I am a follower of the Eduflak blog written by Patrick Riccard.  Patrick mainly centers his blogs on K-12 education.  In a recent blog, “Whiteboarding 'Uneven' Learning,” he details the purchase of interactive whiteboards and other technology (iPods, eBooks etc.) for K-12 children.  Patrick writes, “For some, such technology is a godsend, an ability to bring 21st century tools into a 21st century learning environment.  For others, these investments are used as nothing more than glorified chalkboards, reducing the latest bells and whistles to a 21st century reincarnation of Little House on the Prairie learning.”  These remarks are directed to K-12 education, however, they are germane to early childhood as well.

My answer is to have the appropriate research based activities installed on the whiteboard or other technological tools to support instruction in these classrooms.  Busy teachers do not have a large amount of time to create these activities on their own.  Often when teachers use the internet, they may not find activities that are scaffolded and are appropriate to support cognitive skills.  Patrick continues in his blog, “..we can’t make teachers walk the path alone.  We need to support them.  And we need to make clear that technology is the tool, and not the teacher itself.”  At Hatch, we make this our goal everyday--supporting teachers with research-based technological activities that support school readiness.