The Early Childhoood Comprehensive Technology System (Project ECCTS) was funded by the U.S. Department of Education to study the effects of a comprehensive technology system which included staff training, technology assessment, integration of technology into the curriculum, and transition practices which included technology. Research was conducted at the Just Kids Early Childhood Learning Center in Middle Island, New York. Macomb Projects' technology staff provided training and technical support to the Just Kids' on-site Technology Team.

The major findings of Project ECCTS point to positive benefits to children, to increased technology skills among teachers, to the efficacy of an on-site Tech Team, and to conditions that promoted maintenance of the system after the funding cycle was completed. A summary of findings is presented here.

Findings Related to Teachers:

• If technology integration is to succeed, teaching staff must be involved in planned, on-going, hands-on training by expert trainers who understand the potential of technology, the needs of children, and the positive elements of adult learning. To develop an independent, knowledgeable Tech Team at Just Kids, the Macomb Projects team provided training in a variety of areas: training strategies, troubleshooting, technical problem solving, software evaluation and selection, adaptive devices, and curriculum integration. As a result, the Tech Team facilitated increased use of computers in the classrooms; provided greater access to computers, adaptive peripherals, and software; and decreased teachers' frustrations.
• Although the Tech Team initiated on-site training activities, continuity in technology activities and integration into the regular education curriculum were strengthened when teachers requested assistance and received timely and helpful Tech Team responses.
• Clear roles and expectations guided the functions of the on-site Tech Team, a condition which led to effective curricular and continuous technical support to teachers.
• Teachers report that the well-equipped resource center, housing a well-stocked library of current software, contributed to regular technology use.
• Interviews and observations showed that teachers, parents, and administrators were more likely to use computers if they were taught to use useful adult productivity software such as word processing, data bases, and spreadsheets, in addition to software applications for children.
• Interviews, observations, transactional evaluations, and simple purposeful discussion assisted trainers to keep in touch with the feelings of participants as they learned and used technology applications. Trainers' attention to learners' perceptions led to effective use of what is learned. Regular feedback and encouragement about the progress and the results of the innovative new technology project contributed to teacher satisfaction and technology implementation.

 

Findings Related to Implementation and Maintenance of the System:

• Implementing and maintaining a technology system within a school is more likely to occur when the program begins on a small scale involving teachers who agree to participate. Teachers' acceptance of technology tends to lead toward maintenance of a technology system.
• Interviews and observations indicated that teachers were more likely to adopt changes when they saw benefits to children and had an opportunity to first observe others using the features of the innovation. Expansion into other classrooms is more likely as positive interactions occur among personnel who see the benefits of technology and as the program maintains flexibility.
• The on-site Tech Team united the pieces of the comprehensive system and ensured its successful implementation.
• Implementation and maintenance is more likely to occur when the technology system does not conflict radically from existing values, systems, or codes of behavior and when it has strong administrative support

 

Findings Related to Children:

• Across classes, children, time, and range of disabilities, when teachers integrated appropriate computer software and adaptations into the early childhood curriculum and set up accessible computer centers in the classroom, children demonstrated social skills, including sharing and turn taking; communication; attention; emergent literacy; fine motor skills; visual-motor skills (tracking); self confidence and greater self-esteem.
• In ten classroom activities observed, computer use was most often followed by desirable behaviors (e.g., sharing, communicating, turn taking) and least likely to be followed by aggression
• Attention spans of one group displaying mild to moderate disabilities increased from less than 3 minutes to more than 15 minutes when using interactive commercial software.
• Children with behavior problems, those diagnosed as autistic, and those who did not talk to adults exhibited fewer negative behaviors during computer time, interacted socially more often, and were more communicative.
• Children made progress in all developmental areas, including social-emotional, fine motor, communication, cognition, gross motor, and self help, according to their Brigance scores and observational field notes. For example, Year 3 Brigance scores for 14 of the 15 children who participated in the study for 2 years, showed that their social-emotional growth rate more than doubled in comparison to their pre-ECCTS years. Teacher interviews stressed this growth of social skills associated with computer use as well as its positive impact as a tool for teaching sharing.
• When technology is used to support learning, children achieve success, increase self esteem, and demonstrate knowledge and skills across a variety of developmental domains. Some children become recognized as classroom 'computer experts' who can help others navigate through software and gain in the process.
• Computers and accompanying software, when employed according to the ECCTS model, are very efficient, when compared to other classroom activities, in promoting

 

(a) attending,
(b) cause and effect reasoning,
(c) communication,
(d) emergent literacy,
(e) engagement,
(f) sharing, and
(g) socialization.

 

Children's behavior sometimes revealed that they possessed unsuspected skills and abilities.

• When two or more children used the computer together, they employed language and demonstrated positive social skills. Some children diagnosed as Multiple Systems Disorder (MSD) or Pervasive Developmental Delays (PDD) began to socialize and talk in the computer environment.

 

Summary

The benefits of assistive computer technology for children with disabilities have been demonstrated in practice and in the literature for more than 18 years. However, if administrators and teachers are to ensure that children engage in the most appropriate technology experiences, then curricular applications alone are insufficient. Findings from Project ECCTS demonstrated the efectiveness of a comprehensive system. Technology assessment, curriculum integration, and transition elements must be present, in addition to a staff development strategy focusing on equipment use and software integration into daily educational experiences in a variety of content areas.
 

Winter 1999