ECE and Tech Integration

Editor's Notes

• #25: Bayhan et al 2002 and Ertmer 2005 support Downes et al’s (2001) claims that despite significant technology being accessible to teachers, there has been little uptake of these tools in education. Ertmer suggests that this is, in part, due to teachers’ lack of pedagogical knowledge on how to use the tools effectively within the context of the learning environment. Bayhan et al (2002) reported their participants felt that computers restricted the social development of children. Judge et al (2002) reported a similar position, arguing that there has been a rapid growth in the area of technology and teachers need to be supported in its uptake so as to ensure quality learning experiences for young students. There is a considerable amount of work to be done in the professional development of educators to support them I using technologies effectively in the classroom. Having access to technologies dos not necessarily transfer into quality programs. As Ertmer (2005) claims, teachers need to know how to use the tools effectively.
• #30: Toy makers and retailers are filling shelves with new tech devices for children ages 3 and up, and sometimes even down. They say they are catering to junior consumers who want to emulate their parents and are not satisfied with fake gadgets.The increased prevalence of commercially available electronic media products targeting children ages 0 – 6 years and the dearth of scientific research regarding media usage and children’s development are of deep concern to educators, parents, health providers, policy makes and advocates (Garrison & Christakis, 2005; Rideout & et al., 2003). The majority of research about technology occurred when technology was emerging around the late 1990s and the early 2000s (Gaither & Redfield, 2006). Consequently, the impact of technology on young children remains unclear
• #31: Mobile devices are part of the fabric of children’s lives today: They are here to stay, a finding of the Pew Internet & American Life Project that children under age 12 form one of the fastest-growing segments of users of mobile devices (http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2009/01/09/04mobile.h02.html)For many young people, the mobile phone is a status symbol and an extension of identity. For aspirational young kids and tweens, this is no different. For them, getting a phone is a rite of passage, and the age at which this happens is getting younger and younger. According to Nielsen Mobile, the average age a kid starts using a borrowed cell phone is 8.6, and they typically get their own at 10.1. But the market is even for younger children…. Fisher-Price offers the Pixter, a PDA-style portable activity center for kids. It has a color touchscreen and stylus with which children can draw, color and play with, not entirely unlike Adobe Illustrator. Separate software adds more features like math lessons, and an extra snap-on digital camera makes the "phone" just like Mom and Dad’s. While the Pixter is a fun tool, it still seems more like other handheld gaming devices for children than an actual mobile.If realism is what you're going for, Bandai has you covered there with the "Mobile Communicator Smart Berry" for kids. This Japanese “toy” lets users actually email, text and play online games with each other as long as they’re within 10 meters of one another. It works on a wireless network and comes with a keyboard and an LCD touchscreen. Following this TotBerry trend, LeapFrog recently introduced the Text & Learn, affectionately known as the ‘baby BlackBerry.’ It even looks like a giant, colorful version of the real thing. Made for kids ages three and up, the Text & Learn features a full QWERY keyboard and pretend browser, and encourages little users to “text” with the virtual guide Scout.Presentation given October 30, 2009 Pockets of Potential: Using Mobile Devices to Promote Children’s Learning. Joan Ganz Center at Sesame Street http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/pdf/mLearnpdf.pdf
• #33: Marketing firms and advertisers are looking to a younger demographic, increasingly targeting tweens and even younger children. And these kids have huge control over the flow of parents' spending, statistics show — 8- to 12-year-olds spend $30 billion of their own money each year and influence another $150 billion of their parents' spending.And as kids begin using cell phones at younger and younger ages, marketers are getting savvier about getting kids to approve the spending of their parents' money. From "free" downloads that aren't to ringtones and picture-sharing services that show up on parents' cell-phone bills only months later, when cellphones are in kids' hands, they can be a field day for marketers.What's advergaming?Kids' exposure to so much advertising has been shown to harm more than just parents' pocketbooks. In fact, a task force from the American Psychological Association has recommended that advertising targeting children under the age of 8 be restricted.That's because kids younger than 8 have been shown to be largely unable to distinguish between advertising and other content — especially concerning product placement. For the past few years, advertisements have been prevalent in the online games kids like to pay online. These have been dubbed "advergames," and can subject kids to hours of exposure to everything from McDonalds to movie characters, from Skittles to SpongeBob.Jupiter Research reported that 67 percent of teens and 37 percent of children between the ages of five and 12 purchased or researched products on the Internet. American youth aged five and older were expected to spend roughly $1.3 billion online for consumer goods by 2003. According to Forrester Research, children's online spending constitutes a market worth $37 billion. As a result, it was a market that businesses increasingly coveted.The Internet has accelerated "age compression," and American children have more sophisticated consumer tastes than those of past generations. Trends are communicated almost instantaneously across the Net. Half of American children grow up in dual-income families, and another fourth in single-parent households. Thus, they experience more independence than ever before. This independence often encompasses autonomy when it comes to shopping.Since advertisers believe brand preferences are set by age 12, merchandisers are anxiously probing this market and devising new methods to tap its potential. Read more: Children and the Internet - Marketing To Children Onlinehttp://ecommerce.hostip.info/pages/204/Children-Internet-MARKETING-CHILDREN-ONLINE.html#ixzz0iN2r1ZJm
• #35: Schuler, C. (2009). Pockets of Potential: Using Mobile Technologies to Promote Children’s Learning. New York: The Joan Ganz Publishing Center. http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/pdf/pockets_of_potential.pdfNew habits for learning and social development start in the pre-school and elementary grades. Kaiser Family Foundation found that children around 8 and younger spend as much time on the “screen” as in school. Just as Sesame Street transformed the television, the mobile technologies are here to stay and we have to harness them for educational purposes.Children under 12 are now the fastest growing population of handheld devices around the world.Positives: POSITIVES of Mobile Learning: 1. Anywhere, anytime learning. Students can gather, access, and process information outside of the classroom Real0world context and bridges school, afterschool and home . 2. read underserved children…low cost accessibility..gets to populations at the edges. 3. Improve 21stcentru social interactions..collaboration and communication. 4. fit with learning environments 5. Enable a personalized learning experience..diversity differenetiated. CHALLENGES: potential for distraction or unethical behavior; physical health concerns and privacy issues. 2. cultural norms and attitudes : Most teachers see mobile devices as distractions. 3. NO MOBILE THEORY OF LEARNING. 4. Differentiated access and technology. 5. Limiting physical attributes (restricted text entry, small screen size and limited battery life.