The question of the month:
Dear Sir,
I am writing to you because the primary school teachers in my municipality are asking for the purchase of “interactive video projectors” for the nursery schools.
In view of the many studies and writings on screens, I am wondering about the relevance of such a purchase.
Could you give me some information on the particular case of “interactive video projectors” so that I can make an informed decision?
Thank you.
Kind regards
Our answer:
As a municipal or association manager, you are wondering when and how to invest in digital equipment for young children. Here are a few guidelines to help you.
In April 2019, the Académie des sciences, the Académie nationale de médecine and the Académie des technologies published a report calling for reasoned vigilance regarding digital technologies. They recommend limiting access to screens for the youngest (especially under 3s) and above all always supervising reasonable use. On the same subject, Jacques Toubon, the Défenseur des droits, and his deputy Geneviève Avenard, Défenseure des droits des enfants, recommended in 2018 that public authorities apply a strict precautionary principle by banning the exposure of children under three to screens in the places that care for them, and by allowing this exposure, for those over three, only in a supervised and limited way, and within an educational project. A nursery school equipped with an interactive video projector must devise a teaching project that limits the length of children’s exposure. The medium is only of interest in the sharing, among all the young pupils, of a common object (very different from an individual tablet) that lets them interact not only in front of everyone but above all with one another.
It is therefore all a question of dosage and of using the medium to foster social interaction in learning.
Sophie BRUNETEAUX is a clinical psychologist and EDA (Education Développement Apprentissage) practitioner
