Both critics and proponents agree on the importance of the early years in a child's physical, social-emotional, language, and cognitive development. Much of the controversy revolves around the specific needs of young children, and whether technology can support those needs, or will take away from essential developmental experiences.

Knowledge of children's development and studies of children and technology use can guide understanding and inform decisions. Recent research on brain development has focused attention on the capabilities of young children, the stages and styles of learning, social-emotional development, and successful educational practice. A National Research Council study (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999) reports, "Children lack knowledge and experience, but not reasoning ability" (p. xiv). Appropriate stimuli, such as close interaction with caring adults and engaging hands-on activities, enhance the brain's development (Healy, 1998). The National Research Council study states that "early learning is assisted by the supportive context of the family and the social environment, through the kinds of activities in which adults engage with children" (p. xii). It also suggests that "a number of the features of the new technologies are consistent with the principles of a new science of learning." (p. xviii).

Two key conclusions are:

• New interactive technologies make it is easier to create environments in which students can learn by doing
  
• Technologies can help people visualize difficult-to-understand concepts

These are the types of uses that early childhood experts recommend as being developmentally appropriate, allowing children to create and explore. Children can now compose and record music using synthesizers, write programs that draw mathematical shapes on the screen, and use on-screen manipulatives to deepen mathematical understanding. Talking word processing software provides immediate spoken feedback on letter names and letter combinations to novice reader/writers as they experiment with written language. These are examples of the promise of these new tools and resources.