Engaged learning is woven through the ITLC model. The model is set in an environment where children take charge and are self-regulated. The children are constantly learning while deriving excitement from the learning process. They collaborate with others as they interact with the technology and solve problems. The ITLC approach blends technology into thematic or project-related units, each unit related to meaningful situations. Teachers facilitate learning as they guide children and offer rich learning environments, experiences, and activities. Children are offered opportunities to explore with technology in a non-threatening environment while building on their knowledge of the world. In some situations, the ITLC offers children the role of "teacher" as they guide peers through a new learning environment or extend new ideas learned with technology out to the world around them. Families and community members are part of this learning process as the children move the learning outside of the classroom.
The study's findings provide powerful implications for curricular change and/or additions in programs for young children with disabilities. The progress children with disabilities made in behaviors related to emergent literacy, an area that has received little attention in special education, with the exception of a few projects in this country, holds great promise for benefits to children. The addition of computers, interactive software, and the ITLC have the potential to be of great interest to decision makers at all levels, as well as program staff and families. Computer technology, while not a panacea, provides access to emergent literacy knowledge and skills.
Positive changes resulted from three sections of the ITLC; interactive commercial software, tool function software (primarily graphics), and HyperStudio within classrooms. The increases in positive social interaction and communication among children as they participated in the ITLC with a degree of independence teachers hope for and parents long to see would be enough to adopt the ITLC, without the positive gains in literacy. The positive results of the use of two management tools, sign-up sheets and KidDesk were unexpected, but can be applied to a variety of situations.
Products
Print, video, and software materials, described in the following sections,
were developed during the three year's of the Early Childhood Interactive
Technology Literacy Research Project.
Printed materials. At the end of the project, the activities used in the study were combined with literacy activities used in a sister project, a model demonstration project, to produce a collaborative curriculum, eMERGing Literacy and Technology: Working Together, to demonstrate how literacy and technology can work together in the curriculum for all children in early childhood classrooms. eMERGing Literacy and Technology: Working Together contains 8 chapters plus references, resources, and appendices. Chapter titles include an Overview, Designing the Environment, Selecting Software, Curriculum Activities with Commercial Software, Curriculum Activities with Tool and Graphic Software, Curriculum Activities with HyperStudio, Customized Activities and Adaptations, and Family Involvement. The Overview offers a brief review of research and emergent literacy along with the effectiveness of the Curriculum. Designing the Environment discusses a literacy-rich environment and managing the computer center. Selecting Software demonstrates five levels of interactivity found in software and software found in the five levels. Curriculum Activities found in chapters Four, Five, and Six offers ideas to integrate over 35 appropriate titles into an early childhood program. Chapter Six also contains an overview of HyperStudio along with a mini-tutorial. Chapter Seven describes switch and touch tablet input to adapt programs for children. The last chapter discusses levels of family involvement, workshops, and resources for families. The appendices found in the curriculum share forms and materials for use with the curriculum.
Using developmentally appropriate practices, along with technology, eMERGing Literacy and Technology: Working Together provides suggestions for ways to incorporate activities into the curriculum. The curriculum's discussion of software titles offers basic information about software programs including publisher, system requirements, and a description of the software. Materials needed for the activity are listed as well as any preparation activities that need to take place. Information and ideas on introducing the software and extending the activity are shared for each curriculum activity as well as suggested questions that facilitators may ask children while using the computer. Also included are integration ideas for art, blocks/manipulatives, construction, cooking/snacks, dramatic play, group/individual experiences, music and movement, outdoor play/motor, science/math, literacy links, related books, poems, stories, related software, extensions beyond the classroom, and family connections.
Training videos for families and staff. Once Upon a Time...Computers and Early Literacy Development features the story of computers and early literacy development in preschool classrooms that were part of the study and in classrooms that participated in the related model demonstration project. The video reveals the use of the interactive technology literacy curriculum to promote emergent literacy for children with mild to severe disabilities. After an overview of results found in classrooms implementing the curriculum, video segments from interviews of teachers and children actively involved in classrooms using technology are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the curriculum. Input devices and strategies for choosing software are shared as five interactive software levels are described. Curriculum application ideas are shared and also can be found in the accompanying guide.
Software. Software based on thematic units from the early childhood classrooms involved in the study were created using HyperStudio. The children contributed to the stacks through pictures, artwork, video, and sounds. Pictures ranged from photographs taken by children, pictures scanned from books, to clip art found in HyperStudio. Artwork included drawings done with markers to watercolor pictures or a combination of media. Video clips included in stacks emphasized projects that children were working on, from artwork to a production of "The Three Bears." Recorded sounds ranged from children's voices to sounds found in the program. HyperStudio stacks covered various projects including field trips, making paper mache, puzzles, and retelling of favorite children's stories. The software stacks have been collected and are available to share with others.
Availability. The Interactive Technology Literacy Curriculum products are available from Macomb Projects, 27 Horrabin Hall, 1 University Circle, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois, 61455. Order a catalog by calling 309-/298-1634. The Web site address is www.mprojects.wiu.edu.
Dissemination Activities
Project information has been and continues to be disseminated in several
ways. Information about this Project appears in Macomb Projects' World
Wide Web home page (www.mprojects.wiu.edu). Findings were discussed
regularly with the Expert Panel and the Type I and II site teams,
which included teachers, administrators, and therapists.
As shown below, information dissemination efforts included articles in local newspapers (Galesburg, Jacksonville, and Macomb), ACTTive Technology, and the satellite broadcast (Apples Magazine). For example, regionally, an article about the Project's work in the Avon, Illinois, preschool classroom appeared in the Galesburg, Illinois, newspaper in February, 1996. The research staff disseminated information at local, state and national conferences throughout the three years of the project. National conferences included TAM and Closing the Gap. Presentations related to the study were made in 1995, 1996, and 1997 at the Early Childhood Technology Conference in Macomb, Illinois.
Participating staff, families, and administrators were continually updated during staff and family workshops. In addition, families received current information through weekly and monthly newsletters, while administrators were informed of results during yearly presentations on the campus of Western Illinois University. Other dissemination activities included presentations in Early Childhood classes at Western Illinois University, participation in local AEYC events, and poster sessions at area conferences.
Presentations. The following presentations were given, based on information gathered during the course of the Project.