When the right software is paired with a computer and enthusiastic children, the computer can sing or draw; tell stories or write stories; play individual games or operate a robot; and take its place beside books, blocks, toys, paint, and crayons in the lives of young children.
- Patricia Hutinger & Joyce Johanson

Purpose of this Workshop

This workshop provides the framework for the appropriate use of technology with young children and provides participants with a continuum of levels of software interactivity that meets the needs of individual children. Guidelines for software evaluation to help families and teachers make informed software purchases are also presented.

Topics in this Workshop

Software Design

Software Evaluation

Levels of Interactivity

Literacy Software

Software Modifications

Workshop Objectives

By the end of this workshop, the participant should be able to:

describe appropriate ways to use technology with young children
state benefits of using software with young children
evaluate software for young children

Key Terms

You can view the key terms for this workshop as a web page, download them as a PDF (suitable for print), as a printer friendly web page, or email them.

: view as web page : view as PDF : view as print friendly page : email terms :

For Further Discussion

We hope that participants will take this information back to their respective homes and schools and use it as a starting point for further discussion. Suggested topics for further discussion on Children's Software include;

evaluating available software products
including children's software in long range planning and grant requests
including children's software in needs assessments
evaluating use of current software and making appropriate changes

References

Buckleitner, W. (1999). The state of children's software evaluation - yesterday, today, and in the 21st century. Information Technology in Childhood Education Annual, 211-20.

Doty, D. E., Popplewell, S. R., & Byers, G. O. (2001). Interactive CD-ROM storybooks and young readers' reading comprehension. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 33(4), 374-384.

Matthew, K. (1997). A comparison of the influence of interactive CD-ROM storybooks and traditional print storybooks on reading comprehension. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 29(3), 263-275.

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