Interesting article about the iPad

You're never too young to give an iPad a try

Houston library will test program allowing kids from 2 to 6 to use the devices

By ALLAN TURNER
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Jan. 28, 2011, 8:20AM

Even kids in diapers will be able to indulge their taste in interactive edutainment when the Houston Public Library launches a pilot program Saturday that puts iPads in the hands of 2- to 6-year-olds. If successful, the effort will expand to selected neighborhoodlibraries in the fall.

"An iPad is interactive. You touch it, you turn it and it does things. Kids understand this very well," said Sandy Farmer, youth services manager at Central Library, where the program will debut. "There are tons of apps out there for young children — alphabet, colors, maps - some of them are really cool. ... It's an opportunity for kids to sit down and learn in a unique way."

The program, which will begin with three iPads, is an extension of the library's early literacy stations, desktop computers loaded with child-appropriate programming available at all library branches.

Library services coordinator Heidi Daniel said those computers proved popular with children and their parents, but some branch libraries had only a few units. Long lines developed, and, added library spokesman Greg Simpson, children sometimes had difficulty manipulating a computer's mouse.

The iPads will provide mobility and, employing touch technology, ease of operation.

Children, who must be accompanied by someone at least 14 years old, will be able to check out the iPads for one-hour sessions. They may not take the units out of the children's room, nor will they be allowed to access theInternet.

Children, who must be accompanied by someone at least 14 years old, will be able to check out the iPads for one-hour sessions. They may not take the units out of the children's room, nor will they be allowed to access the Internet.

Program could spread

One of the key elements in determining the program's success will be how well iPads hold up in the hands of pre-schoolers.

If all goes well, Daniel said, the program could expand to two neighborhood libraries in the fall, then more branches next year.

The plan drew support from Dr. Oscar Bukstein, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center.

"Hey," he said, "this is what learning is going to be like."

With proper supervision, Bukstein said, the program promises to offer children all the positive aspects of the new technology with none of the drawbacks.

"You have a lot of different applications that are very good learning experiences," he said. "... You ideally would want a kid to use iPads, as everything else, in moderation."

12 months and up?

Sara McNeil, a University of Houston education professor with expertise in instructional technology, called the iPad an "ideal" technology for young children. Even children as young as 12 months should be able to use the devices, she said.

"Young children are very tactile creatures," she said. "If you look at an iPad, there are many connections that are symbiotic. It works entirely on touch. It starts almost instantly and responds almost instantly."

Through the use of iPads, she said, children, in essence, can teach themselves.

"There are so many applications that I think the Houston Public Library will be able to find and put on iPads," McNeil said. "I think it will be a great aid to literacy and mathematical development — all kinds of things that will help these children."

Farmer said the program is an outgrowth of watching her young nieces play with her iPad.

"I realized they were learning and they didn't need me to help them," she said. "I watched as one, who is 2½ years old, choose colors on a difficult drawing app and draw. She was having a blast."