Content area
Full Text
MAKING CONNECTIONS
In June, as the keynote speaker at the 2014 Fred Forward Conference, the national conference of the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children's
Media at Saint Vincent College, I shared my thoughts on early childhood education, the role of technology in early education, and what NAEYC can do to help guide the field in using media and interactive technology in the classroom. This column is adapted from that opening keynote address.
There is strong consensus among researchers that highquality early learning experiences are essential ingredients for children's optimal development-especially children who live in vulnerable environments. Most young children in the United States do not spend their days in high-quality environments. Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers alike are often in mediocre or, at worst, harmful settings. NAEYC Accreditation is one determinant of quality. However, accreditation reaches less than 10 percent of licensed and certified early childhood programs.
Early childhood educators are the linchpins in whether young children attend enriched, dynamic environments outside the home, where they are exposed to language, conversation, and activities guided by developmentally appropriate practice. Teachers are the ones who make critical decisions about how children are exposed to and interact with technology.
Who makes up the early childhood workforce?
Information about early childhood educators from the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation of the Administration for Children and Families (in the US Department of Health and Human Services) tells us that in 2012 there were one million teachers and caregivers directly responsible for children ages birth through 5 years in center-based programs. Another one million paid, home-based teachers and caregivers served the same age group. An additional 2.7 million unpaid, home-based teachers and caregivers were regularly responsible for young children other than their own at least five hours a week. Just over half of center-based and almost a third of home-based teachers and caregivers reported having college degrees-almost a third with bachelor's or graduate/ professional degrees. Their median wages were $10.60 an hour, which equates to $22,000 for a full-time position.
The effective use of technology and interactive media in classrooms and other early childhood settings, and the alignment between developmentally appropriate practice and technology, rests heavily on these individuals. Their success in using the best practices depends...