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The Center for Early Childhood Education is pleased to release Introducing Technology to Young Children, an educational video that explores the role computers can play in teaching young children. The video features two prominent scholars in the field of technology in early childhood: Dr. Sudha Swaminathan of Eastern Connecticut State University and Dr. Douglas Clements of the University at Buffalo. The two scholars discuss how computers can help young children make the connection between concrete concepts and more abstract ideas, and how teachers can successfully integrate computers in their classroom curriculum.
 The video is the second in the e-clips series of educational videos for early childhood professionals. Each e-clip features an expert describing how early childhood professionals can use the latest research to enhance children's learning and includes video footage from preschool classrooms. Supplementing each e-clip are suggested readings, additional on-line resources, and discussion questions to support conversations within instructional teams or in staff meetings.
To view Introducing Technology and to access the supplemental materials, go to: http://www.easternct.edu/cece/e-clips_Technology.htm.
Center for Early Childhood Education faculty will be featured in four separate presentations at the upcoming National Association for the Education of Young Children conference in Washington, D.C. Presentations include the following:
- "High Quality Inclusive Practices Using a Reflective Process" by Ann Gruenberg: 11/20/09, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. at the Learning Galleria
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"Measuring the Impact of Toys on Social, Creative, and Learning Behaviors of Young Children" by Jeffrey Trawick-Smith: 11/20/09, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. at the Creating Synergies Among Play, Education, and Development Annual Play Forum
- "An Examination of Ways to Heighten Young Children's Awareness of Environmental Issues that Result in Increased Feelings of Self-Efficacy Rather Than Development and Fear" by Theresa Bouley: 11/21/09, 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
- "A Model for Producing Video-Rich Information for Early Childhood Professional Development" by Denise Matthews, Jamie Klein, and Sudha Swaminathan: 11/21/09, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
We hope to see you there!
The Center for Early Childhood Education is pleased to announce the e-clips project, an effort to provide early childhood professionals with tips and ideas they can implement in their own classrooms. e-clips are brief professional development videos that teachers and child care providers can access electronically from the Center's website. Educators can elect to receive email notification of new e-clip releases.
Each e-clip features an expert describing how early childhood professionals can use the latest research to enhance children's learning. Interviews with classroom teachers and footage from preschool classrooms illustrate how educators can put theory into practice and capture authentic early childhood classroom experiences. Supplementing each e-clip are suggested readings, additional on-line resources, and discussion questions to support conversations within instructional teams or in staff meetings.
How to Use e-clips
While many early childhood professionals will view and reflect on ideas presented in e-clips independently, the Center encourages educators to view e-clips in a group setting, such as in a staff meeting or during classroom planning periods. The video clips are designed to support educators in reflecting on their current teaching practices and in imagining possible changes they can make in their classrooms to implement research-based strategies.
e-clip #1: Five Predictors of Early Literacy
 The first e-clip features Dr. Theresa Bouley, and expert on early childhood language and literacy at Eastern Connecticut State University. To view the clip and access supplemental materials, go to http://www.easternct.edu/cece/e-clips_LiteracyPredictors.htm. Viewers are encouraged to provide feedback on the video by clicking on the feedback link directly below the video.
Ten Eastern students, under the direction of Eastern's Community Partners for Early Literacy (CPEL) project, recently conducted 589 early childhood literacy assessments at Eastern's Child and Family Development Resource Center and Windham Public School's Early Childhood Center. The students all received professional-level training from Dr. Maureen Ruby and Dr. Ann Anderberg in administering standardized early childhood literacy assessment tools. The students are majors in Eastern's Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Psychology, and Spanish programs, and include seven students with bilingual (English and Spanish) skills. These bilingual students were critical to assessing those preschool children who are English Language Learners.
The assessment services provided by these students is providing critical information to Willimantic preschool teachers that enables them to plan instruction to best meet their children's learning needs, thereby better preparing them for kindergarten.
Working as early literacy assessors has had an impact on these Eastern students. The students have shared many comments about the experience of working as assessors with early childhood educators and preschool children:
· "It's been an insightful experience that has helped me not only further my understanding of young children, but it has also helped me to understand myself in relation to children. Additionally, through working with ... teachers within both school systems I have been able to construct, so to speak, an idea of the kind of teacher I would like to become. All in all, it was simply a rewarding experience that has taught me many things about children, teachers, and myself."
· "It was definitely an experience I'll never forget, and I definitely learned about how kids develop and how they learn. Since I grew up in an English speaking school it was especially interesting to see how the kids learn in Spanish."
· "It gave me more experience working with children and seeing how developed a child's language is at certain ages."
· "The experience working with children and trying to help them in their academic understanding, was a meaningful task because I wasn't just teaching myself something."
· Assessing the children gave me "a lot more insight into language development."
· Working with the Spanish-speaking children "helped me get back in touch with my culture."
· Assessing has "enhanced my understanding of language and literacy development" and the experience would benefit Eastern's education students by helping them understand the world of assessing and teaching.
· One student has been telling her classmates that the experience "opens doors for you."
· A student who is interviewing for education jobs has said, "My work for CPEL has definitely elevated my qualifications and provided me with a unique distinction in the field of education. In my interviews I have cited the ability to build a rapport with students of varying personalities and backgrounds as a strength I possess. Working for CPEL allowed me to refine this strength on a daily basis by assessing children throughout multiple classrooms in two early childhood centers. Currently, assessment is a big movement in education [and] it is used to determine how to drive instruction. Being trained in assessments [is] significant to the administrators who have taken the time to interview me."
CPEL is proud to be able to provide meaningful work and community experience that enhances students' overall educational experience and prepares them for post-college employment.
For more information about the Center for Early Childhood Education's CPEL project, visit www.easternct.edu/cece/CPELMain.html.
The Center for Early Childhood Education's Early Reading First (ERF) management team attended the federal ERF grantee conference in Seattle, Washington on March 23 - 26. The conference was required for first year ERF grant recipients. Representing the CPEL project were co-principal investigators Dr. Ann Anderberg and Dr. Maureen Ruby of the Education Department, project manager Bill Black, and Center for Early Childhood Education director Julia DeLapp. The team presented the project's initial research findings in a conference poster session.
Conference speakers included nationally recognized early childhood literacy researchers who spoke about current research, the individual and social impact of early literacy skills, and the new federal administration's increased emphasis on and funding for early literacy programs.
Eastern received a $3.9 million ERF grant in August 2008 to fund its 3-year Community Partners for Early Literacy (CPEL) project. Early Reading First grants support efforts at the local level to improve the early literacy skills of preschool children in communities with high numbers of low-income families.
The CPEL project involves Eastern's Child and Family Development Resource Center and Windham Public School's Early Childhood Center. The project provides professional development and coaching to 33 early childhood teachers and paraprofessionals, conducts literacy assessments on 241 children, and supplies books and other teaching materials to 13 classrooms. In addition, the project has engaged 12 Eastern graduate and undergraduate students from the education, psychology, art, and communication departments as assessors, classroom substitutes, and videographers. The project is also utilizing Eastern students with bi-lingual skills to assess children who are English Language Learners.
For more information about CPEL, visit www.easternct.edu/cece/CPELMain.html.
 Debates are raging about videos aimed at babies, toddlers and preschoolers, but what do scientists really know about their impact? Lisa Guernsey, author of Into the Minds of Babes: How Screen Time Affects Children from Birth to Age Five, will share her findings from child research laboratories at Eastern's University Hour on April 1, 2009, at 3 p.m. Drawing on examples from popular shows such as Dora the Explorer, Guernsey will discuss the age at which children begin showing evidence of learning from what they see on screen, the impact of television on language and other areas of development, the surprising impact of background television, the type of content that young children find most upsetting, and how parents and early childhood providers can make informed decisions about screen time.
For more information, see: Guernsey flyer.pdf.
 The Center for Early Childhood Education was awarded an Early Reading First grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The three-year, $3.9 million grant will be used to improve the language and literacy skills of preschoolers under the Community Partners for Early Literacy (CPEL) project. Under the leadership of CECE Program Coordinator Julia DeLapp and Assistant Professors Dr. Maureen Ruby and Dr. Ann Anderberg, the Center will be partnering with the Windham Public Schools' Early Childhood Center and with Eastern's Child and Family Development Resource Center. Read the press release.
 CECE faculty member Dr. Jeffrey Trawick-Smith was recently awarded the honor of Endowed Chair of Early Childhood Education. Dr. Trawick-Smith is internationally recognized for his work on multicultural child development and his research on children's play and how play enhances language. He has authored or edited numerous articles, chapters, and books, including Early Childhood Development: A Multicultural Perspective and Interactions in the Classroom: Facilitating Play in the Early Years. Dr. Trawick-Smith has also been recognized as both Distinguished Professor and CSU Professor, the highest title bestowed on a faculty member in the Connecticut State University system.
On January 15th, Eastern's President Elsa Nuñez was invited to participate in the Governor's Early Childhood Summit: Investing in the First 1,000 Days. The summit was hosted by Governor M. Jodi Rell and the National Governor's Association and featured Dr. Jack Shonkoff, founder of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Dr. Nuñez participated in a panel discussion with other prominent leaders in the state. View the CT-N recording of the event.
 On December 7th and 8th, the Center hosted a symposium entitled Rewind Reality: Transforming Early Childhood Research and Professional Development Using Digital Video. Featuring speakers Douglas Clements, George Forman, Herb Ginsberg, and Roberta Schomburg, the symposium addressed how digital video can be used to integrate theory and practice in an effort to improve the transfer of knowledge to early childhood students and professionals. The symposium was attended by faculty and researchers from eight states, including Illinois, Arizona, and Florida.
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