What, exactly, are the benefits of laptops for young children? As with any newer technology, there are many positive consequences when schools, or parents, purchase laptops for their children. There are some drawbacks as well, but most educators (who we would have to consider to be the experts) seem to agree that the benefits far outweigh the negatives. For our purposes in this discussion we will consider the benefits of laptops primarily for elementary school-aged children: that is, children who range in age from four to eleven years old, or roughly, pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. Kids today are exposed to many electronic educational toys before they even enter school for the first time. Toy manufacturers such as Fisher Price, Mattel, V-Tech, and many others use the classic and television characters that appeal to children when they manufacture these toys.

Thus we have Elmo and Dora computers, Blues Clues Word Games, LeapFrog Computers, etc. So the 8-month old very quickly learns how to push buttons or keys and turn knobs to produce sounds or otherwise pleasing effects. Depending on the parents’ familiarity with technology, they may begin simple computer games, with help, around the age of 18 months. My two-year old grandson loves my IPOD Touch, and he needs almost no help in playing his favorite games. Obviously, the learning toys for children have changed dramatically over the last 30 years.

Exposing a kindergartener to any type of computer will familiarize him with the machine so that in later years he will be completely comfortable with the technology. Laptops for kids in a school setting can be a fantastic learning tool for many reasons. The specific benefits of laptops for kids are as follows:

• A laptop is a teaching tool, just like a book or a pencil. Since children learn in many different ways, the technology of a computer offers an innovative way to access information. Some children will excel in using this technology, even though they may not be particularly good students. There are many good software programs available to teachers that help develop good reading and math skills.
• Using a laptop computer can open up a whole new world to a child. He can travel, via computer, to Europe, Asia, wherever he chooses. In fact, the whole class can travel via computer—what a field trip!
• Students can work independently, at their own pace, on a laptop. And because it is a mobile unit, they can pick it up and carry it to someone else if they need help, or want to share something.

Once students learn keyboarding (which usually happens around second or third grade) the laptop becomes a writing tool. Some kids, my son included, hate the physical act of writing and find it tedious. Using a laptop is faster and much more efficient. Now my grown son maintains several websites and writes for an online company. Without a computer, I think he would have chosen a different career path.

Laptops offer exciting and innovative ways of learning things. What might be a boring routine lesson becomes a game that allows a child to learn without trying to. Because of their early exposure to educational electronic toys, they don’t see their laptops as something associated with work.  I know for myself, learning is so much easier when I am having fun learning it versus trying to learn it by reading a book.

Special needs students can benefit from using laptop computers if they have reading disabilities. Some software will read text to a child, thus allowing them to “keep up” with the other students. They can work at their own speed and feel successful.

If parents choose to provide their children with laptop computers, this is an added bonus. Obviously, these children will be even more familiar and comfortable with technology than those students who lack a home computer. This, of course, raises some new considerations for parents. Whether or not to allow internet access is a big one, especially in these days of internet predators. Parental controls are pretty much essential, as is limiting a child’s time on the laptop. Moderation is the key to computer use, whether for an adult or a child.

As a former elementary school media specialist, I can attest to the fact that when kindergartners enter a computer lab, their faces light up and they are raring to go! Technology is such a powerful incentive for learning, and if they are exposed at a young age, it will continue to enrich their lives in the years ahead.