In our pre-k classrooms, we have a great deal of technology that is used by both students and staff. There are approximately 10 to 12 students, half of which are special needs the other half are typical peers. Each classroom is equipped with a rear-projection Smart Board, several laptops, a digital camera, and an amplification system. Teachers have had significant training/professional development. The children are using technology on a daily basis and the teachers believe that they have noticed increased student engagement and learning. The feedback is very anecdotal and cannot be attributed or linked specifically to the integration of technology. As the building principal, I have definitely worked to create the capacity for this to occur and am very proud of what we have accomplished. The technology is rather expensive, somewhere in the $20,000 per classrooom range.
How can we measure the impact of this type of program and technology integration to support the rationale for this type of funding?
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4 comments:
Pete,
I am not sure the best way to measure this, but I can tell you that the addition of a Smart Board to my classroom has allowed children with significant fine motor delays to participate in activities that they would have had difficulty doing if they would have only had access to a desktop computer. For example, a girl in my class has CP. She has difficulty using a mouse, a track ball, and a touch pad, but she is able to use the Smart Board to navigate the Nickjr website as well as several activites that I created using the Smart Board Notepad. Another child in my class has global delays, and he is cognitively at about the two-year age level. He is unable to comprehend the horizontal-vertical transfer of using a keyboard/mouse and monitor, but he is able to easily use the Smart Board. Maybe the way to measure the effect of the new technology in the classroom is to take date to see how often the children (and which children) spend time in the computer area of the classroom before the addition of the Smart Boards, and how often the children (and which children) spend time in the computer area of the classroom after the addition of the Smart Boards. By spending time, I mean not only being the child using the mouse or touching the Smart Board, but also joining the child using the mouse or touching the Smart Board. Children in my class often collaborate and cooperate when using the computers, and I encourage two or more children to work together, so this should be considered when taking data.
20,000.00 is a great deal of money. Howvever, could you place a price on the potential of learning for pre-K students. We are living in the 21st Century, and technology is what even our young children are already exposed to. As educators, it should be our job to continue to expose our children to technology.
I have to agree that infusing technology at an early age is critical to the education and development of our kids. I love the Smart Board (http://smartboard.co.uk/), and had to look it up because I had not seen them (now I know we have one. I want one of my own. I found something else in my search Smart TEchnology (http://smarttech.com/) it appears that students can be interactive with this devise. How COOL is technology?
Children 3 and 4 years of age
are developmentally ready to explore computers, and most
early childhood educators see the computer center as a
valuable activity center for learning. Timing is crucial. Children need plenty of time to experiment and explore. Young
children need to learn how to click on various options to see what is going to happen next. Providing children with
minimal help teaches them they can operate the computer successfully. In addition, by observing what children are doing, the parent or teacher can ask probing questions or propose problems to enhance and expand children’s computer
experiences. My four year old son uses the computer regularly for educational games. It has enhanced his use of technology considerably.
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