Integrating Technology Shows Communication Improvements
Research | Standards | Integration Activities | Assistive Technology | Training
Research | Standards | Integration Activities | Assistive Technology | Training |
Communication Improvements When using developmental software young children are showing significant gains in non-verbal skills (Haugland, 1998). They are also showing gains in verbal skills. An article discussing the integration of technologies in the United Kingdom found that children improved in linguistic, cognitive and social skill development. The study indicated this might be a result of the peer tutoring that occurred, which in turn was stimulated by technology use (Brooker, 2003). Another study titled, ‘Click on Miaow!’: How Children of Three and Four Years Experience the Nursery Computer showed the same findings (Brooker, 2002). This study was especially interesting because it dealt with children from a variety of different classes and ethnic backgrounds and children who were monolingual in a bilingual setting learning English as a second language. The focus of this study was with three and four year old children and their experiences with computers in the nursery. This study was also undertaken with the aim to “develop cross-national (European) understandings of developmentally appropriate uses of technology, in a manner which parallels the work of the National Association for the Education of Young Children in the USA.” (Brooker & Siraj-Blatchford, 2002, p. 251). They found that children collaborated and provided assistance to each other, experienced pro-social behaviors and demonstrated language development as they began to use vocabulary stimulated by the program. The computer provided the children with an activity they could share even though they did not share the same language Dr. Sonja Sheridan and Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson (2003) discussed similar results when they found that children sitting together in front of a computer would help each other, negotiate and support each other. Children tutored their peers as they cooperated and collaborated to plan together while working at the computer. In Head Start classrooms, where computers have been used for some time now, children with special needs are experiencing this opportunity to tutor or help their typically developing peers. These types of experiences can boost a child’s self esteem, especially when they may feel at a disadvantage in other situations. Finally, Rosalyn Shute and John Miksad’s (1997) showed evidence of increased language skills, specifically with word knowledge and verbal fluency when children experienced computer assisted instruction. References Brooker, L. (2003). Integrating new technologies in UK classrooms: Lessons for teachers from early years practitioners. Childhood Education: Infancy Through Early Adolescence, 79(5),261-267. Brooker, L., & Sirah-Blatchford, J. (2002). ‘Click on Miaow!’: How children of three and four years experience the nursery computer. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 3(2), 251-273. Retrieved October 29, 2005 from http://www.wwwords.co.uk/ciec/content/pdfs/3/issue3_2.asp#6 Haugland, S. (1998, July/August). Computers in the early childhood classroom. Early Childhood News. Retrieved November 1, 2005 from http://www.earlychildhood.com/articles/index.cfm?FuseAction=Article&A=239&PrintVersion=35 Sheridan, S., & Samuelsson, I. (2003). Learning through ICT in Swedish early childhood education from a pedagogical perspective of quality. Childhood Education: Infancy Through Early Adolescence, 79(5), 276-282. Shute, R., & Miksad, J. (1997). Computer assisted instruction and cognitive development in preschoolers. Child Study Journal, 27(3), 237-253. Retrieved October 23, 2005, from the Wilson Select Plus database. Additional Links Groves, M., Jarnigan, M., & Eller, K. (1997). “But how do we use it?”: Discovering hidden barriers and unanticipated successes in integrating computers in a preschool curriculum. In A. Robertson (Ed.), (1998), Proceedings of the Families, Technology, and Education Conference (pp. 57-62). Early Childhood and Parenting Collaborative. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved October 24, 2005 from http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/eecearchive/books/fte/appli/groves.html Hong, S., & Broderick, J. (2003). Instant video revisiting for reflection: Extending the learning of children and teachers. Early Childhood Research and Practice, 5(1), Retrieved October 21, 2005 from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v5n1/hong.html Lynch, S., & Warner, L. (2004). Computer use in preschools: Directors’ reports of the state of the practice. Early Childhood Research and Practice, 6(2), Retrieved November 2, 2005 from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v6n2/lynch.html |
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