Early Connections: Technology in Early Childhood Education
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Project Learning

Projects are in-depth investigations of topics that are within the experiences of most of the children and are of interest to them. Many teachers incorporate projects in their curriculum to motivate students and integrate the subject areas. Project work is not a separate subject, but rather is complementary to the more formal parts of the curriculum and provides a context for applying the skills and concepts being learned.

Project work supports children's interest in investigating things around them, and provides opportunities for them to apply skills, make choices, and pursue their interests. Children are encouraged to take initiative, ask questions that guide the investigation, and make decisions about activities along the way. The goal is to learn more about the topic by finding answers to real questions.

Technology fits well with a project approach in the classroom. Electronic tools and resources offer additional ways to investigate topics, increase opportunities for students, and enlarge the variety of ways to represent and share the learning. Technology can also expand the classroom itself—students can work on projects with other students across the city or across the country as electronic pen pals.

The Phases in a Project

Choosing the topic:
The topic should be closely related to children's experiences and rich enough to explore in depth. It should allow for integrating a range of skills and subject areas such as social studies and science in addition to language arts and mathematics. Children usually brainstorm or make a concept map of what they know or want to find out about the topic. With guidance from the teacher, students pose questions that they will try to answer during their investigation.

Developing the project:
Children investigate and explore, planning activities to provide answers for their questions. This phase might include direct investigation on field trips, observing, recording findings, predicting, researching, interviewing experts, constructing models, and discussing.

Culmination or conclusion:
Children prepare and present their results. These may be reports, pictorial representations, talks, displays, guided tours, demonstrations, or other presentations

Using Technology in Projects

Developing the project:
As students investigate a topic they may document findings through drawings and photographs, and recorded interviews. Children may use reference materials to find information, including software or the Internet as well as print resources. They may also partner with other students at a distance to exchange information and observations on a common topic via fax, e-mail, or Web sites.

Culmination or conclusion:
In addition to live performances, and hand-drawn, -built or -written works, technology offers many ways to prepare and present results:

  • Printed or on-screen documents showing and telling in words and pictures
  • Photographs or video recordings
  • Audio recordings
  • Electronic slide shows
  • Multimedia presentations that show understanding of the connections among ideas

Having a genuine audience, a large audience, is very motivating for children. Receiving comments from an outside audience encourages them to persist and put in greater effort, to find the most accurate information. They see the value of a high-quality finished product, and want to present it in a polished and professional manner.

Students can make presentations, including multimedia presentations, for school assemblies, at school board meetings, and at community events. Students and teachers are able to share projects and presentations with others across the state, across the country, or around the world using fax machines, e-mail, and Web sites.

 

Tips and Hints for Making It Work
  • Be flexible and able to change directions when technical problems occur
  • Be willing to tolerate students' progressing independently and at widely varying paces
  • Trust students sometimes to know more than the adults and to take on the role of expert
  • Allow students to take responsibility for teaching others and helping others troubleshoot simple problems
  • Use technology to link school, parents, and the wider community
  • Bring the community into the school through
    • Parent technology-training sessions
    • Technology open houses
    • Interaction with other programs, such as senior citizens' groups

Resources contains links to sites that provide additional information on using technology in lessons.

 
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