On the Dangers of Using Mobile Devices in the Education of Children: Research Results and Conclusions

Abstract

The article argues that early access to mobile devices is especially harmful for children who have not yet created in their minds the outlines of representations of three- dimensional objects and the three-dimensional space in which they function. Deformations in the outlines of the representations created while viewing objects on the screen of a tablet computer or smartphone are difficult to correct later, because subsequent cognitive experiences only supplement and enrich the already existing representations. To prove this, I refer to a more important finding contained in the representation theory of J. S. Bruner, in order to explain what makes infants and toddlers amazingly proficient with smartphones and tablets. In order to show the unfavorable differences in the representations created by small children from the experiences gathered in the world of real objects and the virtual world, I cite the results of my own research. The results of these studies signal the fatal effects of the use of mobile devices by adults in the process of raising young children. I also justify the need to undertake serious research aimed at determining the far-reaching effects of sharing tablets and smartphones with infants and young children. This will help tame these wonderful devices in an educational way, as well as determine when and how long it is safe for the child’s mental development to share a tablet and a smartphone.