early childhood | Margaret A. Powers

Tag Archives: early childhood

Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood

Posted on March 9, 2012 | 3 comments

Keywords from the new tech position statement

Even after watching the webcast, where @chipdono highlights the keywords of the new NAEYC and Fred Rogers Center Technology Position Statement: Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8, I still love staring at them.

I am excited by the prominence of children and childhood in a statement about technology. Even the title of the statement reminds readers that technology is but a tool in early childhood programs and therefore it should be used as a way to enhance learning and support children’s development. I think this idea is what often gets lost in the hype of shiny new tech tools and a world where everyone seems glued to a screen. @Matt_Gomez summarized it well during #ecetechchat on Wednesday, saying “Big take away for me, tech itself is rarely the learning goal. The goal is for tech to enhance the learning.”

I have read and heard so much fear from parents and educators about using tech with young children. Some are concerned that children are being exposed to too much, too soon, while others worry that this exposure will be detrimental to children’s health. Yet, the new position statement helps us to realize that if technology is used in developmentally appropriate ways and integrated into classrooms to further enhance existing learning goals, technology can actually help support children’s development and growth, instead of harming it.

Of course, as we discussed in #ecetechchat last night, a great deal of work, planning, and thought needs to go into technology use in early childhood classrooms for it to be done in appropriate ways. Interactivity and open-ended programs should be a core requirement when selecting technologies and planning tech activities. Additionally, teachers need to understand that “all screens are not created equal” and therefore there is a vast difference between children watching a DVD and engaging with a multi-touch table. And when working with children under two, technology should only be used to support responsive interactions between caregiver and child. Again, the focus is on the child, not the tool, and the goal is strong, positive relationships and social-emotional development (not tech skills!).

Of course the tweet I found most exciting during our #ecetechchat discussion about the position statement was a comment by @Matt_Gomez about technology and global learning, “the one thing I think tech provides that nothing else can is the opportunity to collaborate globally.” This is, of course, the focus of my own studies and current technology work, as I am in the process of designing a resource site for early educators with guidance and research about using technology to create global learning experiences in the classroom. My hope is that the new tech position statement can help clarify when and how technology can be an asset in the classroom, making it easier for teachers to understand how tech can be used to further the goals of global collaboration and learning.

Ultimately, the answer seems to be balance between taking advantage of the opportunities technology provides (@mentormadness summarized it well “Tech makes connecting, learning, sharing, discussing, reflecting, collaborating & creating globally an instant reality”) while ensuring that tech is used intentionally and with specific learning goals in mind.

Unfortunately, as @ECEtech highlighted “the most difficult part will be helping teachers and administrators focus on the end goal and not the tech.” We also discussed the real need for professional development on this topic and more opportunities for educators to explore and play with new technologies. Luckily, there are a lot of great new resources available for teachers, administrators, and others interested in using technology in early childhood to learn about the best ways to integrate tech into the classroom:

The TEC Center at Erikson launched this week and they are currently collecting videos and other resources to help teachers understand what best practice looks like when using technology. ECEtech.net also launched this week, providing a new, interactive community for early childhood educators who want to explore the practical side of technology use in preschool settings. Plus, a number of additional resources were published with the position statement that should provide more guidance to teachers and administrators.

3 Comments

Posted in Thoughts

Tagged #EarlyEd, #ecetechchat, developmentally appropriate, early childhood, Early childhood education, Early childhood educator, education, Educational technology, fred rogers, global collaboration, globaled, integrated, Interactive media, interactivity, naeyc, National Association for the Education of Young Children, Professional development, screen, tech tool, technology

Technology + Early Childhood Education = Dilemma?

Posted on January 25, 2012 | 2 comments

Image: 'Ferreñafe' by hostmaster. Some Rights Reserved

I have been thinking about the combination of technology and early childhood education (ECE) quite a bit the last few days. Of course, this is not particularly surprising given that I’m passionate about exploring ways to incorporate technology in ECE and the possibilities for sharing and global collaboration that technology can create. Still, my most recent thoughts have been somewhat troubling and I want to reflect more on the dilemma I have been encountering in trying to combine technology and ECE.

As I delve more into the fields of educational technology and ECE, both personally and professionally, I’m frequently reminded of the pro-technology bubble I sometimes live inside. On a daily basis, I am in communication with my PLN, a group of people on Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as face-to-face colleagues, who are already utilizing technology extensively. They are testing out new and exciting ways to use tech tools in their teaching practice and with their students and so I begin to forget how many others are not only not using technology but are completely skeptical or even opposed to it!

Living in a pro-tech-savy bubble has major benefits. It allows me to have 24/7 access to a community of people who push my thinking in regards to how technology can and should be used in the classroom and helps me to test out new technologies. I have the opportunity to ask questions, learn from these great tech users, and share my own tech knowledge. In the bubble, I feel like my goal of using technology to connect early childhood educators around the globe to share pedagogical practices and connect their students, is absolutely achievable and supported.

Then, there are days when I step outside the bubble and try to introduce my ideas about technology and ECE to others. On these occasions, I encounter confusion, skepticism, disregard, and/or disbelief about technology in ECE. I hear a different mantra than the idea, as NAEYC stated in their latest Technology Position Statement, than yes, technology can involve “the application of tools and materials to enhance children’s learning and development, interactions, communication, and collaboration.” Instead, the mantra is:

No, early childhood educators are not ready for these types of technologies and tools.
No, young children are not capable of using these tools.
No, technology is not developmentally appropriate for these young children.
No, technology is too difficult to for these teachers to handle.

Not only is there resistance to tech, as we discussed last week in #ecetechchat but there can be a complete rejection of technology, in large part it seems, due to a concern about teacher capacity to learn and use these technologies.

This is a mantra I find very disheartening. I believe that, when used appropriately and meaningfully, technology truly can enhance a young child’s educational experience, her or his growth and development. I believe that technology can expand a child’s world to encompass the entire globe and can provide an amazing resource for professional growth to early childhood educators. Yet, I am troubled by the fact that the value and meaning of these technologies may never be seen, if opportunities are not presented for early childhood educators to learn about them. How can early childhood educators begin to see, and classrooms grow to include, technology as a pedagogically valuable enhancement if the response is always “no” and there are no opportunities for teachers to learn more?

While this dilemma deeply concerns me, I take hope in the new initiatives that are beginning to sprout up to educate early childhood teachers about technology and ways it can be used with young children to enhance learning. For example, the new Erikson Technology in Early Childhood (TEC) Center, Technology Workshops by the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership, free technology webinars by Hatch and Early Childhood Investigations and continued updates to the NAEYC Technology Position Statement, demonstrate that technology is beginning to be infused in early childhood professional development. Hopefully, in time, technology education can become as accessible and supported in ECE and for early educators as it is in other areas of education.