¶ … integration of computer technology (and especially reading software) into classrooms vis-a-vis improvement of reading development in early childhood education. For the purpose of this study, reading development includes a range of skills, including letter recognition, sound identification and basic comprehension and retrieval. The age ranged focused on in this study is birth through age eight, and is focused on a range of educational setting.
The primary source of information on this topic came from a survey of the literature, but this secondary information was supplemented by observation and surveying of two teachers with different approaches to teaching reading. The results of this observational study that I performed are somewhat inconclusive, due in large measure to the significant limitation placed on the story by the size of the group being studied.
However, while certainly more could have been learned if the sample had been larger than two (the sample had originally included a third teacher, who had to withdraw because of time constraints) there was a great deal of insight to be acquired from the results of this limited study. Because only two teachers were studied, a very high degree of detail could be obtained in each set of observations.
Overall, these sets of observations supported studies in the literature to suggest that a well-trained teacher is in fact more likely to implement technology into their curriculum, with the consequences that the children who are taught by these teachers are better prepared to begin reading and to make substantial strides in reading as they progress.
Results
Technology has the potential to support children in all stages of development. In order for a technology-enriched program to be successful, it must rely on the teacher's creativity and appropriate use of technology in her or his curriculum. A teacher who incorporates technology in appropriate and creative ways into the
Computer knowledge has become an important part of learning for today's children, who are, after all, destined to spend their lives as members of the 21st-century, computer-dependent workforce. Computer skills are not only desirable but also essential in a wide range of jobs today, and the teacher who instills basic computer skills along with other academic skills (such as literacy) is providing students with two legs up (Liu 1996). As the Internet becomes an even stronger presence in all facets of our lives and as technology in general converges with instruction in the classroom, educators must explore the possibilities it has to offer (Karchmer 2001).
This does not, however, mean that teachers should simply throw computer-based learning tools at their students. While teachers should most certainly not be afraid of technology, nor should they be over-eager to embrace it without a complete understanding of the ways in which technology can be integrated into the
curriculum and the ways in which different kinds of computer technologies can help children at different developmental levels.
The teachers who are best able to help their children use and adapt to new technologies - as was seen in this observational study and as is documented in the literature - are those who are most confident about their own abilities. These are in general those who are the best trained.
Teachers who feel that they will be successful at any given task are more likely to do so because they adopt challenging goals, try harder to achieve them, persist despite setbacks (Bandura, 1997 p. 2). Students who will be entering the
workforce of the
21st century need to be educated by well trained and technology astute teachers. Teachers must be willing to change to meet these…
