Introducing Early Learners to Technology with Social Demonstration

In this video Dr. Rachel Barr, Associate Professor of Psychology and director of The Early Learning Project at Georgetown University, and Dr. Laura Zimmermann, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at University of Delaware’s College of Education & Human Development, discuss the importance of social scaffolding, or social demonstration and thoughtful guidance from adults, for introducing early learners to new technology and media.

Even for “digital natives,” the social aspect of education is important for learning how to use new tech devices and apps. Key social scaffolding strategies include hands-on demonstration, verbal narration and repetition. Developers can consider building some of these social cues into products so that children benefit even if an adult isn’t present to introduce them to a new app.