Mei-Li Shih Graduate Student Shih2@uiuc.edu

Jim Levin Professor Jalevin@uiuc.edu

 

Objective

Content

What I have found

Future goals

References

Objective:

I am working this challenge project with Dr. Cynthia Ching who is a professor in Education Psychology department at University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. This project focus on children and computers. I am not trying to focus on computer's positive and negative effects on young children. I am trying to show what I have seen in the k-1 class at University Primary School (UPS) at University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign. Do boys more interested on playing computer than girls? Do computers isolate children's interaction with peers? Can very young children (k-1 grade) mentor one another in using computer? I worked with a class at UPS to find answers to these questions. For this project, I did observation and took fieldnotes once a week from March to May 2003.

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Content:

I did observation in k-1 grade class at University of Primary School (UPS) once a week. There were 25 students in the class. I usually went there on Thursday at 1:40PM-2:30PM which was a free choice time for children. These are the fieldnotes I have took during my observations.
 

1:40PM-2:30PM, March 5, 2003
1:40PM-2:30 PM, March 13, 2002
9:00AM-10:00AM, March 19, 2003
1:40PM-2:30PM, March 20, 2003
1:40PM-2:30PM, March 27, 2003
1:40PM-2:30PM, April 3, 2003
1:40PM-2:30PM, April 10, 2003
1:40PM-2:30PM, April 17, 2003
1:40PM-2:30PM, April 24, 2003
1:40PM-2:30PM, May 1, 2003

What I have found at UPS:

• Some children spent more time on computer than other children; Jia is a good example in this project. (example)
• Boys spend more time on computer than Girls do. (example)
• Computers do not isolate children's interaction with peers. Children work cooperatively while they are playing computer games.  (example)
• K-1 children can use computer much better than what adults excepted. (example)

Future Goals:

• I will read more books and research articles which relate children and technology. I want to learn more about this subject.
• I hope I will have chances to do observation at different school settings and see the differences in the future.
• I hope to find same search topic in other countires. Does different cultural background effect this research results?

References:

Ching Cynthia Carter. Points of View: perspective on Peer Collaboration and Education Technology in an Early Childhood Classroom.  University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Children and Computer Technology: Analysis and Recommendations. The Future of Children Vol 10, N 2- Fall/Winter 2000.

Clements, D. (1999) Young Children and Technology. In Dialogue on Early Childhood Science, Mathematics, and Technology

Elkind, D. (1999) Educating Young Children in Math, Science, and Technology. In Dialogue on Early Childhood Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education. American Association for the Advancement of Science

Resnick, M. (1998). Technologies for Lifelong Kindergarten. Educational Technology Research and Development, vol. 46, no. 4.

Wang X. Christine and Ching Cynthia Carter. Social Construcation of Computer Experience in a First-Frade Classroom: Social Processes and mediating Artifacts. University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

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Challenge Reflcetion:

Strengthness and weakness
 

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