Recent graduates of pre-service primary/early childhood education programmes completed a written questionnaire to ascertain their teaching locations and professional development needs. Analysis of the data raised important questions concerning the attraction and retention of graduate teachers to non-metropolitan schools, challenging some…

Practices endorsed by 192 teachers of young children with visual impairments who completed an online early literacy survey included facilitating early attachment (70%), providing early literacy support to families (74%), and providing adaptations to increase accessibility (55%). Few teachers reported using assistive technology, providing…

For more than 50 years, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) has been instrumental in developing an analytical model for understanding the relationships between educational policy (the intended curriculum), classroom and instructional practices (the implemented curriculum), and educational learning…

Background/Context: There is much rhetoric regarding "parents and teachers as partners" despite little evidence that such partnerships, as described in the early childhood education literature, actually develop. The literature on parent-teacher partnerships does not examine parents' and teachers' interactions or what those interactions mean to…

Accessing Curriculum through Technology Tools (ACTTT), a model development project, was developed and tested by staff of the Center for Best Practices in Early Childhood (the Center), a research and development unit within the College of Education and Human Services at Western Illinois University. The major goal of ACTTT was to develop,…

This paper describes an innovative pilot project at the University of Canberra aimed at providing pre-service early childhood teachers with the skills, confidence and ideological change required to include technology-enhanced learning as part of the early childhood curriculum. The impact of the project was evaluated through participant…

This investigation examined the effectiveness of teaching letter sounds in a small group arrangement using computer-assisted instruction with SMART Board technology and a 3s constant time delay procedure to three students with learning disabilities. A multiple probe design across letter sound sets and replicated across students evaluate the…

The author demonstrates how simple snapshots can open new entryways into literacy for all children and help educators view teaching and learning in new ways, building classroom-wide and school-wide community. The book offers projects that help children see real-world possibilities in literate behaviors by using photos as a stimulus for literacy…

The authors studied the acquisition of nine #sC clusters in 30 Croatian-speaking phonologically disordered children, aged between 3;8-7;0 years, by analysing their renditions of target words elicited in response to visual stimuli presented on a computer screen. Results did not support the idea that a greater jump in sonority from C1 to C2 would…

This article explores innovations in assessment of student teaching practice employed in the University of Cincinnati, USA, online associate's degree in early childhood education, the Early Childhood Learning Community. The program's components are identified with a specific focus on assessment of teaching practicum. The use of a range of…

The authors summarize the research on the effects of computer use by young children, concentrating especially on implications for social, emotional, and cognitive development. They cover effects on children's language and reading, creativity, and mathematics learning. They note the importance of teacher planning for appropriate computer use in the…

This paper reports on an early childhood technology project that has been conducted in Australia since 2000. The background to the project is that IBM extended their international KidSmart Early Learning program to the Asia-Pacific region. A partnership with the Australian National Schools Network was formed to implement the program in Australia.…

This paper describes a pilot project during which the author visited different early childhood classrooms and used a handheld video camera to record how children adjust to new programs. The objectives were (1) to describe how children adjust to new programs or classes, (2) to sensitize teachers to the issues involved in those adjustments, (3) to…

This paper reports aspects of a large-scale project conducted in rural and remote regions of Australia. The study was designed to assess teaching and learning practices in early childhood programs with a particular focus on literacy, numeracy and the use of information and communication technologies. Programs had been specifically designed for use…

The computer has now become a recognized tool in the education of young children and when used appropriately can reinforce their learning experiences. This paper reviews specific features (relating to pedagogic design, software content and user-interface design) of early childhood educational software and discusses issues in favor of its…