Donohue, C. (2003). Technology in Early Childhood Education. Child Care Information Exchange, 17-20. Retrieved February 10, 2017, from https://www.childcareexchange.com/library/5015417.pdf.
Summary of Technology Integration Approach
Donohue starts by highlighting the many ways that technology is commonly used in every day life. He then continues to say, ¨ The question is not if we should use technology, but how and why we use technology to improve program quality, increase responsiveness to parents, and expand opportunities for professional development.¨ (Donohue, 2003) He also explores the low tech and high tech ways that technology can be used in childhood education from management to teaching. His results compare different early childhood programs. He surveys to find the most common technology tools that are used in early childhood education programs.
Description of Data Findings
Donohue finds that technology is used in administrative tasks, such as financial management and accounting. In the classroom, 63% of participants used educational programs and 42% used games and entertainment software. The study also found that employees who had been there for 10-20 years used technology the most. This result is surprising because most digital natives would have been there for less than 10 years, but other participants had a higher average of technology use. Also, across childhood programs ranging from church and family child care to public school operated, technology use tended to be about the same. The type of childcare that used technology the most was multi-center for profit, which had embraced technology to attract clientele. The results also found that larger centers were more likely to use all types of technology.
Reflection on How I Might Implement
The article brings up an interesting point. It mentioned that in order for teachers to use technology effectively, they must have enough time to explore the technology and have enough experience to carefully select the technological tools they wish the students to use. I will use this to continue to educate myself on programs and applications that are available in order to make a good professional selection of which tool to make available for my students. I will also allow myself enough exploration time to understand the application well to be able to assist my students.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
First Article
EPSTEIN, A. S. (2014 ). Using Technology Appropriately in the Preschool Classroom. HighScope Extensions, 28(1), 1-19. Retrieved February 10, 2017, from http://www.highscope.org/file/NewsandInformation/Extensions/ExtVol28No1_highres.pdf
Summary of Technology Integration Approach
In this article, Epstein examines using technology appropriately in the preschool and early elementary setting. She looks at the current research on technology and outlines the pros and cons it may have on early development. She also provides strategies for using technology appropriately and to the children's benefit.
Description of Findings
First, the research expanded on how technology may impact a child's development if he or she is between the ages 0-2. It may cause social delays, aggression, trouble sleeping, lessen creativity, impede speech, among other harmful effects. Surprisingly, the article also stated, ¨Children spend an average of seven hours a day using screen media (foreground or background media) and ninety percent of children under two watch some form of electronic media.¨ (Epstein, 2014)
If a child is older than 2, technology may have some benefits. It can give them tools for manipulating different objects (ie. shapes in math) and can give them opportunities to problem solve. When structured appropriately, it can also provide opportunities for social interaction and practice. Additionally, it can increase the speed at which a student can process information.
The article suggests that early learners should still use a mix of small and whole group learning with manipulatives because this is still the most effective way to learn for young learners. Technology can be used as a tool to build on traditional materials, however. Technology can be beneficial and is necessary to develop 21st century literacy, which depends on technological skills as well as traditional reading and writing. Technology can be incorporated daily if the programs used are open ended and interactive and do not, for instance, rely only on the user to click a mouse for drill and repetition. Also, adults need to model appropriate use of technology, assist in problem solving, and carefully select materials to compliment learning occurring in the classroom.
Reflection on How I Might Implement
I am glad that I chose this article because I wanted to know how using technology on a daily basis was impacting my kindergartners. Delightfully, the research supports using technology as long as the applications are open ended and interactive. My kids do use open ended and interactive applications, Sight Words Ninja and Sight Words Candy Land for example. On these apps, they have to use their finger's touch to swipe the words and are able to steer the game in any direction they choose. They also have the opportunity to produce the word by typing it into the screen. Another app that we use, Raz Kids, is supported by the research found in this article because of its interactive literacy structure. As the teacher, I will continue to choose tools that will add to our curriculum.
Another way that I'll use the information found in this article is to relax a little bit. I allow my kids to work on technology independently, especially during writing time. I was worried that they are not structured during this time even though they are still using the apps- all of which are educational. Epstein suggests that allowing them choice is in their benefit because it allows them to take ownership of their learning.
Summary of Technology Integration Approach
In this article, Epstein examines using technology appropriately in the preschool and early elementary setting. She looks at the current research on technology and outlines the pros and cons it may have on early development. She also provides strategies for using technology appropriately and to the children's benefit.
Description of Findings
First, the research expanded on how technology may impact a child's development if he or she is between the ages 0-2. It may cause social delays, aggression, trouble sleeping, lessen creativity, impede speech, among other harmful effects. Surprisingly, the article also stated, ¨Children spend an average of seven hours a day using screen media (foreground or background media) and ninety percent of children under two watch some form of electronic media.¨ (Epstein, 2014)
If a child is older than 2, technology may have some benefits. It can give them tools for manipulating different objects (ie. shapes in math) and can give them opportunities to problem solve. When structured appropriately, it can also provide opportunities for social interaction and practice. Additionally, it can increase the speed at which a student can process information.
The article suggests that early learners should still use a mix of small and whole group learning with manipulatives because this is still the most effective way to learn for young learners. Technology can be used as a tool to build on traditional materials, however. Technology can be beneficial and is necessary to develop 21st century literacy, which depends on technological skills as well as traditional reading and writing. Technology can be incorporated daily if the programs used are open ended and interactive and do not, for instance, rely only on the user to click a mouse for drill and repetition. Also, adults need to model appropriate use of technology, assist in problem solving, and carefully select materials to compliment learning occurring in the classroom.
Reflection on How I Might Implement
I am glad that I chose this article because I wanted to know how using technology on a daily basis was impacting my kindergartners. Delightfully, the research supports using technology as long as the applications are open ended and interactive. My kids do use open ended and interactive applications, Sight Words Ninja and Sight Words Candy Land for example. On these apps, they have to use their finger's touch to swipe the words and are able to steer the game in any direction they choose. They also have the opportunity to produce the word by typing it into the screen. Another app that we use, Raz Kids, is supported by the research found in this article because of its interactive literacy structure. As the teacher, I will continue to choose tools that will add to our curriculum.
Another way that I'll use the information found in this article is to relax a little bit. I allow my kids to work on technology independently, especially during writing time. I was worried that they are not structured during this time even though they are still using the apps- all of which are educational. Epstein suggests that allowing them choice is in their benefit because it allows them to take ownership of their learning.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)