Enhancing Parent Engagement While Reading Online and at Home

This chapter reviews how to use online platforms for reading at home while also engaging parents. To better understand parent engagement during assigned reading homework, an exploratory study was conducted with the families of kindergarteners. Parents were asked about their involvement when working on assigned reading homework. The results of the survey indicated that many parents are willing to take time to support their child as they complete homework assignments and that they already read at home, whether it is assigned or not. These findings, along with recent literature, are useful for developing strategies to better engage families during online learning.

Digital Nature Explorations

This chapter provides guidance on integrating interactive technology with nature-based curriculum and outdoor learning in early childhood classrooms in ways that offer unique opportunities for children to explore and learn. Through what is referred to as “Digital Nature Explorations,” young children develop the foundations identified in the International Society for Technology in Education for Students standards and the Nature Education Guidelines as early learners utilize digital tools that open new possibilities in their understanding of the natural world.

Technology Integration in the Early Elementary Classroom

This chapter highlights technology integration, particularly its growing popularity in early elementary circles in the United States. Issues and solutions are explored regarding how early elementary (PK-3) teachers can integrate technology into the classroom setting. Topics focus on professional development (PD) in the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) and substitution augmentation modification redefinition (SAMR) frameworks. Proper technology integration discussions include content areas like mathematics, literacy, and social-emotional learning. Further research is needed to fully understand effective technology integration in early elementary settings, especially in public school systems in the U.S.

Early Childhood Teacher Professional Development on Technologies for Young Children

Early childhood (EC) teachers need ongoing professional development (PD) to use information and communications technology (ICT) intentionally with young children. This chapter bridges the existing literature on PD best practices with additional interview data from EC teachers and higher education faculty. Three frames of influence on EC teachers' uses of ICT are discussed: personal – beliefs and comfort with technology; institutional – mandated curriculum, affordances of equipment, and ongoing personalized support; and societal – pervasive reliance on technology and influence on young children's future careers. The chapter concludes with PD recommendations for ICT that is content- and pedagogy-focused, based on research and policy, provides options for PD types and timing with follow up supports, and includes EC teachers in shared decision making for appropriate ICT practices in their classrooms.

Using Technology to Teach Foundational Writing Skills in Early Elementary Grades

Many children leave elementary school without either skills or enthusiasm for writing, which may have negative impacts on their future academic achievement and lifelong learning. Due to the sudden impacts of COVID-19, virtual instruction, and inequities in resources, new challenges for writing instruction have emerged, which require educators to develop novel, technologically enhanced strategies for developing young writers' skills. In the present chapter, the authors provide (1) an in-depth review of the developmental trajectories of writing from birth through third-grade; (2) discuss how models of technology pedagogy, including TPACK and SAMR, may be integrated with emergent writing skills; and (3) provide strategies and resources related to technology to empower early childhood and early elementary teachers with effective writing instructional practices and digital tools. Early childhood educators may become empowered with suggestions and guidance for integrating technology with early literacy development.

Engaging All Learners Through Quality Early Childhood Teacher Education

This chapter guides early childhood teacher educators, teachers, and policy makers to use appropriate technological tools in early childhood classrooms. It begins with learning theories related to computational thinking with a discussion of Seymour Papert and presents Marina Bers' framework. The chapter includes a professional development model for teachers and teacher educators. Technological apps and computational thinking are offered for use with face-to-face, hybrid, and remote instruction in early childhood settings. Many of the digital tools described in the chapter have numerous suggestions and resources available for teachers, teacher educators, and students to create a platform to begin using digital tools and evaluate how to select and use digital media. Changes can be brought about by reimagining classrooms and reshaping pedagogy with continued professional development.

An Embedded Approach to Equipping Pre-Service Teachers to Leverage Technology in Practice

Technology holds an important role in the development and preparation of teachers, and this role has become ever more critical with the recent move to virtual and hybrid learning across the world. Teachers must be prepared to adopt and purposefully use technology, often with little training or instruction in the field. This chapter describes the integration and use of technology as an embedded tool to leverage in the preparation of pre-service teachers using three distinct strategies within a program in the northeastern United States. The authors will share their experiences in the execution of these strategies that target the development of flexible, intentional, and reflective teachers who can enter the workforce ready to use technology both for their own professional development and as a tool for student learning.

Digitizing Inquiry-Based Science in Early Elementary Grades

Education was disrupted this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar to societal shifts, teachers were nimble to quickly adapt to a distanced or remote context by recreating traditional curriculum as virtual content. By leveraging digital technology to transform learning experiences, early childhood educators may see beneficial results in how children and families embrace science inquiry in a virtual context. This chapter describes how digitized inquiry activities can be developed by early childhood teachers (PreK-3rd grade) in response to teaching and learning in a distance and remote learning context, with an in-depth description of a 3rd grade teachers' experience. The authors, in a scholarly conversational manner, discuss what was learned in the process of creating the virtual science instructional videos and provide ideas for others to engage in the creation of high-quality virtual learning experiences for young children.

Literacy Lessons Gone Digital

Using quantitative methods aligned with teacher research, the authors of this chapter examined the impact of teacher modeling and peer modeling on the self-efficacy of preservice teachers in their literacy course as they designed and implemented small group literacy lessons. Findings indicate that preservice teachers use of technology was strongly influenced by the technology tools that they saw modeled by their instructors. As preservice teachers participated in the course and in each other's lessons, they became more comfortable with the use of digital tools, Zoom features, methods for online participation, online assessment methods, and literacy instruction resources. Focus group participants reported that their ease with using technology to facilitate the demonstration lessons increased throughout the semester as they participated in peers' demonstration lessons.

Enhancing the Landscape of Early Learning Training Environments

This chapter will detail the necessity of professional learning for instructors in early learning environments. Training methods will be addressed with emphasis placed on the utilization of technology as a tool for training and the education of young children. An often-overlooked ingredient, the audience found within training environments, will also be discussed. The degree of educational experience and generational impacts will be considered as a key piece of successful collaboration. Finally, preservice teacher education will be addressed pertaining to the impact on future classroom success.