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Dr. Jeffrey Trawick-Smith: Although introducing very
young children to computers
has become quite common,
sometimes we hesitate
for a wide variety of reasons.
Dr. Doug Clements from the University of Buffalo
and Dr. Sudha Swaminathan
from Eastern Connecticut State University
encourage us and give us the keys to success.
Dr. Doug Clements: What we found lately
in mathematics education and in technology education
is that computers can really help kids
bridge the worlds between their concrete experience
and abstract mathematical thinking at a very young age.
Child: (counting) 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10!
Dr. Clements: So we know that young kids,
two, three years old,
can abstract very interesting ideas,
and can symbolize them,
at least in spoken language,
and very soon in written language as well.
So where does the computer,
So where does technology fit in all of this?
Technology can put on the screen
multiple representations of these kinds of ideas,
and connecting those representations
can help kids bridge the world between concrete,
four blocks, and the abstract idea of four.
But we now know
that concrete is much more about meaningfulness
then it is about physicality.
So that when kids see four objects
and there is a picture of four dogs on the screen,
that's as meaningful to them as having four dogs.
And indeed, the four dogs
on the screen can be ordered,
and thought about, and manipulated
with much more control than four dogs
running around your floor can be.
So that can help kids make the kind of connections
between their concrete experience
and this new abstract experience.
Dr. Clements: So, where's the teacher?
The people that have feared,
oh if computers come in,
they'll replace teachers,
and everything will be mechanistic.
First of all, the computer needs to be
embedded in a rich educational environment,
of which the computer is only a small part.
The computer's role in the classroom
is to just be one more teaching aid.
The teacher is the one that controls that.
She's the one that has to pick
the educational experiences
for the kids on the computer.
To make sure they are receiving the hands-on thing,
and see the connections between
their hands-on work on physical objects
and their hands-on work
on these computer objects as well.
Furthermore, kids are more interested in computers,
more likely to learn from computers,
if a teacher is nearby and able to interact with them.
The teacher is wise to be nearby,
not on the kids' back all the time,
actually the research shows that
if you sit there too much,
kids don't learn as much.
But if you're available for that question
for when kids really do get stuck
so you can go over and talk to them about it
and engage them in the mathematics
that's being presented,
it increases kids' learning by quite a bit.
If you give teachers less than ten hours
of professional development  on technology total,
the scores of their children actually decreased;
probably because teachers tried to use the computer,
but didn't have quite enough information
to use it effectively.
Ten was the cut-off line.
And if you gave them more than ten hours
of professional development,
scores significantly increased.
When we think about it
from administrators to teachers
who would be asking for
more professional development
than they had  so far,
keep in mind, that kind of quick, one-shot thing
may not be the most effective thing.
We probably do have to commit
a little more if we're really going to take
computers seriously and do a good job.
Narrator: Eastern Connecticut State University's
early childhood faculty member Sudha Swaminathan
also researches and teaches early childhood
professionals
about successfully integrating technology
into early childhood settings.
Dr. Sudha Swaminathan: For teachers
who are new to this,
my first suggestion is to say,
"Don't forget the good teaching that you already do."
The principles of good teaching,
what really counts with young children,
being developmentally appropriate,
giving them open ended activities,
those still hold strong
when it comes to educational technology.
So if you have just one computer
and a couple of software
and you want to infuse that into your curriculum,
do go ahead and do that,
but remember that the computer
is not going to replace the teacher.
You still need to bring in the objectives
that you have for your children.
You still need to bring them
to use it in an open-ended, creative way.
You still need to be an integral part
of that whole experience.
And I always say start with  your comfort zone,
and then let's not forget your strength
and keep adding to that.
Teacher: And then, you can move your mouse
and have better control.
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