University of Delaware Office of Public Relations The Messenger Vol. 5, No. 1/1995 Preschoolers lead the way in the world of computers Hopscotch has a new look at the University of Delaware, where preschoolers jump from square to square, spelling their names on a giant...keyboard! Playing keyboard hopscotch is one way kids learn about computers through Technology in Early Childhood Habitats (TECH), a program of the Department of Individual and Family Studies. And what looks like play, in the school yard or at the keyboard, is actually essential for research into how young children learn best with computers. TECH passes on the research findings to current and future teachers. "We can no longer think of classroom computers as an 'extra'," says Bernadette Caruso Davis, Delaware '95, associate director of the program. "Computers are such a critical part of life today, they need to have the same priority in the education of young children." This conviction is what drives Davis and her colleagues within TECH, the oldest existing program of its kind in the country. TECH began 12 years ago and, as Caruso explains, "we are unique because we are so multifaceted, combining early childhood education, teacher training, research and software evaluation." Each summer, TECH runs a two-week computer camp staffed by education majors. Approximately 120 local children, ages 4 to 8, come on campus to participate. A number of economically disadvantaged students receive scholarships from corporate and individual sponsors. Campers use the latest educational software available and gain computer proficiency in a setting that's both social and challenging. "We help children learn about computers in lots of different ways," Davis says. In addition to giant keyboard hopscotch, there's "computer twister" and the ever-popular ice cream sundae assembly line (the assembly process teaches pre-programming skills, by the way). "The kids have a great time at our camp, and the staff has a chance to learn more about kids and computers," Davis says. In conjunction with the computer camp, the University hosts a summer institute for teachers and school administrators from around the country. TECH and the University's Division of Continuing Education jointly administer the weeklong institute on campus each year. "It's essential that teachers get training," Davis reports. "Otherwise, computers can become dusty classroom ornaments." The teacher training has a ripple effect, because teachers and school administrators take what they learn at the institute back to their schools around the nation. For many educators, the institute is their first chance to catch up on current educational opportunities and, perhaps, to overcome their own technophobia. They learn basic computer maintenance and theory and then work with the children attending the computer camp. "Often, it's the children who draw adults out and make them feel comfortable with the computer," Davis says. Davis, herself, was once a technophobe, a liberal arts student who was drawn into the field as an undergraduate by way of a part-time campus job. "I was afraid of computers until a 4- year-old girl sat me down and told me she'd explain everything I needed to know." That introduction was just the beginning for Davis, who recently won a top award from the Society for Technology and Teacher Education (STATE) for a paper on training teachers in developmentally appropriate computer use. Teachers and parents also look to TECH for evaluation of educational software. Daniel Shade, professor of individual and family studies and director of the TECH program, acts as one of three judges in the annual Child Magazine software review. Shade's evaluation method requires the systematic application of 10 criteria to each piece of educational software. (See box at left for TECH's top software picks). Top software can be played independently, focuses on process (not product) and expands in complexity as the child's ability increases. According to Shade, software should not merely provide "drill and practice" exercises, replicating--at a high cost--what can be taught in other ways. The best software, instead, puts a child in the driver's seat by providing a tool that allows him or her to exercise imagination and creativity. TECH reaches out to the parents of its young participants. University students host "parent nights" and produce newsletters to practice communicating with parents about the educational opportunities computers provide. Davis says that many parents are less comfortable with computers than their children are. Adults often need hands-on demonstrations of educational software and information about how computers can help their children learn. Some parents have been turned off by inferior software marketed for children. And, many fear that computer use will replace more traditional, social ways of learning. According to Davis, computers will never replace teachers and varied learning experiences. They do, however, have an important role. "Computers are excellent educational tools," says Davis, "and when teachers and parents are open to them-as open as children are-the possibilties are exciting." -Mary B. Hopkins TECH'S TOP SOFTWARE PICKS FOR KIDS Ages 4 and up TITLE PUBLISHER Kid Pix Studio Broderbund Living Books Series (various titles) Broderbund The Manhole Cyan Thinkin' Things Edmark Kid Desk (a program and file manager) Edmark Amazing Animation Claris Corp. Ages 6 and up TITLE PUBLISHER Imagination Express (various titles) Edmark Flying Colors Davidson The Amazing Writing Machine Broderbund The Even More Incredible Machine Sierra On-Line