Introduction and Problem Statement

In the past young children have spent time manipulating toys and coloring with crayons.

However, children are spending more time on devices than ever before; they have increased their

media consumption to an average of seven hours and thirty-eight minutes of media daily. (Gaul

and Issartel, 2015) As screen time is increasing educators, doctors, and parents are interested in

knowing more about how technology is affecting children. At this time the impact of technology

on young learners is being examined in many forms: cognitively, emotionally, and physically.

Early research is presenting some positive outcomes on the physical development possibilities of

technology. For this study the main focus will be ascertaining whether or not the long standing

definition of fine motor skills should be re-evaluated to include, F.M. Razali’s multi touch hand

gestures that children bring due to the technology revolution.

Research Questions and Hypothesis

Research over time has shown that a child’s body and brain develop and change rapidly

during their first ten years of life. Infants are born with reflex movements and will develop gross

motor milestones within the first year of life. Preschool age children continue to refine gross

motor also known as large muscle skills, as well as begin the development of small muscle or

fine motor skills. (Bukato and Daehler, 2011) Due to the rapid development of the child’s

knowledge base ​the American Academy of Pediatrics states that young children should not be

allowed to have screen time before the age of two as there are too many adverse consequences.

Educators, researchers, school boards, interested stakeholders, and some parents question

the long-term consequences and/or benefits of technology in the classroom. ​ ​As screen time is
increasing doctors and researchers are seeing how children with “​too much technology are

showing up to school unable to hold pencils or cut paper with scissors” (Holland, 2018).

Therefore elementary schools across the country are sounding the alarm that students are

lacking or are deficient in motor skills when they come to school and the need for occupational

services in this area has grown exponentially. As teachers voice concerns that children do not

possess previously accepted basic fine motor skills such as paper cutting and pencil grip students

are being referred in greater numbers for remediation through occupational therapy. For

example, Denver Elementary School reports a doubling of students who are missing curriculum

due to an increased need of occupational therapy services due to deficiencies in fine motor skills.

Concomitantly, schools are building new classes into the school year to develop/refine students’

motor skills beyond the early grades as more and more children are not meeting these

benchmarks.

Some researchers are taking a different tact and are conducting studies that show that the

traditional benchmark for fine motor skills is outmoded and should be replaced. ​This ​study will

focus on examining whether or not the evaluation mechanism for fine motor skills should be

changed to encompass the development of a new set of fine motors skills developed from

excessive screen time. F. M. Razali postulates that fine motor skills in children are not lacking

but are changing and evolving through the use of technology. He states that the interaction

between free rotate, pinch and spread have supplanted the more traditional scissor cutting,

coloring, and pencil grip.

Literature Review

The research on the correlation between motor skills and video games is extensive.

Researchers have found that gross motor skill development has grown exponentially with the

advent of active video games. Moreover, analysis of the data shows that while children are

perceived to have deficiencies in their motor skills the opposite is true. Children who enjoy a

great deal of screen time have an accelerated, multi-touch gesture. Razali (2018) presented the

idea of a fine motor skill set that children develop through the use of technology. This type of

interaction involves the use of multiple pointers/fingers in touching and gesturing objects on the

screen. Thus, active video games are bringing a demonstrable benefit to the development of

children. Page, Barrington, Edwards, and Barnett (2017) spent time investing studies completed

looking at how active video games (AVG) influence motor skill development in students with

disabilities. Their study focused on how active gaming can improve and build gross motor skills

in students with Cerebral Palsy, Autism, and Developmental Coordination Disorder. The study

produced results showing positive correlation in AVG programs from Nintendo Wii and the

development of gross motor skills. Research has also shown that there is a motor-cognition

connection between this skill set and critical thinking skills. Jenkins (2012) introduced the

concept that early developed motor skills and later developing decision making skills are linked

and reflect upon another later in life. While other research points to the idea that fine motor

skills are presented but “children are developing a new set of fine motor skills” (Gaul and

Issartel, 2016). Researchers are discovering that the traditional tests for fine motor skills are

outdated and are no longer applicable as children are responding to a new and different external
environment. They propose that more research is necessary to redefine technology based motor

skills.
References

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