What technology do early childhood education teachers use and why?

Question

What technology do early childhood education teachers use and why?

Answer 1

I use alot of assistive technology with my preschoolers.  Many of them are unable to communicate by speaking, so I have many different pieces of technology that help them to use the computer, request items, request help...food...going to the bathroom ect.

Answer 2

I have a laptop for my own use - none for the preschoolers. I believe preschool is more for socialization than sitting at a computer.  Once they are social creatures, they can then go to kindergarten and get all the computer usage they require. I do have keyboards without cords and lots of play telephones, cash registers, etc. for them to play with and pretend.

Answer 3

In our Nursery class we have loads of different types of technology.  

You have computers and such which you can use with loads of different software to support all different areas of curriculum and develop hand/eye coordination.

Everyday technology (real and play items) - telephones / mobiles / cash tills / tv - dvd / stereos etc / walkie talkies / cookers / kettles etc-  these help the children make sense of their world and show their understanding of their world.

We also use hand held metal detectors, microscopes that connect to whiteboards for exploring and understanding.

Be-bots which are small programmable toys - similar to 'turtles' from a few years back. These help develop maths skills / planning / spatial awareness.  

Remote control toys - cat / dog / van  - (cause and effect, space and awareness)

Digital cameras - we have two different types - one is especially for children and can be accessed at any time, the other is mainly for use by children when working with staff.

Stereos - headphones CD's tapes in listening corners.

All of our children are encouraged to use these independently.  They also develop social skills - we often ask children to work in pairs/ small groups.

Technology is a very important part of a foundation/nursery class - it covers many types of technology and covers ALL the areas of the early years curriculum.

This is justa quick list - sure you'll get more ideas if you 'yahoo / google ' it.