Date of Award
6-30-2021
Document Type
Non Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Education
Department
Education
Program
Early Childhood Education
Capstone Instructor
Dr. Kelly Sadlovsky
Second Reader
Laura Ahonen
Abstract
Dramatic changes have occurred with technology in education worldwide (Sullivan and Bers, 2016). Technology can offer new and exciting ways to get children excited about learning. The types of technology that can be used in a classroom are endless. Research has investigated a wide range of technology in classrooms, from smartboards, to robots, iPads, and tablets to magic educational toys and from computers to apps. The purpose of this capstone project was to evaluate current research to understand what technologies (interventions) can impact cognitive development in preschoolers. Knowing in what ways technology can impact cognitive development in early childhood education will give early childhood educators a better understanding of how to incorporate different types of technology into early childhood education and what outcomes early childhood educators should expect to see (Danovitch, J. H., 2019). Findings from the article by Danovitch (2019), indicate that as an early childhood educator, technology can be used to help close the gap with inequality around technology, and to help close the gap with literacy. The findings also indicated that early childhood teachers need additional training for technology and that if early childhood educators are to be successful incorporating technology into the classroom there needs to be support from other early childhood educators and administration (Danovitach, 2019). There needs to be a solution to help early childhood educators increase their confidence in the use of technology in the classrooms. Early childhood educators need accessible professional development opportunities, to improve skills and knowledge in making decisions on how to select, use, integrate and evaluate technology use in the classrooms.