YouTube is increasingly common in early years settings. Nursery rhymes, songs and animations are only a click away.
Is this widespread use harming young children’s learning, or can educators use it as a valuable tool?
How are the children watching YouTube?
As with most aspects of early years practice, the key question isn’t whether we use YouTube but how.
In many settings, children watch nursery rhymes or animations passively. They sit looking at the screen with limited or no interaction.
On the other hand, there are also settings who see YouTube as a tool to support educator-child interactions. The educators sing along with the children, pausing to talk. This is an entirely different process – it is active and interactive.
Pedagogy and using YouTube
We need to ask, then, if we are using YouTube as a resource that supports high quality interactions between educators and children?
For example, if children express an interest in giraffes, a carefully selected YouTube clip, used well, could help to deepen their curiosity. The educator will be fully present, responding to the children’s comments, asking questions and introducing new vocabulary. The focus is on a pedagogically led approach.
Regulating how we use YouTube
Despite the proliferating use of YouTube in early years practice, there are very few or no regulations about it. The LGfL (London Grid for Learning trust) advocates for sector wide guidance and training.
LGfL promote an educator-led approach to using digital media: when the educator uses tools such as YouTube to develop children’s learning. Allowing children to watch short reel videos without adult interaction does not benefit children developmentally and can negatively impact their attention span and mood.
To help settings, LGfL have developed a free document of guidelines to download - Policy Guide for Online Safeguarding & Digital Media Use in The Early Years.
Finally
The key take-away here is that educators need to fully engage with the children when using YouTube. This is analogous to using books for Interactive Reading: the book supports high quality interactions and language development.
This is quite different to using YouTube to ‘fill a gap’. We must avoid this at all costs.
Questions for reflection:
- What did you last use YouTube for in your setting? Was it an interactive time for the children?
- Can you think of a YouTube clip that would support one of your key children’s interactions?
Want to know more?
Adrienne Shannon: Let’s Talk about Screen time in Early Childhood. famly (2024)
PARENTSAFE: dedicated to supporting parents with online safety and more. LGfL