Week 8: June 24th- 27th 

Last week of class! I can honestly say that this course has taught me a lot about technology and its resources. Regardless of if I use it in my classroom or not, it has helped me to recognize the importance of technology in education as a whole. This will be something that I can do with my children in the future and help them to perform better as students.  I also learned a lot about resources that I can use to be a better teacher. My blog and website, even though they are not likely to be used in my center due to the groups of people we work with, I know that I CAN use them. Also, I liked Prezi a lot and I learned to use basic functions on my computer I hadn't thought about using before. Such as MovieMaker on my pc, voice recordings, etc. Not the basic things I would use on my computer (or even knew it had!) 

This week we had to create a tutorial about a Wed 2.0 resource we wanted. The one I chose was Prezi. I decided to focus on Prezi because I learned a lot from it, and I tried to incorporate it into my Course Sites. I think Prezi is a great Wed 2.0 resource because it helps break down concepts that the average person making a presentation wouldn't know. For instance, your work looks a lot more "graphic" and has more transitions, videos, media, etc than basic PowerPoint because it has been done for you. My tutorial is very simple and it would be for people who are starting to just use Prezi. I learned a lot about Prezi myself, and I just taught how to navigate the site and discussed why I thought it was such a great tool for classrooms. I think it is a great assignment for older students to be able to do as a way to present projects, ideas, even brainstorm! I thought about myself when I made this tutorial and people like myself that would need to have Prezi broken down for them. 

I also found an article about the integration of Prezi and other educational Web 2.0 resources into the classroom : http://www.njea.org/news-and-publications/njea-review/february-2011/prezi-presentations-engage-and-motivate-students

I really enjoyed getting to know the classmates and all that you guys also taught me! You guys provided me with knowledge about different things to incorporate into my class. I hope to continue to educate myself about technology in the future. I also want to thank our professor for all her help during this course :) 

Best,
Christina 

Week 7: June 17th- 23rd 

This week's assignment was focused around the resource of Weebly. For the most part I enjoyed using Weebly. It was a fun sort of activity and it helps to know how to make a site for your classroom. I think if I were to use this with my classroom I would need to have it in Spanish also. Some of the things we were asked to add I liked, some not so much. I do think the Widgets are cute in a way, but the advertisements makes it look...cheap and cluttered. I did make one that was like a Google Doc where my students could submit their information to visit with me. My site is completely fictitious but I think it's a great resource. I was not able to get the cursor going because of issues with coding, I almost lost my whole site and for a while I thought I had, so I decided to just publish and not fiddle with it. I looked at several YouTube videos, and my screen didn't show what they were showing (now I know from Ms. Morgan that it was because I was using Chrome).  I think Weebly would be a great resource for middle school to high school students to learn to make their own websites. It is very easy to use, and great resource.  I also learned about using animated icons/pictures, things I typically wouldn't have used otherwise. Like the one below.

Second part of the assignment was to evaluate 2 educational resources. I choose one that was ESL for my students, and another that was a site for all elementary children. I found a site that I was interested in using in my class because it encourages children at all levels to work online and on their areas of issues. 

Below is a YouTube video about why you should use Weebly in your classroom and its benefits: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP_z25TmPPg

Week 6: June 10th-16th

This week we learned about waht makes an online learnder sucessful. In reading this weeks articles, I started to learn more about what is needed to help make one sucessful online. One of the important things I realized was that you need to have dedication to the class. You must be able to contribute to your classroom online by giving them your opinions, times and ideas. There must be a schedule for an online learner. If you do not start to schedule your time or tasks, it can become very overwhelming. Especially for someone such as myself that works, has a family and is taking other classes. One thing I have started to do with all my classes that I probably should have done prior, was to read the whole syllabus and write down in my calender big projects and their due dates. This has helped me to know what is going to take me longer to complete and what I need to focus on during the week.

Second part of the week was to create a CourseSite. I actually enjoyed this task and also learned about how much work it is for the professors to create online classes! A lot of thought has to go into the work but it was fun to create my own course about something that I enjoy and I am passionate about. Actually is a course that I would be interested in taking or being able to be a part of. In creating an online course I realized how you definitely have to be technology friendly and know how to operate the site. There were things that were harder for me to learn to operate and also adding certain colors to the site or pictures. I wanted to add more but it was a bit harder to edit, but I think I did a pretty good job.

I liked CourseSite because it is a great resource to have for your students to be able to refer to online assignments, homework, and projects. It is a free site and I think it is a good resource for teachers of middle or high schoolers to help get their students ready for online learning. I was interested in reading some articles about online learning and if people truly found it to be effective for learning. One article I found said that it was a "cheap education" and it wasn't effective for students. So I was interested in reading/researching more about the topic and if this effects every age group, or only a few. Below is the article!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/education/06online.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Week 5: June 3rd-9th 

This week we were assigned to create an Inspiration Diagram. I decided to focus on the topic of Lead poisoning in children. I think I decided to follow this topic because in Southwest Detroit there has been a great increase in lead poisoning in children. Lead poisoning is connected with low-income housing and I believe this is why there has been such an increase in Detroit. I know I have a few children that have higher lead levels, In creating the diagram I liked that it taught me to summarize my thoughts, into precise sentences. You can't write a paragraph on a diagram, and it helps you to really get to the basics of your thoughts/ideas.  I liked the diagram as something I can use when I am trying to write a paper, or create a new project. I definitely think it is a for an older group of students, but younger children in higher elementary or middle school would be able to figure it out with playing around and instruction. I think this is a great tool that encourages one to think about their outline of their work, project, paper, etc. It is a good way to also make sure to keep your resources in order for your paper. I think if this were free, it would be something that I would use in the future as a tool to helping me write my paper. Instead of just sitting down and letting everything just come to me. I don't think this is a concept I can use in my class, but definitely something I can use in the future. I found it to be a great tool and encourage anyone to try out the 30 day trial! Below is an article I found that talks about how Inspiration diagrams allow the students to brainstorm and learn differently than they normally would in a classroom. It talks about the approach from the writing an essay point of view also. It walks you through how to incorporate diagrams and this program into you classroom! :) 

http://www.wtvi.com/teks/02_03_articles/inspiration.html

June 4th, 2013- Week 5

Internet Resource Evaluation

1.         Gliffy

a.      Gliffy could be used by teachers as a way to teach a complicated subject or encourage “thinking/thought” maps. For instance, and English teacher could teach the students how to brainstorm with one of these diagrams. Another option would be good for science teachers when they are trying to teach the students how things happen like the water cycle, plants lifecycle, etc. You can also use it to explain to people what steps to take when trying to do something, for instance like making a diagram! Businesses could also use this program in order to be able to show their merchandise, or layouts, etc.

b.      Easy to use. I would say you still have to be someone that is familiar with working with diagrams or programs like Prezi, PowerPoint. It seems pretty easy to use since it offers you multiple layouts, options of diagrams that might go best with your subject or your topic of focus. You can drag the shapes and objects that you want to have on your diagram, download pictures you want added, etc.

c.       I didn’t see any cost when first going to the website. Free trial and no cost to be able to make your diagrams. But if you want to save a diagram you have to register and the basic standard package is $4.95 and the Gliffy Pro is $9.95 which they recommend for large organizations. With the standard you have limited amounts of diagrams you can make, Pro allows you unlimited. You can get a free 30 day Pro trial.

d.      Design is flexible because it allows you to make your own diagram if you want or layout. You can also use one that is premade for you. You can upload any images you want to the diagram. You can make changes to backgrounds, shapes, colors, sequence.

e.      Security is good because you can choose if you want to have your diagrams be private or public. You do have to sign up like everything else.

f.        You can add your own media to the diagram by putting your own pictures into the diagram. Unsure if you would be able to upload music, but I imagine you could. There is an option to search for images they have in their library.

2.      Popplet

a.      Popplet could be used more as a sort of social media. You can have an idea, or create an album or something. This could be used by students or teachers to display pictures of a project or a trip. Families could use this to document vacations, important things in their family like baptisms, etc. Communities could use this to display images of their business and also schools could use this as a sort of media Year Book. Students could use this as a brainstorm kind of like gliffy, but more simple because it creates a sort of “web”.

b.      It is very easy to use, I don’t think that young children could use this but probably from 4^th grade and up with some instruction by professors the students would be able to manage and learn how to use it in a basic way.  It tells you how to use it, to add a popplet click twice, colors you can choose, draw or upload an image. Very easy to sign up and I think this would be good for young students to use or teacher to teach a concept. Also provides you with good examples of popplets (ex. Facts about the Earth).

c.       You can get it free if you keep it to 5 popplets for a month, or you can upgrade and pay. But it’s free to sign up! It’s only $3 if you want to sign up and you get unlimited, which isn’t too bad of a cost if you really make it worth it!

d.      Design is simple, colorful and flows very good! I liked it more than Gliffy because it is something that you can share on Social Media, tells you what to upload and if you want to draw. It’s not complicated for people that are technically challenged, etc. You can either make one that is more complicated/complex, or you can keep it very simple with the spiderweb layout.

e.      Security seems good, because you can choose if you want to share your popplet on a social media page. Doesn’t automatically sync anything to your social media pages. There are some public, but it seems as though you choose if you want it to be public or not, not automatically public.

f.        You can correct your mistakes easily and change the colors to things. If you want to delete a popplet it is very simple or change what you put in that box, you have the option to clear it if needed.

3.       Slate

a.      Slate could be used by teachers also in the classroom and also by older students. It is a bit more advanced than the Popplet but it is good at teaching diagrams, or presentations. Also a good alternative to Prezi. I don’t think it is as useful for people that are in families, communities, etc. Maybe organizations could use this to display their work or their purpose or for work presentations.

b.      It is similar to Popplet, you choose your own color scheme and one thing I liked was you could “embed an image” and in this you could search the internet without having to search images, save to computer than upload, and I think that is a nice thing I enjoy. It is easy to use because it tells you the steps to do, but there are less examples. You can have your own profile, but I didn’t make one.

c.       Cost is free to sign up and I didn’t see any cost to post the Slates or create your own profile.

d.      Design is a bit more basic in my opinion compared to the others. But you still have a little less/more complicated way to make changes or change mistakes. It  has less “attractiveness” to the

e.      Security is very good. It sh0ows you the option to make your profile public or keep it private.  And I liked that it assumed you wanted to keep your profile private, when many assume you don’t. You can choose to post your Slates.

f.        I didn’t find it as easy to correct your mistakes. But it is manageable.

Final Thoughts: I really liked Popplet. I think if I had to use any of these 3 it would be this one! Maybe because it is so basic and it allows for you to make albums, post to your social media pages, etc. I really liked it because it is something that you can teacher younger children. I feel as though slate is something that you can use if you are more advanced, along with Gliffy. Gliffy is something that allows you to enhance, your business, organization, and make something more complicated. I really did like Gliffy, but I know it might be a challenge for me to get it going and to work with it but I like that many of the layout options are already available to you.  I think with Popplet I would be able to make simpler options for my students ( more pictures, images, etc). 

Week 4: May 27th- June 2nd 

This week's assignments (mostly just the YouTube video) was a bit of a challenge for me. I had so many ideas that were going through my head, but when it came time to figure out how to put them into play, I came to a holt. I had to figure out 1. how to use the program, 2. what program to use, and 3. how would it be useful to my students. I initially thought about reading a book on a YouTube video, I figured this would be a good way to bring my own book in but that is quite popular. Since this is our last week of school, (we get out next week) I decided that I wanted to do something around culture. Letting my students know how unique they are to me! We participate in an activity called Celebration of Cultures. Where each Head Start is a different country. As we are the biggest center, we got Mexico! Since it is close to most of our students culture, it's always a fun time to learn more and help them expand on their knowledge of their Mexican/Central American background. So I wanted to make a video that states, we are all unique, we are all different but that's OKAY. I want my kiddies to celebrate their diversity, their individuality, and their social identities. I hope you enjoyed my YouTube Clip! It was a bit hard to make, I'm not the most techy person, but I tried my best and I think it came out pretty well :) As always a challenge, but a good one! Many times we think our children are too young to learn about culture, diversity, empathy and acceptance. Which isn't so. My children are 3rd generation Mexican-American and strong ties to their Native American roots, I try to help them learn about their cultures, be proud of them but ALSO be accepting to others. I think if we stat young to teach children about what it means to be MULTI-cultural and how it can be everything from religion, creed, ethnicity, race, to physical ability! Below is an article I found that focused on integrating multi-culralrism and anti-bias into our classrooms. I attended an anti-bias training at  University of Michigan and it helped me to recognize what types of language to use, how to interact with individuals of different backgrounds, etc. It talks about creating connections, patience, and self-exploration (which is what I am trying to work on with my babies!). Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Surprisingly there are few articles on Multi-Culturalism in Early Childhood, but this one was a good one! 

http://archive.adl.org/education/miller/q_a/multicultural_anti_bias_education.asp

This week we also were asked to evaluate websites that allowed us to create videos/movies. Below are my evaluations on these : 

Internet Resource Evaluation

1.       Animoto:

a.       This could be used by students to learn how to make a small clip for maybe a project in the classroom or an art project, etc. Students could also use this as a personal video for their social lives. I think it would be cute to use as a birthday invitation, prom invite, etc. Parents could use this to announce their weddings, graduation, student’s achievements of the year, or parties, ceremonies, etc. Something quick and to the point (since only 30 sec is free!). Teachers could also use it to have playing pictures of their class or introduce themselves to their parents via email. It is a good way to send cards for holidays and whatnot without having to use all the paper, and materials.

b.       Ease of use of Animoto for me I would say is about a middle ground. I thought it was pretty simple because it allows you to pick your background that you might like for your clip. So you don’t have to design one, and there is quite a variety of backgrounds (Christmas, nature, fireworks, plain, etc).  It was still a bit confusing because I created my own video but what I thought would go into the video didn’t it created a completely new clip. I made a fake birthday invitation to my son’s Bday party to see and it was cute but without having many pictures of my own on my computer and clips of music (that were 30 seconds long) it was a bit confusing! I would say the ease of use is pretty basic if you have worked with other programs like Windows Movie creator and Prezi and used to uploading pictures and arranging things. Maybe with the Pro or  Plus package you get more guidance! But overall, it was a simple use!

c.       Cost- 30 second videos are free, but limited materials (backgrounds, no audio on clips they provide). If you upgrade to Plus you pay about $2.50 a month plus $30 annual which isn’t too bad. You get 10 min video and more access to backgrounds but the same access to music clips as the free plan. Pro which is the priciest is $20.75 a month and $249 annual. I don’t think I would ever get Pro unless it was a career for me. I think Plus is mostly reasonable but if you are really into making videos for your job, family, etc. It’s not too bad. You can sign up with no credit card, but options are limited. But if all you need is 30 seconds, go for it!

d.       Flexibility is design is medium. I think there is flexibility in what you want to bring in (pictures and music) but there are only a few options with backgrounds (in the free one) but if you upgrade you can bring in more clips and blend them.

e.       Pretty secure, I don’t think your videos are public unless you allow people you send them to view them. I looked at account and settings and didn’t outwardly see where it stated that your videos could be public (like Prezi) or to mark for them NOT to be.

f.        You can correct mistakes, by changing things on it. Doesn’t penalize you for it. You can change things and it allows you to explore and to undo if need be.

g.       You can add media but like I previously stated you are limited in size and amount that you can put on there due to having the “free” account”. If you have the 30 seconds you can only add media that fits into that. You can upload your own pictures into the video along with your own video clips. You can add media to it though! Songs were limited on there when I went to look for music!

2.       Yodio

a.       A good resource for teachers because they can add pictures and record their lessons if they may not be there for that day, etc. Allows students to make more interesting presentations versus just having pictures appear with captions. I think it is a good resource because it encourages that the student to learn to discuss things, rather than just having the audience read the information on the slide or picture. The community could use it on a community website or a place to talk about their community and pictures or local events. Parents could do it to announce the birth of a child, or create a “memory video” for their children maybe something like starting from a ultrasound to 18 years of age kind of video with small descriptions along the way would be cute.

b.       The ease of use is very simple. You just upload your picture and record your voice or add your pre-recorded voice clip. It is simple because you don’t have to pick a whole of extra transitions and stuff unless you want to. It’s just a picture, and a voice clip which I really liked. I think for students starting out learning technology this is a good option.

c.       Cost is free unless you upgrade to get royalties on your videos/pictures. If you upgrade to get 50% of royalties you pay $6.99 and if you want %70 of royalties you pay $34.00 a month. I am not sure how much it costs to “go Pro” but it seems like it would be for people who make money off of these. You can create a Yodicast and stuff like that, but I am unsure of the costs. But the basic package and to register is FREE.

d.       Very simple design, and flexibility is minimal though. You don’t have a lot of different options for this layout or this color scheme which can be nice. Because it is all about the picture, and the voice. Keeps it very simple. You have your choice of the order of the pictures, etc.

e.       Security is a bit more open here. Your videos/pictures are public and can be seen by others (like Prezi). I don’t know if there is an option to click it off because I did not register for this one due to it asking for your phone number (which I am never a fan of putting in anywhere).

f.        You can fix your mistakes easily and it is a simple program since you essentially only just upload pictures and add your voice to it as an overlay.

g.       One can add media by using your own pictures of things that you want and adding your own voice to the pictures as description. I didn’t see if there was any way of adding transitions between the pictures but it didn’t appear as though that was part of it.

3.       Edmodo                             

a.       Great resources for teachers. Probably better for teachers of older children in 6^th grade or above. I can’t see too young of children using it  but we may be surprised with what students can do these days!

b.       It is pretty easy to use, and it has a lot of activities you can use (polls, surveys, etc).  You can also use it as an option for students to be able to connect with one another in a community. It allows for your students and yourself to have forums, post things, add notes, stuff like that. I think it is a good if you are working on a project with people. It is also good because it encourages young students to connect with one another in a safe way online that you as a teacher can monitor. I don’t think it would be as good for the parents to use unless they are using it with the teacher who could update them on things in the classroom or lesson plans for the week. I doubt that one would use it for personal use though. For students that are used to social networks this is very similar to Facebook.

c.       Cost is completely free for signup and there doesn't seem to be any payment needed.

d.       Flexibility of design is easy, and simple to change things and create new things liked assignments. I didn’t like the sign up process. I thought it was a bit too much even though I understand it is used to be able to have people connect with your school and your classroom.  

e.       Security is good because it allows the teacher to be able to monitor what is going on in the classroom forum and stuff like that. Teacher is able to see what is being said between the students and able to keep charge and not allow it get out of hand. It also keeps others from viewing what the students are doing and that can be good since some parents want privacy for their students.

f.        Easy to use after you get past the sign up part! May take a little bit of patience and playing around with it but uploading information is very easy and creating things are pretty basic once you figure out where to click and all of that.

g.       You can add media: pictures, to your personal profile and videos also that your class can view. 

Week 3:  May 20th-26th

This week we learned about cyber-bullying and its affects on youth/children these days. In reading the assigned articles for the week, I was quite surprised at what I found. I didn't know how much support the schools lacked from the government/legislature when it came to dealing with cyber bulling. I thought about cyber-bullying in relation to my students and I began to think about what it was that I could do, to bring a change. I think observing in my children's attitudes towards each other and creating a safe environment in my classroom is crucial for there to be success and respect. I try my best to teach my kiddies that they have to be respectful of one another, and to treat them the way they would want to be treated. I also think I have a responsibility with monitoring what my children can access on the internet, both at school and at my home.  I personally do not allow my children to use technology for Facebook or Twitter and I probably won't until I believe they understand what a great responsibility it is. In my classroom, my children don't have access to the internet unless I put in a password so I don't have to worry about that. But I also think teaching/educating parents about THEIR responsibility is crucial to ridding our nation of bullying in general.  If we don't teach kids kindness, empathy, respect, and tolerance...how will we ever get rid of this problem? I signed the pledge on one of the resources we had been provided with, even though it's just a signature, I  hope that it's stating that I do not agree with it and I won't tolerate cyberbullying (or any type) in my home or classroom. In the discussion we had this week I talked about the MTV show "If you really knew me".  I am attaching a preview/snippet of part of that show that demonstrates  what it really was like for the students in high schools and middle schools to learn about their fellow classmates, versus just judging them based on what they THOUGHT they knew about them.  I liked the purpose of the show, and even though I am not sure what the long term effects are for the schools. The fact that these schools choose to have "Challenge Day" where they encourage that students feel safe, loved and celebrated is a great step in the right direction! Below is a clip from a University student's documentary at Spring Arbor University about this happening at a Middle School in Jackson, MI (I tried to find a clip of one in MI!) MTV has great clips also/promos you can watch at www.mtv.com! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuj8bcc3mvg  * No CopyRight infringement intended* 

The other big part of this class this week was to create a Prezi with a lesson plan. It has been a bit of a struggle because I haven't really used Prezi, besides showing another pre-made presentation. I had to figure out how this Prezi could present a topic that was applicable to my age group of students. I also had to create a lesson plans and make sure to hit all the areas that our professor wanted. Even though creating this Prezi has been a bit of a challenge, it has been a good one. I have been able to learn more about my abilities to learn about new resources and technology. I really liked Prezi, way more than PowerPoint actually. I hope this is a resource I can continue to use. Although I wasn't able to do exactly everything on my Prezi that I wanted to (tried to add background music but I had to get the file on the computer and it wouldn't download), I still learned quite a bit! I had to make the presentation something that I could read to my students that didn't have a lot of scientific terminology or complicated definitions. I tried to keep it simple, but also addressing the points that were needed to help my kiddos learn about sunflowers. I actually planted sunflower seeds with my students a month ago, so we have been working on this project for a while just hadn't presented this to them in this way. My class has grown pinto beans but I decided to focus on Sunflowers considering it's Spring Time :) Finishing up my lesson plans and handouts for my children. I am focusing on "S" words (sun, seeds, sunflower,etc) to practice with the children during Circle Time. I have actually had a harder time getting the lesson plan to communicate what I did with my students. Considering I can't just give my children a handout because they can't read :p  But I will figure it out, a challenge is always good :) Below is the YouTube clip that teaches you how to use Prezi, in case you need any additional resources to learn how to use Prezi! Click on the clip below! 

http://youtu.be/tolWEl7oBQg

Week 2:  May 13th-19th 

In the second week of class we were asked to create a Blog. I enjoyed being able to explore and try to incorporate a bit of my own creativity into the project. I also enjoy that I will be able to use this blog later for my classroom in general. I hope to be able to find out how to create different tabs, and add my lesson plans, etc.  In looking at different educational blogs I learned a lot about educator's focus on how to add technology into our classroom. I learned how different education blogs have different focuses. Some were focused more on activities that the teachers could do in their classrooms and others were focused on teacher's ideas on how to teach. In reading the article on 33 ways to incorporate blogs into our classroom, I liked the ideas but few of them were very applicable to my group of students. In reading the article "Using Blogs to Integrate Technology into the Classroom" they discuss how a blog can help to connect the classroom, promote collaboration, and student portfolios.  

The assigned readings for the week the articles discusses how the teachers that are starting out should meet certain standards for knowing technology. Educators must be prepared in order to teach their children.  From reading my classmates posts I learned that education programs at different higher education institutions are starting to incorporate technology into their curriculum  I never had this during my training or undergraduate years and I am now trying to catch up on it.  Incorporating technology into my classroom has been a struggle but I am learning that even with limited resources I am able to bring in my own and try to find creative ways to get the children to connect with technology. Early Childhood Education is many times overlooked by by funding and people who think that young children shouldn't have access to it.  While doing some research on Technology in Early Childhood Education, I encountered a YouTube video that talks about how the students that are 3, 4, 5 year old students are learning more and advancing with these "tools".  The teachers in this video talk about how they have seen the benefits of the integration of technology into the classroom. This demonstrates how the achievement of children can improve by having technology offered to them. If this can help improve our children's education and achievement, I hope the government can find a way to get this funding for schools and programs that lack the resources to have this.  

I hope you enjoy this clip from Youtube! 

Week 1 : May 6th- 13th 

During this week we were assigned to create our own home page on Black Board and explore the other aspects of technology we would soon be using during this class. One of the important parts of this week was discussing the articles assigned that caused us to think about how we can use technology in our classroom. This was a difficult assignment for me because really and truly, we do not use it at our center. After hearing more about other classmates ability to incorporate programs and technology into their classroom, I was surprised to hear about how  many resources they had available to them (ex. Smartboards). But it also caused me to think about other ways to find the finances to get more technology to Early Childhood Education programs. I also think about how I am able to teach my children without technology and what they are learning beyond the computer screen.  When I was in elementary I don't remember our school having more than old computers that we were allowed to practice typing and other basic assignments on. 

In thinking about having a good balance of technology in my classroom, I feel encouraged to try to find the middle ground. I have children that get speech therapy and I know certain programs would allow them to work at their own pace and also provide them with the type of learning they need. Due to limited resources in Detroit Public School the speech therapist rarely get to see the children for more than 20 mins a week. With these computer programs, the children can continue their progress on improving their speech. In the article about Early Childhood Education "Find the Balance" it discusses that computers encourages "longer, more complex speech and the development of fluency" (Davidson & Wright, 1994).  It talks about 3-5 year old children having technology incorporated allows them to feel comfortable with it and not to "fear" it in the future. It doesn't have to be an activity the children explore, but it should be an option. For my preschool children, the computer is for "open ended use, not to create" (p.15).  I agree with this because it encourages children being allowed to explore, but not have to make a PowerPoint, or type something, but become familiar with an object that will  impact their future. Below is the article, it is very interesting and goes by age/grade level on incorporating technology into education! Hope it's useful :) 

http://www.netc.org/earlyconnections/byrequest.pdf