The Apple iPad has been a game changer for many of our family run group of preschools. For years we were looking for something like the iPad. Preschools children just did not have the fine motor skills to manipulate a keyboard or a mouse. Often the mice got ripped and the computers crashed because kids pressed the on/off button. Then came the iPad which in one stroke changed the equation.

However making sense of the thousands of application for preschools presented an enormous challenge. Some applications were good, others mediocre and many others were awful. Some developers have no understanding of Early Childhood Development although they maybe very good programmers. Application that require children to shake the iPad or tilt it has the potential for expensive damage to the iPad.

We love applications that have email functionality so teachers can e-mail reports to parents or parents can e-mail it to relatives. Graphics are an important area too. Infants and Toddlers cannot really distinguish between complex colors, so gray scale pictures that are large and simple are best for them.

This is just the beginning. If you are a preschool or parent, invest in an iPad even if you want to resist what feels like a fad at times. Many teachers or adults are laughable scared of new technology. Some say Ipad's will emit all kids of radio waves or electro magnetic radiation that will harm young children. It's always a possibility, but we have not found any compelling evidence of that. You could also move to a small pacific island and live a real simple life.

Don't be scared. Embrace it. It means your child can learn faster and better, leaving more time for play and other activities. Choose app's wisely and get ahead. Be pragmatic.

However as with all teaching it is important that children are taught how to use the iPad and the application. You just can't give the iPad to a child and expect them to learn by themselves. Children will often jump from app to app when it gets too difficult. Which is why adult supervision is needed to push the child to task completion. And teachers play a crucial role in teaching children how to learn. They need to demonstrate the app and make them understand what the objective is. Which is why we love app's with rewards and progress reports. That is the only way to measure if the child is doing the work and making progress.

Asela Dahana