Learning with technology for pre-service early childhood teachers

This paper describes an innovative pilot project at the University of Canberra
aimed at providing pre-service early childhood teachers with the skills, confidence
and ideological change required to include technology-enhanced learning as part
of the early childhood curriculum. The impact of the project was evaluated through
participant observation, and a thematic analysis of entries in student learning diaries,
student feedback and transcriptions of semi-structured interviews with staff involved
in the delivery of the program. The analysis demonstrates that an intensive learning
program can successfully change the attitudes of pre-service early childhood teachers
toward the integration of technologies in the early childhood curriculum, and that
the scaffolded learning process in the intensive program enhanced the learning and
retention of the students’ technological knowledge and skills.