For a number of years, the early childhood field has received guidance that young children and television does not promote language and conversation development. In the recent Pediatrics Journal, we find another UCLA study demonstrating findings to this effect. UCLA’s Frederick Zimmerman led a study using small recording devices similar to those used in Hart & Risley’s study in the 90’s. He found out a lot about children’s conversation at home, school, and outside at play. Findings demonstrated that children hearing more words from adults had a larger increase in language skills. It was noted that during these adult/child conversations, a lot of turn-taking dialogue took place. Children engaged in television had lower language scores. Recommendations of the study are: limit television viewing for children because it means there are less conversations with the adults in their homes.

Therefore, as the amount of technology advances in the early childhood classroom, steps must be taken by developers to ensure that teachers are engaged in rich conversation around the technological tools.

NAEYC posted, “Meaningful Technology Integration in Early Learning Environments” Beyond the Journal September 2008. In the “Interactive Whiteboard” section we find an introduction to this technology in the early childhood classroom. Recommendations for using digital technologies end the article. One recommendation, 2. The choice of technology deserves extra attention. “The choice of technology should be based on how well the tool serves classroom learning and teaching needs. Technology does not drive purposeful learning; teachers’ intentional instructional planning does.” As I was rereading this article again, the last two statements had great significance to me.

Interactive whiteboards are becoming a part of early childhood classrooms. This technology has been prevalent in K-12 for a number of years. I felt it was germane to bring to your attention some considerations if you are considering a purchase.

1. What is the installation, training, and warranty package?
2. Do shadows show on the screen because of the location of the LCD projector?
3. How durable is the board in an early childhood classroom? (sticky hands, crayon marks etc.)
4. What tools are allowed to support children who lack fine motor development? Some boards require use of a pen only.
5. How do you maintain and clean the board? Does it require special products?
6. Does the board have a research based activity bundle?
7. If teachers do not have access to the internet, how does the board support classroom learning?
8. How long does it a take teacher to create one child’s activity with and without the internet?

As you learned last week from the Sesame Street Workshop’s “Game Changer” investing in digital play to advance children’s learning and health digital technology is here to stay. Let’s be mindful of NAEYC’s guidance. To read the entire NAEYC article, go to www.naeyc.org and go to Beyond the Journal.To locate the Sesame Street Workshop report go to www.joanganzcooneycenter.org.