At the NAEYC conference I was very excited to attend a presentation on interactive Smart Boards for early education. At the following link you can watch a video demonstration on some of it's capabilities. http://www.hatchearlychildhood.com/media/video/tslsStream.flv.
The following is an excerpt from the "White Page" for the equipment:
The Role of Technology in Educating Young Children
It is well established that three and four year olds need a strong focus on cognitive development along with attention to their social/emotional development to be ready for kindergarten. Technology can play a key role in this preparation. Experts confirm that preschool age children are developmentally ready and able to benefit from instruction with technology. The use of educational technology is now known to have a major, positive impact on the social, emotional, language, and cognitive development of children. It is recommended that many opportunities be given during the preschool years for exploration using technology tools in a playful, supportive environment. Researchers further agree that a number of technology applications have the potential to support and extend learning in the young child through their unique capability to provide excellent instruction in these important developmental areas that are critical for educational success. For example, research has found that preschoolers, who used computers with supporting activities for key learning goals, had more gains than children without computer experiences. Among others, these included gains in knowledge, long-term memory, verbal skills, problem solving, and manual dexterity.
Powerful Technology: The TeachSmartTM Learning System
The TeachSmartTM Learning System is an interactive, hands-on technology system with tools that help both learners and educators. The System comes with a computer, LCD projector, the SMART BoardTM Interactive Whiteboard, the SMART Recorder, and hundreds of research- and classroom-tested learning strategies and activities. It is the most efficient and effective tool in education today because it enables educators to provide interactive learning environments in today’s 21st century classrooms. Educators can have confidence in the integrity of the TeachSmartTM Learning System, with the SMART Board component having won such awards as a 2007 Technology & Learning Award of Excellence and a 2007 Education Software Review Award, and the research- and classroom-tested instructional content package provided in this product.
The TeachSmartTM Learning System is so complete that it can be used all throughout the instructional day. It makes gaining knowledge and skills fun for children while cutting down the teachers’ work considerably. With one touch educators can create digital portfolios, documentation for assessments, and show what is being taught daily.
Many exciting features include:
The SMART Recorder can show the child physically using an activity while also hearing the child explain his/her thought process.
To be most effective, delivering educational content must be tied to knowing that children are learning and mastering the key preschool skills. TeachSmart TM includes a wide selection of assessment activities already designed and connected with skill areas. Teachers will also be able to develop their own customized progress monitoring and assessments.
A powerful feature is that children’s individual work and progress can be shared with the child and with parents. Children can benefit from seeing their own work samples as evidence of their growth and progress. For parents, documentation of their child’s work in the context of conferences or evaluations allows them to learn about the curriculum and to have knowledge and expectations about their child’s performance that are appropriate. This makes them feel more a part of their child’s education and will encourage parent involvement, which research shows is strongly connected to children’s success in school.
The SMART Recorder can show the child physically using an activity while also hearing the child explain his/her thought process.
To be most effective, delivering educational content must be tied to knowing that children are learning and mastering the key preschool skills. TeachSmart TM includes a wide selection of assessment activities already designed and connected with skill areas. Teachers will also be able to develop their own customized progress monitoring and assessments.
A powerful feature is that children’s individual work and progress can be shared with the child and with parents. Children can benefit from seeing their own work samples as evidence of their growth and progress. For parents, documentation of their child’s work in the context of conferences or evaluations allows them to learn about the curriculum and to have knowledge and expectations about their child’s performance that are appropriate. This makes them feel more a part of their child’s education and will encourage parent involvement, which research shows is strongly connected to children’s success in school.
To read more, go to: http://www.teachsmartlearningsystem.com/downloads/Hatch-tslsWhitepaper.pdf
I am looking for grants to purchase these systems. I would love to know your thoughts!
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