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Not everyone has jumped on the tech bandwagon

What about those who do not use interactive technologies with children?

81 teachers responded to our *survey saying that they do not use interactive technologies. The main reason? 61% reported: “Our program has an insufficient budget to purchase these technologies.” 26% of teachers voiced similar funding concerns, choosing “It is impractical for me to use my own income to purchase or support these technologies myself” as the main reason they do not use interactive technologies.

Financing was also a major concern for the 57 administrators who reported not using interactive technologies in their programs. More than half (56%) chose “Our program has an insufficient budget to purchase these technologies”.

Clearly, the “digital divide” is still an issue.  We hope to learn more about this as we continue our survey series.

 

Though not in the majority, some teachers raised concerns about technology use:

• 17% – “Our program philosophy prohibits use of technology with children”
• 16% – “I do not see any value added by technology”
• 4% – “The parents don’t want us to use technology”

A similar percentage of Administrators also reported these concerns:

• 20% – “Our program philosophy prohibits use of technology with children”
• 12% – “I do not see any value added by technology”
• 6% – “The parents don’t want us to use technology”

Are you an early childhood educator who does not use technology in your classroom?  Have you encountered the “digital divide”?

 

Share your experience! Complete the second questionnaire in our series, and sign up to receive more of these tantalizing Technology Tidbits by email! The survey is brief and signing up for Technology Tidbits from the Early Childhood Today Survey Series is optional!

You can read more about the data collected in this survey here.

Is that Angry Birds?

How are teachers really using technology with children?

After reading the first technology tidbits from our *survey you know what types of tech teachers and children are using and you know how often, but what about what they’re doing with that tech?

We asked teachers to consider a typical week in their class and describe how a child uses technology:

• 35% indicated a balance of ½ teacher-directed and ½ child-initiated learning activities.
• 28% reported mostly child-initiated, with some time for teacher-directed learning activities
• 23% said mostly teacher-directed activities with some time for child-initiated learning activities
• Less than 10% said they used technology only for teacher-controlled activities, and less than 10% said they use it only for child-initiated activities.

But you haven’t heard the worrisome part yet. Of the 230+ teachers who have interactive technology in their classrooms, less than half of them usually include that tech in their lesson plans!

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“The children enjoy it.” Real reasons why are teachers using technology with children …

We wanted to find out why teachers and administrators choose to use technology in their programs, so we asked.

A majority of teachers (80%) and administrators (69%) chose the reason “The children enjoy it.” After that, about half (54% teachers; 48% of administrators) reported, “Technology helps children meet the goals of the program” as their main reason for using technology.

When asked about specific purposes for using technology in early education, teachers revealed that technology helps them address particular needs in their program related to diversity and assessment.

• More than ¾ of teachers and administrators told us that technology is being used in their programs for progress monitoring.

• 60% of teachers report they are using technology to support dual language learners, and 54% of directors agree.

• 65% are using technology with children who have special needs and 69% of directors believe that technology is being used for children with special needs in their program.

What are your reasons for using technology? Are we missing how and why you use technology?

 

Tell us more! Complete the second questionnaire in our series, and sign up to receive more of these tantalizing Technology Tidbits by email! The survey is brief and signing up for Technology Tidbits from the Early Childhood Today Survey Series is optional!

* You can read more about the data collected in this survey here.

Tick Tock Tech

How Much Time Do Young Children Spend Using Technology in School?

Technology use in preschool classrooms is hotly debated.  But, how much time are children really spending with different kinds of technology in early childhood classrooms? 

* You can read more about the data collected in this survey here.

iPad may be the media darling, but the survey shows…

For information processing in technology-enabled classrooms early childhood educators current use…

 …desktops/laptops at a rate almost 3 times higher than tablets! 93% of teachers who use technology in their classrooms reported using desktops or laptops, but more than half of the teachers and administrators that don’t have tablet devices in their classrooms report they think they would be good tools to use with the children. Only 34% of the teachers who reported using technology in their classrooms indicated that they used tablets or iPads.

So, what else are early childhood teachers using? The preliminary results from our first survey show that Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) were surprisingly prevalent, with 55% of technology-enabled teachers reporting that they used IWBs.  Only 16% report  using  handheld devices like ebook readers, or smartphones, and 5% report using multi-touch tables/surfaces .

Do you use technology in your classroom?

Why or why not? Tell us more! We want to hear from you whether you use technology in your classroom or not. Complete the second questionnaire in our series, and sign up to receive more of these tantalizing Technology Tidbits by email! The survey is brief and signing up for Technology Tidbits from the Early Childhood Today Survey Series is optional!

This is just a *sample of the results from the first survey in the Early Childhood Technology Today Series. Complete results will be published in various journals and conference presentations over the coming months. Stay tuned for more results by signing up for email updates.

You can read more about the data sample from this survey here.