24 summer 2005 • vol 28, no 3

“Oooh, why don’t you use Wingdings? That’scool!”

“Look at that! It’s glopping! Let’s make it glopall over!”

These 5-year-old children are using newvocabulary to describe font styles in Simple Textand to illustrate their pictures using the painttool in Kid Pix (Broderbund). They are mentor-ing each other on the use of those programs andgiving ongoing evaluative feedback as to thequality of their creation.

The phrase “Do you know where your childis?” takes on a whole new meaning in today’sgeneration. Our children can be at home, yet bea n y w h e re on the Internet, playing games in re a ltime with other students across continents.They can be immersed in a simulation and bet rudging through the Old Frontier or battlingsoldiers on the beaches at No r m a n d y. This gen-eration of students, now re f e r red to as “d i g i t a ln a t i ve s” in the computer industry, is differe n t

f rom their “digital immigrant” parents. Di g i t a ln a t i ves we re born into a world where personalcomputers are used as eve ryday tools. Theirimmigrant parents acquired computer literacysimilar to learning a second language. Di g i t a ln a t i ves are computer savvy and they are e ve ry-w h e re on the computer.

Thus, technology is playing an importantrole in the lives of our children. How can wechannel their curiosity and use technology tohelp them grow intellectually, socially, and emo-tionally? How do we integrate technology intoour instruction to go beyond consumers andgaming to using technology as tools for creativeproduction?

In this article, we share examples of how wehave integrated technology into the curriculum.We demonstrate how the impact of technologyhas personalized and differentiated instruction,and we provide some suggestions for others andconclude with possibilities for the future.

Beyond Gaming

a technology explosion

in early childhood classrooms

Beyond Gaming

Beyond Gaming

by Nancy Hertzog and Marjorie Klein

gifted child today 25

Research

Clements and Sarama (2003), intheir summary of the re s e a rch abouttechnology for young children, discussthe value of computers in five are a s :social and emotional deve l o p m e n t ,c o g n i t i ve development and learning,c re a t i v i t y, language and reading, andmathematics. In the social and emo-tional domain, they maintain thatre s e a rch and practice indicate that

computers can serve as cata-lysts for positive social inter-action and emotional grow t h .. . . Computers can facilitateboth social and cognitiveinteractions—each to thebenefit of the other. Go o ds o f t w a re encourages childre nto talk about their work aswell as engage in morea d vanced cognitive types ofplay than they do in othercenters. (pp. 34–35)

Ac c o rding to Clements andSarama (2003), “Whether used toread or write; to acquire knowledgeand insight into science, mathemat-ics, and other areas; to express oneself;or to learn content in a new medium,computers can support the expressionand development of creativity” (p.35). These re s e a rchers found thatp re s c h o o l e r s’ spoken words perminute were twice as high at the com-puter than at any other activity,including play dough, blocks, art, orgames. According to Siegle (2003),“Some of the best programs beginwith a blank screen upon which stu-dents can apply their creative imagi-nation and talents” (p. 17).

Siegle (2005) re p o rted seve r a lre s e a rch studies that described benefitsof using technology. Ac c o rding toSchunk (2000), as cited in Si e g l e

(2005), “When technology is usede f f e c t i ve l y, it creates an active interac-tion between learner and content. Thecomplexity of these interactionsi n c reases with the level of student tal-e n t” (p. 18). Jonassen, Peck, andWilson (1999) noted that studentswho use technology for cre a t i ve pro-duction “engage in much more mean-i n gful learning” than those who are“re c e i vers from instru c t i o n a l - t e c h n o l o-g i e s” (p. 18). Jonassen et al. made adistinction between using technologyto teach and using technology for crit-ical thinking. When computers areused to teach, students use recall andmemorization. Howe ve r, when com-puters are used as “Mindtools,” stu-dents must “c o n c e p t u a l i ze, organize ,and solve pro b l e m s” (Jonassen et al., p.152). When students use Mi n d t o o l s ,they “function as designers—analyzingphenomena in the world, accessinginformation, interpreting and organiz-ing their personal knowledge, and re p-resenting what they know to others”( p. 153). Thus, when used appro p r i-a t e l y, technology has the potential tomake a substantial positive contribu-tion to young childre n’s learning. Thishigher order thinking is part i c u l a r l yuseful to challenge gifted students.

UniversityPrimary School

For the last 3 years, we have beenexploring, inventing, and experiment-ing with ways to use technology toengage young children in cre a t i ve andcritical thinking. Technology hasexploded in our classrooms, and stu-dents have not been the only benefac-tors. Technology has significantlyimpacted our teaching, as well. It hasalso influenced our communicationwith parents and enriched the ways wev i ew our total school environment. Tounderstand the broad context in

which we use technology, it is impor-tant to gain a glimpse of our pro g r a m .

University Primary School (UPS)is an early childhood (ages 3–6) giftedp rogram affiliated with theDepartment of Special Education atthe University of Illinois. Althoughthe children are not tested beforeentering the program, parents arerequired to visit to determine if thelearning environment is a good matchfor their child. At University PrimarySchool, the curriculum incorporatesthe Project Approach (Katz & Chard,2000), which consists of three phasesthat guide students through inquiry.Similar to Type III En r i c h m e n t(Renzulli, 1977), students pursue in-depth answers to their own questionsusing firsthand field experiences.

In Phase 1, teachers ascert a i nwhat children already know about aparticular topic. Students share theirexperiences and re p resent theirunderstandings in many ways. By theend of Phase 1, students have dis-cussed similarities and differences intheir experiences and have articulatedquestions about the topic.

In Phase 2, students have oppor-tunities to pursue their own ques-tions, mostly through firsthandexperiences. They collect data byobserving, experimenting, surveying,interviewing, and going on field stud-ies. Many examples of this data col-lection are given on the UPS Web site(http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/ups).

In Phase 3, students design waysto share their findings with appro p r i-ate audiences. This approach encour-ages long-term inquiry and enhancesthe understanding students gain fro min-depth studies. It increases opport u-nities for students to pursue questionsof their own interests and gives themmultiple perspectives to evaluate criti-cally what they are learning. Whenstudents engage in project inve s t i g a-

26 summer 2005 • vol 28, no 3

tions, they become re s e a rchers andf o l l ow standard methods of inquiry.Technology is particularly usefulwithin the stru c t u re of our enviro n-ment and curricular framew o rk.

Teachers work with individuals orsmall groups of children to facilitatetheir project investigations, to giveadditional practice or challenges incontent areas, or to provide firsthandor secondary re s o u rces to help chil-d ren accomplish their own goals. Inthe K/1 classroom, there is also timefor large- and small-group instru c t i o nin language arts and mathematics. Aunique feature of the program is thehour-long project/activity time thata l l ows students to move freely amongtheir predetermined choices.

Students’ EverydayUse of Technology

On any given day, a visitor mightsee 3- or 4-year-olds scanning their art-

w o rk to upload to their own We bpages, 5- or 6-year-olds cre a t i n gPowe r Point presentations, peer men-tors teaching each other how to useKidspiration, or students taking pic-t u res of their own products with a dig-ital camera. In our classro o m s ,c h i l d ren turn to their peer mentors intimes of need, rather than the teacher.The teacher might hear, “W h e re’sSam? Where’s Sam? I need him tos h ow me again how to print.” On emight see Nicole, a first grader, com-posing a food riddle using Si m p l eText. She may print it and give it to afriend to guess what food she hasdescribed. Alice, a 5-year-old, may betaking digital pictures of the classro o min action as part of a photojournal sheis creating with the teacher. The soft-w a re iPhoto allows her to view her pic-t u res, select her favorites, and writetext under them for a storybook.

During project/activity time, thescenarios below are typical.

Kyle, a kindergartner, is on thecomputer showing friends how hemade a food web using Kidspiration:

Kyle: Hey, guys look. I put a cowpicture in the middle of theweb and a milk picture andthen a cheese.

Abby: Ooh! How did you get thatblue background?

Kyle: It’s easy, I’ll show you.Abby: Can I try?Kyle: Yeah. Just let me save and

print first.

At another computer station in aquiet corner, Carl, a kindergart n e r,returns to his innovation of “The Ol dLady Who Sw a l l owed a Fl y.” Hew o rked several days on his story enti-tled “The Old Lady Who Sw a l l owed aBee.” Simple Text allowed him toe x p ress himself without the fine motordemands of letter formation. He printshis story and hurries to share his most

Technology in Early Childhood Classrooms

One first grader used digi-tal photography to help himproblem solve while he con-structed his representation

of a coil machine.

gifted child today 27

recent draft with the teacher. “I’malmost done,” he says. “To m o r row I’l ltype in about the tiger. ”

The use of the term t e c h n o l o gy a tUPS mostly means use of computers,digital photographs, and digital video-cameras (see Table 1). Computers aretools that our students used eve ry day,just as adults might use them. Themost frequent use of the computersfor the K/1 children is for word pro-cessing. Although the teachers’ com-puters have Mi c rosoft Office on them,the children used Simple Text becauseit is on eve ry machine. Other depart-ments on campus donated classro o mcomputers to us when they upgradedtheir equipment, and we competedfor grants to support our pro f e s s i o n a ld e velopment and hard w a re. Althoughwe have a limited budget for technol-o g y, we have developed a “t e c h n o l o g yrich environment.” Ap p roximately 10to 12 machines in the K/1 classro o meliminate the need for competition touse them.

We have a child-friendly attitudeabout using equipment. Students han-dle digital cameras and often havechoices about whether or not theywant to use technology with their indi-vidual or group projects. With thise ve ryday use of technology, studentsgain valuable computer literacy skillssuch as how to open, save, quit, andprint documents. They also learn howto e-mail, take digital photographs,scan their work samples, and do sim-ple word processing. The integrationof technology into the total enviro n-ment allows them to become familiarwith different software programs suchas Simple Text, iPhoto, Powe r Po i n t ,Ph o t o s h o p, and Kidpix.

Integrating Technology IntoIndependent Studies and Literacy

During project/activity time, stu-dents with adult guidance and superv i-

sion search the Internet to pursuea n s wers to questions in their ow ni n t e rest areas. Students explore biogra-phies (e.g., Wyatt Earp), ways to makethings (e.g., hand lotion, paper, per-fume), and other topics that are noteasily studied through firsthand inve s-tigation (e.g., wild animals, the rainf o rest, the pyramids, ancient Gre e c e ) .Sometimes, teachers find challengingenrichment activities in the contenta reas. In one instance, for an adva n c e dmath student, the teacher presented aWeb site (http://www. m a t h b r a i n . c o m )that gave several different levels for cal-culations. Web sites of museums arep a rticularly helpful for teachers andstudents (e.g., http://www. m s i c h i c a g o.org). The Web sites we have intro-duced to children are too numerous tolist here. Howe ve r, we have book-

m a rked those that are most useful toboth teachers and students so that theycan easily return to them.

Technology strengthens literacyinstruction. Students choose to writestories on the computer or by hand.Students enhance their writingbecause they are not concentrating onhow to write the letters, but on theflow of ideas. Small-group literacyinstruction includes activities relatedto project work. Students haveauthentic reasons to read, write, andshare. They write memory stories,questions, reports, predictions, andfindings. The editing process becameeasier because they do not have toerase physically, nor tear their papersto correct their mistakes. Also, cre-ative stories stay on the computer,a l l owing students to elaborate on

Table 1Ways Young Gifted Children

May Use Technology in the Classroom

Application Possible Software

Word Processing Microsoft WordSimple Text

E-mail Eudora

Educational Games Gizmos and GadgetsMath BlasterReader RabbitMath StormTreasure CoveAround the World in 80 DaysOregon Trail

Creative Production PowerPointKid PixKidspirationWeb pages

Information Retrieval NetscapeInternet Explorer

28 summer 2005 • vol 28, no 3

them in repeated ses-sions. Students also col-laborate on their writing.They print multiplecopies of play scripts orjoint reports so that all ofthe children involved canread them at once.

Use of Technology toSupport ProjectInvestigations

In Phase 1, studentsshared memories of theirexperiences related to achosen topic. This oftenincluded stories typedusing Simple Text, com-puter graphic drawingsusing Kidpix, and con-cept webs usingKidspiration. Te a c h e r sused Powe r Point orInspiration to cre a t etopic webs, digital photographs toshare memory experiences, and typeddocumentation of their shared experi-ences.

In Phase 2, our students, armedwith digital cameras and videocam-eras, ventured into the community totake photographs and videos toenhance their data collection. Digitalvideos helped students re m e m b e r,reflect upon, and re p resent moreaccurately through drawings or con-structions what they saw or learned.When our students studied “WhoMeasures What in Our Neighbor-hood,” they discovered that scientistsat the Water Su rvey used a coilmachine to measure water. Often-times, students used Kid Pix to createre p resentations of what they ob-served. Thus, examining the digitaldata, students expanded their oppor-tunities for critical and creative think-ing. Figure 1 shows a student’s KidPix drawing of a baler that she learned

about on the same trip to the WaterSurvey. Experts presented advancedvocabulary and new concepts thatcould have been missed if studentsdid not have additional opportunitiesto review them on video.

In Phase 3 of the project investi-gation, students and teachers planneda sharing event. Technology maxi-mized the opportunities for studentsto highlight what they learned withothers. For example, students incu-bated eggs and hatched chickens aspart of their measurement project.Figure 2 shows a concept web usingKidspiration developed by a 6-year-old. The web demonstrated to theteacher that the student re c a l l e dmany details about the incubationp rocess. The student learned thatchickens lay eggs; eggs take 21–22days to hatch; the eggs do not like toget bumped; and people can use eggsin many ways (cooking, eating, andraising chicks). The student noted

that it is necessary to have both arooster and a chicken to get eggs. Theteacher inferred that the studentunderstood the difference betwe e nfertilized and unfertilized eggs, butwent back to further clarify what thisstudent understood. This process ofconcept mapping allowed the teacherto revisit understandings and ask thechild for clarification. Before the pro-ject, none of these kindergarten orfirst-grade students knew the lengthof incubation, the environment nec-essary for incubation, or the differ-ence between fertilized and unfer-tilized eggs.

Students also created PowerPointpresentations to reflect upon theirown learning experiences. Some stu-dents shared their presentations withtheir parents at a culminating openhouse. When students made visiblewhat they learned, teachers had theopportunity to assess the students’level of understanding and growth.

Technology in Early Childhood Classrooms

Figure 1. Representation of the baler using Kid Pix

gifted child today 29

The technology explosion in ourclassrooms not only involved the chil-dren, but it greatly influenced andimpacted our teaching.

Impact on Teaching

Based on our experiences, wefound many advantages to using tech-nology in our early childhood class-rooms. We more readily accessedresources and information to facili-tate learning. We increased our use oftools for documenting students’ expe-riences, which enhanced the assess-ment and evaluation of studentp ro g ress and individual port f o l i o s .Technology also helped to make stu-dents’ learning and thinking morevisible.

Teachers Access Resources andInformation to Facilitate Learning

Teachers at UPS usedcomputers to incre a s etheir own know l e d g eabout topics, as well as tosearch for resources forinstructional activities topresent to students. Forexample, one teacherwanted to find a pictureof Winslow Homer’s arte xemplar The School-h o u s e to demonstrateh ow artists re p re s e n t e dbuildings when the stu-dents studied “T h eBuilding Where Ou rSchool Is.” While inves-tigating the project enti-tled “What Move sA round Our School,”another teacher con-sulted a Web site to bet-ter understand astudent’s question, “Howdo cars move?” In addi-

tion to searching for art and scienceinformation, teachers browse theInternet for background informationon the topics students are investigat-ing, as well as Web sites that may givethem additional resources.

Documenting Students’Experiences

The importance of documenta-tion to the early childhood environ-ment is well articulated (He l m ,Beneke, & Steinheimer, 1998, 2003;Helm & Katz, 2001; Katz & Chard,2000). Documentation enhanceschildren’s learning by allowing themto revisit and elaborate upon theirideas and products. It also demon-strates to children how import a n ttheir ideas are to teachers and otherstudents. Documentation is an ongo-ing assessment process that revealsp ro g ress and misconceptions. It

guides teachers’ planning and differ-entiation of instruction. Another pur-pose of documentation is to tell thes t o ry of project investigations. Itallows parents to appreciate and par-ticipate in their children’s learningexperiences.

At UPS, we focus on documenta-tion for individual portfolios and forwriting and disseminating the projectnarratives. Technology provides thetools for documenting students’ expe-riences and for collecting studentproducts. For example, in their indi-vidual portfolios, we include digitalphotographs of block and LEGOc o n s t ructions, scanned pictures ofa rt w o rk, audiotapes of musicalexpressions, and transcripts of con-versations.

Technology strengthens assess-ment and evaluation by allowing visu-alization and re v i ew of studentp roducts. Students use Powe r Point to

Figure 2. Use of Kidspiration to web ideas

We can cookwith them We can

use eggs

We can eat them

We can raise chickens

Chicken

Chickenscan’t fly.

You need achicken and arooster to get

eggs

Chickens lay eggs

Heather’sChicken and Egg

Web

It takes 21 or 22

days for anegg to hatch

Egg An egg doesn’t like to

get bumped

Eggs can bedifferent

colors

30 summer 2005 • vol 28, no 3

reflect upon their learning (Wa n g ,Kedem, & He rt zog, 2004). This activ-ity engages them in re f l e c t i ve, criticaland eva l u a t i ve thinking and allow sthem to share their perspectives of thep roject study with others. Teachers seere p resentations of misconceptions andplan lessons to clarify, probe, anda d d ress understandings. For example,Donna re p o rted in her Powe r Po i n tp resentation, “In the ceramics studio,they use a kiln and a hanger to mea-s u re the pots.” The teachers re a l i ze dthat she had learned new words, butdid not fully understand their mean-ing. In a group discussion follow i n gthe field trip, the teacher asked otherstudents about what they saw at theceramics studio. The children re p o rt e dthat they saw the kiln and the hanger,but that the caliper tool measured thepots. Another student understood themagnitude of measurement in nearlye ve ry field of study, and he expre s s e dthis in his Powe r Point pre s e n t a t i o n(see Fi g u re 3.) The Powe r Point pre s e n-tations we re examples of products thatfacilitated day-to-day instru c t i o n a ldecision making (see the studentPowe r Point gallery at http://www. e d .u i u c . e d u / u p s / c u r r i c u l u m 2 0 0 2 / m e a-s u re / p p t g a l l e ry. s h t m l ) .

Teachers used word processing totype project narratives, observations,and anecdotal notes. They displayeddigital photographs of studentsengaged in all phases of the project.Using software such as iPh o t o ,iMovie, or PowerPoint, teachers doc-umented field studies, visitingexperts, or the process of creating rep-resentations to share with a wideraudience (e.g., visitors to the class-room, families). Teachers wrote nar-ratives to keep records of projects,aligning project work with state goalsand standards. These narratives canbe accessed through the UPS homepage (http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/ups).

Enhancing ParentInvolvement andCommunication

As the use of technology steadilyincreases in the early childhood class-rooms, parents have become morei n vo l ved in the learning pro c e s s .Parent volunteers play an integral rolein the documentation of pro j e c tactivities, often typing students’responses to webbing, questionnaires,or stories.

Teachers use technology in a vari-ety of ways to enhance communica-tion with parents. Dissemination ofchildren’s learning experiences in atimely manner has become possible.The following list describes some ofthe ways technology has been used tofacilitate parent involvement.

• Teachers made a slide show of thedigital photographs that we retaken each day. The next morn-ing, parents viewed the slide showon the computer’s screen save r.

• Students created Web pages thatparents could view from theirown home.

• The annual art exhibition wasburned on a CD for parents topurchase and take home so thatthey could revisit and appreciatethe work of all of the children inthe school.

• Student plays we re digitallyre c o rded and transferred toiMovie.

• Students created photojournalsand Powe r Point pre s e n t a t i o n sthat teachers burned on CDs forparents.

• Teachers e-mailed attachments ofstudent-created PowerPoint pre-sentations to parents.

We have also embraced parentp a rticipation in our technology

explosion. Parents can help childrenbe creative and productive at home inthe following ways:

1. Encourage children to use word-processing software to write sto-ries, letters, or thank-you notes.

2. Type dictations of children’s sto-ries to accompany drawings.

3. Scan children’s artwork to save(using minimal storage space).

4. Take digital photographs of chil-dren’s creative products.

5. Use iPhoto to make memorybooks.

6. Search the Internet with theirchild to answer his or herresearch questions.

7. Help children use graphic designp rograms such as Kidpix,PowerPoint, and Kidspiration toillustrate stories or make postersor drawings.

The Future of Technology in Our Classrooms

Because we as teachers and pare n t sa re digital immigrants, our technologyliteracy is still emerging. It is difficultto keep pace with new advances. Ou rstaff seeks new and innova t i ve ways touse technology in our classrooms, andwe would like to develop better sys-tems and routines for data manage-ment. Some of our ideas include:

• e l e c t ronic individual studentportfolios;

• computer files that house class-room photographs related to pro-ject narratives;

• designated time and personnel tomanage and organize digitalphoto files; and

• use of parent volunteers in theclassroom to create and print outthumbnail images of all of thedigital photographs.

Technology in Early Childhood Classrooms

gifted child today 31

With accurate digitalstorage systems, wecould create richer andm o re compre h e n s i veindividual port f o l i o sand enhance the docu-mentation of classactivities.

The market for soft-w a re for children isexpanding rapidly. Anongoing goal is to keepup with new kid-friendly programs thatengage students in crit-ical and creative think-ing. Cre a t i ve pro -duction software, or“ Mindtools,” such asi Photo, iMovie, orPowerPoint, may havemore kid-friendly ver-sions in the future. Wewant to learn moreabout programs thatassist with data man-agement.

Not only are choicesfor software expanding,but the number andvarieties of hard w a rea re also explodingwhile prices continueto go down. We expectthat we will soon beable to purchase at leastone camera for chil-d ren to use in eachc l a s s room, and weawait the day that colorprinters reduce in costto be affordable forclassroom daily use. Inaddition, we have justbegun to discove requipment that inter-faces with our comput-ers to bring exc i t i n glearning experiences tothe children (e.g.,

Digital Blue microscope). Although there are many advan-

tages, using technology presents uswith challenges as well. We have eval-uated classroom priorities and madechoices about what is important forour students to learn and do. Wequestioned how much time should bedevoted to technology skills and whatgoals would be best accomplishedusing technology. Managing digitaldata on the computer has been one ofthe most time-consuming tasks.

Summary

At Un i versity Pr i m a ry School,the use of technology as Mindtoolshas been a particularly good matchfor channeling students’ cre a t i v i t yand critical thinking. Students usetechnology individually and collabo-ratively to produce reflections of theirown learning and representations oftheir thinking. They enjoy becomingtechnology-literate. In addition, tech-nology has enhanced the differentia-tion of the curriculum by facilitatingopen-ended activities and cre a t i veproduction such as writing, drawing,photojournaling, bookmaking, andwebbing. Technology has supportedstudents in moving from concreteexperiences to abstract concepts. Justlike adults, 3- to 7-year-olds use tech-nology to research answers to theirown questions and produce represen-tations of their findings. Our studentshave gone beyond gaming and con-suming. They have grown socially,emotionally, and cognitively as theyused technology to create, collabo-rate, and problem solve in order toexpress their ideas.

Guided by curriculum standards,teachers at UPS decide what their stu-dents should learn and choose from avariety of teaching strategies to helpthem reach their goals. Technology

continued on page 65

applications are among the manytools offered to children for creative,meaningful, and challenging learningexperiences.

References

Clements, D. G., & Sarama, J.(2003, November). Young chil-d ren and technology. Yo u n gChildren, 34–40.

Helm, J. H., Beneke, S., &St e i n h e i m e r, K. (1998). Wi n d ow son learning: Documenting yo u n gc h i l d re n’s work. New Yo rk: Te a c h e r sCollege Pre s s .

Helm, J. H., Beneke, S., &St e i n h e i m e r, K. (2003). T h epower of projects: Meeting contem-

porary challenges in early child-hood classro o m s — St rategies ands o l u t i o n s . New Yo rk: Te a c h e r sCollege Press.

Helm, J. H., & Katz, L. (2001).Young investigators: The projectapproach in the early years. NewYork: Teachers College Press.

Jonassen, D. H., Peck, K. L., &Wilson, B. G. (1999). Learningwith technology: A constructivistperspective. Upper Saddle River,NJ: Prentice Hall.

Katz, L., & Chard, S. C. (2000).Engaging childre n’s minds: Theproject approach (2nd ed.). Nor-wood, NJ: Ablex.

Renzulli, J. S. (1977). The enrichmenttriad model: A guide for develop-ing defensible pro g rams for the

gifted and talented. Ma n s f i e l dCenter, CT: Creative LearningPress.

Schunk, D. H. (2000). Learning the-ories: An educational perspective.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.

Siegle, D. (2003). Music Maestro:Some of the best software beginswith a blank screen. Gifted ChildToday, 26(2), 35–39.

Siegle, D. (2005). Using media andt e c h n o l o gy with gifted learn e r s.Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.

Wang, X. C., Kedem, Y., & Hertzog,N. (2004). Scaffolding yo u n gc h i l d re n’s reflections with stu-dent-created PowerPoint presen-t a t i o n s . Jo u rnal of Re s e a rch inChildhood Education, 19, 159–174.

gifted child today 65

continued from page 31

Technology in Early Childhood Classrooms

British Columbia Mi n i s t ry ofEducation. (1996). Appendix F:Gl o s s a ry. Re t r i e ved May 10,2005, from http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/it1112/apf.htm

Clark, B. (1988). Growing up gifted:Developing the potential of chil-dren at home and at school (3rded.). Columbus, OH: Merrill.

Cornell University. (2004). Evaluat-ing web sites: Criteria and tools.Retrieved January 14, 2005, fromh t t p : / / w w w. l i b r a ry. c o r n e l l . e d u /o l i n u r i s / re f / re s e a rc h / we b e va l .html#rank

De l p, J. L., & Ma rtinson, R. A.(1974). The gifted and talented: Ahandbook for pare n t s. Ventura, CA:Ventura County Su p e r i n t e n d e n tof Schools.

Dorsaj, A., & Jukes, I. (2004).Understanding digital kids.Teaching and Learning in the New

Digital Landscape. Re t r i e ve dFebruary 13, 2004, from http://w w w. t h e c o m m i t t e d s a rd i n e . n e t /i n f o s a v v y / e d u c a t i o n / h a n d o u t s /handoutsmain.asp

Duffy, J. (2003). Google calls in thelanguage police. BBC Ne w sOnline. Re t r i e ved Ja n u a ry 7,2004, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3006486.stm

Kaplan, S. (2004). Di f f e re n t i a t i n gcurriculum: Enhancing learningfor gifted students. Ur b a n Ed.Re t r i e ved Fe b ru a ry 21, 2005,f rom http://www. u s c . e d u / d e p t /e d u c a t i o n / n ew s / u r b a n e d 0 4 _ 0 5 /30.pdf

November, A. (2001). Empoweringstudents with technology. Gl e n -view, IL: Pearson Skylight

Prensky, M. (2004). Use their tools!Speak their language. ConnectedOnline. Retrieved April 3, 2005,f rom http://www. l t s c o t l a n d . o r g .

u k / c o n n e c t e d / c o n n e c t e d 1 0 / by t e-back/usetheirtools.asp

Schrock, K. (2003). Critical evalua-tion surveys. Retrieved November23, 2004, from http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide

Thornburg, D. (2003). Technology inK–12 education: Envisioning anew future. Retrieved May 10,2005, from http://www.air.org/forum/abthornburg.htm

University of Albany. (2004). Booleansearching on the Internet: A primeron Boolean logic. Re t r i e ve dJanuary 15, 2005, from http://l i b r a ry. a l b a n y. e d u / i n t e r n e t /boolean.html

University of California, Berkeley.(2004). Evaluating web pages:Techniques to apply & questions toask. Re t r i e ved Ja n u a ry 15, 2005,f rom http://www. l i b. b e rk e l e y. e d u /Te a c h i n g L i b / Gu i d e s / In t e r n e t /Eva l u a t e . h t m l

continued from page 37

The Internet—A Highway or a Maze?