HSIPC - Technology: A Key to the Future - Head Start Bulletin February 2000/Issue No. 66

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February 2000

Issue No. 66

Technology: Transportation into the 21st Century

By Suzanne Thouvenelle

We are moving from a period of rapid change into a period of radical change. Computers now exhibit the rudiments of human intelligence. Information is transmitted around the globe in seconds. We are surrounded by rapidly evolving technologies, and we can't keep running faster. Today that's a strategy of diminishing returns. So is working harder.

What are the skills, knowledge, and experiences children in Head Start need to be prepared to take their places in a world facing this magnitude of change? How can technology help to ensure that today's education will help children meet the requirements of the 21st century?

We need to work "smarter" by helping teachers use technology as a tool. How can we do this? By offering training and support to teachers that assists them in:

Selecting software that reflects educational goals;
Using software that provides open-ended activities and problem-solving experiences;
Linking computer activities with hands-on classroom materials; and
Using the computer as a tool for their own work.

Let's look at the history of computers in Head Start.

Milestones: Personal Computer Use in Head Start

1981– IBM Corporation Personal Computer introduced.
1983– National Head Start Association Conference includes an exhibit with administrative and child-tracking software applications running on IBM Personal Computers. During the remainder of the 1980s, several more developers create Head Start-specific software to meet the Program Information Requirements (PIR) and other management and administrative needs.
1984– Head Start Task Force convenes to explore classroom use of computers with young children. Due to the lack of appropriate software applications for young children, the task force invokes a moratorium on purchasing classroom computers with Head Start funds.
1986– Head Start Bureau and the IBM and MOBIUS Corporations begin discussions on revisiting the moratorium on Head Start use of computers in classrooms.
1987– Head Start and IBM establish a partnership to explore issues around classroom computer use. MOBIUS coordinates a three-year formative evaluation of nine grantees, a University of Maryland lab school, and a California state-funded preschool program. The research includes a review of over 120 software programs and data collection in more than 60 early childhood classrooms nationally.
1990– The Head Start Bureau lifts the classroom computer moratorium, citing results of the Head Start/ IBM Partnership Project. Head Start programs with an interest in technology can now acquire computers and software for classroom use. A report of the research, Computers in Head Start Classrooms (published by MOBIUS), and the official memorandum are distributed to every Head Start grantee.
1993– NAEYC convenes a Technology Panel to consider issues related to the use of computers with young children and to develop a position statement concerning appropriate use of technology in early childhood education.
1994– The Head Start Bureau requests that MOBIUS update the original research and publish copies of the revised Computers in Head Start Classrooms.
1996– NAEYC publishes its position statement on technology and young children, providing broad principles for software selection and appropriate use.
1996– ACF joins the Department of Education and issues Performance Standards that apply to Head Start and Title I programs throughout the U.S.
1997– Region IV Technical Assistance Center sponsors a regional conference focused on technology use in Head Start programs.
1997– Nike Corporation partners with the National Head Start Association to establish the Start Line technology grant program to support classroom computer use in Head Start.
1998– National Head Start Association sponsors the first Technology Conference for Head Start programs nationally.
1999– Second National Head Start Association Technology Conference held in suburban Washington, D.C.

Head Start recognizes that technological literacy is becoming the standard in our country. Head Start has an important role in preparing children for a life-time of computer use, which is just as essential today as teaching them the basics of literacy and numeracy. You are encouraged to take advantage of technology in supporting children and families in your Head Start program.

Suzanne Thouvenelle is a faculty associate of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, and a founding partner of MOBIUS Corporation, a software publishing company in Alexandria, VA. She was a member of the 1993 NAEYC Technology Panel and has extensive experience developing computer-based curriculum for early childhood educators and young children.


Contents - Bulletin No. 66	On to Making Your Web Site Useful
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