and effect

which is built in to some of the games in the software. Very often,

the software highlights text on the screen as it is played, helping to

develop children’s understanding of text moving from left to right

and of the association between text and sounds.

On-screen painting packages are also used as an outlet for

children’s creativity and imagination. Of course, this is no substitute

for real painting – examples of which abound throughout the

nursery. The use of such packages is made to help to develop

children’s fine motor skills (eg by learning to control a mouse) and

can provide a useful prompt to talk about, say, the differences

between real painting and what can be created on a computer.

There are far too many ways in which the computers are being

used creatively to support children than we could cover here.

The following table summarises some of the ways in which

the computers are helping to support children’s learning and

development.

Use of Computers Benefit Early Learning Goals Supported

Ensure that a computer is used by at least

two at a time

Promotes conversation and turn-taking • Be confident to try new activities, initiate ideas and speak in a familiar group

• Be sensitive to the needs, views and feelings of others

Provide Living Books and number games for children to use on the computer

Excites children about text and numbers, as well as the wide range of contexts in which they can appear. Makes the relationship between letters and sounds visual and exciting.

• Listen with enjoyment and respond to stories, songs and other music, rhymes and poems

• Link sounds with letters, naming and sounding the letters of the alphabet

• Know that print carries meaning and, in English, is read from left to right and top to bottom

• Ask questions about why things happen and how things work

Place the computers in a communal area and provide a wide choice of software

Provides children with an opportunity for purposeful play, using the computer, as part of either an adult-led or a child-initiated activity

• Select and use activities and resources independently

• Find out about and identify the uses of everyday technology, using ICT and programmable toys to support their learning

Encourage children to create ‘drawings’, using computer paint packages and small ladybird mini-mice

Develops fine motor skills and an understanding of how the computer works

• Use a range of small and large equipment

• Use imagination in art and design

Early Years ComputersNaturally, the computers in the nursery need to strike a careful

balance between being real (eg the same as children will come

across at home and when moving to primary) and being robust,

easy and safe to use by three- and four-year-olds.

The computers in Milton Park are Early Years Window Boxes.

These include a keyboard specifically designed for young children.

The keys are in both upper and lower case, with different colours to

promote understanding of the differences among numbers, letters

and those keys with other functions. The computer has a toughened,

anti-scratch monitor and casing, a very small ‘footprint’ (the area

taken up on a desk or table) and an area inside the casing in which

all cabling can be safely and securely clamped away. A clamp

also allows the computer to be secured to any table, yet still rotated

for easy visibility with groups of children working together.

To avoid the risk of children accidentally deleting or moving software

or files, the computer also comes with Classmate software. This

provides various screens through which the computer can be used.

Adults have password-protected screens, plus a standard Windows

computer interface. The children’s screens have icons, folders and

software – all protected from deletion and being moved.

The nursery has a good record of getting the most out of all of its

equipment. Those computers which had been in use before these

ones lasted for over six years. Because of the extra robustness and

extended warranties of these Early Years computers, it is expected

that funds which the nursery may earmark for developing outdoor

play areas and other priorities will not be taken up by needing to

replace or repair the computers too soon.

Future Plans and Ideas

Although staff, children and parents like the computers, the nursery

still has ideas for improvements which it would like to make. For

instance, one young girl brings in (and is a dab hand with) a child-

friendly camera – staff have noticed its potential for promoting

discussion and developing knowledge and understanding of this

technology.

Staff have also identified a need for younger children, with less

developed motor skills, to be able to control the computer more

easily. One idea which the nursery has come up with is for a mouse

or switch which allows children to operate the computer through

simple clicks, providing a ‘way in’ to learning how to use the mouse.

Milton Park Nursery continues to provide a happy, fun and

supportive environment for its children. We’re proud to play a small

part in this, through supplying the nursery’s computers. We’ve been

inspired by the use which the children are making of them and

look forward to hearing more from the staff and children, over the

coming years.

PN 4

671

05/0

9

© RM 2009 . All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced without permission. All trademarks and copyrights of third party products are herein acknowledged.

About RMRM is the leading supplier of ICT and educational resources for education.

We’re a family of companies, including TTS, Dacta and SpaceKraft. We’re

passionate about learning and supply thousands of products specifically

designed for early years, from toughened spill-and-drop proof computers to

furniture and toys.

We work with several Local Authorities to provide their nurseries, playgroups

and pre-schools with ICT that’ll inspire young minds and last for years.

To find out more about us, visit our web site at www.rm.com/earlyyears