When I Think of Research ....

Why is your simulation important to the field of early childhood?

The simulation I selected is important to the field of early childhood for many reasons. There are varied factors that play a role in early child development. Providing activities and opportunities for parents, students and educators to build stronger relationships will help guide their early learners developmental skills. I also strongly believe that having parents involve gives the parents and the educator insights sooner than later if the child needs to focus more on a specific skill. For instance like this short entry from an article I read from NAEYC.

"During my first year working in a preschool setting, I was dismayed to see how many parents left their parent-teacher conferences upset or even crying. In my own conference with parents, one mother of a delightful, very verbal child was understandably disappointed when I explained that her daughter’s academic and social-emotional skills were not as far along as her verbal skills. She had assumed that because of her daughter’s verbal abilities, she was on track or ahead in other prekindergarten skills. The mother was unsure of what was expected at this age and had missed some opportunities at home to help her daughter develop academically. And I had missed opportunities to help her acquire the tools to do so.

As I moved through my career, I found that many parents were perplexed as they navigated the educational system with their young children. Many had little understanding of child development or developmentally appropriate practices. They wanted to help their child, but they didn't know how. They often arrived at their first parent-teacher conference to find themselves bombarded with unfamiliar educational concepts and terms like phonological awareness and numeracy"(Kirkwood,2016).

https://www.naeyc.org/resources/blog/understanding-power-parent-involvement

If you were to conduct your simulation proposal, who would benefit?

I think the full article is worth the read. It describes the teachers perspective of what she could have done differently to help both her student and the parent. I believe the simulation in which I selected will provide an understanding from some and reassurance for others. Providing a study on parent involvement activities can benefit a child early development as well as the parent and educator.  There is a learning opportunity for both the participants and the researcher.

What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?

My perception of an early childhood professional has been impacted due to this course in a positive manner.Early childhood professionals play an important role in the research of learning approaches within early childhood development. In learning the process in addition to methods of research I realize that as an educator there are varied proven ways to help reach and teach a child. I also feel that there are a number of studies that provide useful approaches to professionals in their endeavors to connect with parents in helping them better educate and build on their child developmental skills. 

Reference

Kirkwood, D. (2016, April 11). Understanding the Power of Parent Involvement. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/resources/blog/understanding-power-parent-involvement

Photo

https://www.eagleschools.net/news/please-schedule-your-parent-teacher-conference

Research Around the World

What are some of the current international research topics?

Immediately after I selected the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal (EECERJ) to discover what are current international topics I came across several articles that highlighted integrating technology in early childhood. "The EECERJ, the Journal of EECERA, is one of the most prestigious early childhood journals in the world. It is one of only four early years journals indexed by the Institute for Scientific Information" (EERECJ, 2020). Technology is one of many topics I have mixed emotions on in regards to early child development. I feel strongly that if we are going to allow our children to use technology whether it be a computer or even a smartphone we should guide their learning by joining in on their experience in using technology. Children are so much more intelligent than most individuals give them credit for. I think we should not just tell them what not to do when it come to technology but show them why certain websites are not for them to fully help them understand. When we do fully express certain topics to children toddlers or teenagers some tend to become more curious. In permitting children access to technology I also believe that it should be use primarily as reinforcement as children need to interact with one another to develop their social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. "Healthy development in the early years (particularly birth to three) provides the building blocks for educational achievement, economic productivity, responsible citizenship, lifelong health, strong communities, and successful parenting of the next generation" (DVC, 2020). 

What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?

Although past research (Arnott, Palaiologou, and Gray 2019; Fleer 2018, 2019; Mascheroni and Holloway 2019) describe the pros and cons related to the integration of technology in early childhood education and the subsequent influences on children’s cognitive learning and effective engagement with their everyday world, early childhood settings need more guidance in relation to what high-quality pedagogies with technologies may look like. This guidance needs to align closely with the founding principles of early childhood education–linked to play and child-center readiness–to ensure technologies become complementary resources,rather than competing artifacts which, some consider, may threaten early childhood ways of being (Kewalramani, 2020). According to the research done within this article technology can effectively be implemented in early childhood learning. Because of what is currently taking place all over the world having a reinforcement to learning for children of all ages makes technology based learning ideal. "The issue also provides innovative research evidence about how this can include pedagogies and practices for babies and toddlers (0–3) as well as Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning in early childhood education. It presents meaningful ways to engage the disengaged, how technology as multi modal artefacts complements the interactions that happen in an EC setting, extend education outside the classroom to enable children collecting digital data" (Kewalramani, 2020). As I stated before I have mixed emotions on technology in early childhood learning and like most anything there are pros and cons.

What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

There are countries that are successfully implementing technology based programs in early childhood learning. The article expressed how Turkish preschool has discovered improvement of a child motor skills "Bulca and Hürrem Özdurak present a distinctive instructional approach supported with visual materials to improve children’s locomotor skill learning in Turkish pre-schools. They provide a quantitative analysis to demonstrate the effects of digital physical exercise videos for improving children’s locomotor skill performance. We now have‘one of its kind’evidence that children who experience more movements with the applied video modelling techniques develop and improve their motor skills" (Kewalramani, 2020). Discovering new ways to teach children and assisting in the developmental learning within technology can be useful however, I fear that it is likely that it will take away from role of play and the benefits it incorporates for early child development. "Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. ... Undirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills" (Ginsburg, 2007). 

References

European Early Childhood Education Research Journal (EECERJ). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.eecera.org/journal/

Kewalramani, S., Arnott, L., & Dardanou, M. (2020, March 20). Technology-integrated pedagogical practices: a look into evidence-based teaching and coherent learning for young children. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1350293X.2020.1735739

What is Early Childhood Development? A Guide to Brain Development. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/guide/what-is-early-childhood-development-a-guide-to-the-science/

Kenneth R. Ginsburg, ; and the Committee on Communications and ; and the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health

Pediatrics January 2007, 119 (1) 182-191; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2006-2697

http://owlconnected.com/archives/tech-overload-technology-classroom