Technology Resources and Software Recommended for Young Children and Teachers and Evaluating Web Sites

Technology is being designed for children of all ages, even as young as nine months (Morrison, 2007). The software market is growing rapidly for children from infant to preschool age, with programs for children under five representing the fastest-growing educational softwarea area (Morrison 2007). The Internet provides access to a great collection of resources available for young children and teachers. The following pages may be of interest to educators of young children. There are web sites included for software and articles of interest related to issues concerning technology and young children selected by all authors of our book.

Building Epistemic Awareness in the Early Childhood Classroom

It is evident from the information in the previous chapters in this book that there is much to be learned about how technology fits into the world of early childhood education (ECE). This chapter discusses some exciting new thinking about epistemology and how children and teachers learn and how this could relate to technology and all learning with young children and their teachers. The new understanding of preschool education potential demands new approaches to these vital years of schooling if we are to prepare our children to succeed in the increasingly demanding academic environments.

Promoting Family Involvement through Using Technology

In this chapter the authors have provided an overview of some of the ideas about families and technology use in early childhood programs. The four authors are university faculty and provide their thinking and some experiences with family involvement and teacher training. The chapter is framed with the idea that families are the first teachers of children and play a major role in learning. There is a special introductory section written by Denise Winsor, who piloted the Family Builders and Family Preservation grants in the 1980’s. Winsor provides insight into the role of family in early childhood education. The next section explores technology that is used to facilitate family involvement and building family involvement through technology. The authors briefly discuss some of the issues, problems and solutions to technology within family relationships and the role you might play as a professional. They try to address the advantages and disadvantages of family/school communication approaches to developing technology relationships with caregivers. They have included some real world examples from practitioners and how they help our students conceptualize technology use with families. The last section includes helpful advice for families concerning appropriate use of technology with their child. The authors hope this chapter helps you think about the role of families in your classroom and how technology can work for the development of stronger relationships as well as academic support.

Tech-Knowledge in Japanese Early Childhood Education

This chapter describes how Japanese early childhood education promotes children’s socialization through the use of technology and play in group-oriented environments. The chapter also presents the traditional Japanese view of the child and of early childhood education, Japanese strategies in developing children’s socialization skills, changes in the use of technology in the field of early childhood education, and recommendations for educators.

Using Assistive Technology

This chapter explores how technology is used with young children with special needs in the United States. It also discusses the legal issues and mandates and the reality of how teachers and schools are dealing with children with special needs in early childhood settings. Information resources and how assistive technology fits into developmentally appropriate practice is included in this discussion.

Technology and its Role in Teacher Education

This chapter discusses technology and its role in teacher education. In order for technology to reach the early childhood classroom, it must first reach the classroom of the teacher education programs. The effect of self-efficacy on preschool teachers use and understanding of technology may influence their instructional applications. Early childhood faculty come from the same career pool as early childhood teachers and may share the same beliefs that practitioners have concerning technology. Teacher education programs have a responsibility to produce professionals who are literate in technology tools and applications.

Reflections Concerning Technology

The philosophy of technology underlies how people view and use technology. The historic relationship of humans to technology is important to explore when developing a context for current technology applications. Within such a context, this chapter outlines the core components, philosophy and debate contributing to sessions run with early childhood education student teachers and early childhood educators.

Computer Technology in Taiwan Kindergartens

Taiwan has become a global high-tech center. The success of becoming the leading country of high-tech and information technology is accredited to the efforts of the government and of all citizens. In addition, Chinese highly value in academic success, and this has contributed to the success of Taiwan. Parents believe the success of life is rooted in a good education, especially in the early years. This chapter presents an overview of early childhood education in Taiwan and explores how Chinese culture had influenced the value of parents’ expectation in education, as well as how children learn through the use of technology. The last part of the chapter discusses the discrepancy between current early childhood education situations and teachers’ professional development.

Technology Integration in Early Childhood and Primary Classrooms

Calls for increased use of technology in early childhood and primary classrooms have not gone unanswered. However, recent research findings report little technology integration with computers continuing to be unavailable. This descriptive study looked to explore to what extent and in what ways technology is integrated into early childhood and primary classrooms. Findings corroborate previous dated research that trivial technology is being used. Technology use, computer access and styles of pedagogy remain critical in the debate to whether teachers will integrate computers for teaching and learning.