Evaluation of Instructional Technology: A Case Study of Early Childhood Teacher Candidates.

With the rise in technology use in early childhood classrooms, there is need to explore the strategies used to evaluate the effectiveness of such technology. Research indicates the proliferation of unvetted technology tools on the market and in online open source formats. Meaningful technology evaluation needs to be completed before, during, and after implementation in the lesson. Using a qualitative research design, data were collected from teacher candidates’ post-practicum reflective essays and one-on-one interviews. Findings indicate that during practicum a few teacher candidates used sound pedagogical strategies to evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of instructional technology. Findings also reveal the need for cooperating teachers to have strong technology pedagogical strategies in order to help teacher candidates who may be struggling with technology integration and assessment strategies. Based on the findings it is recommended that early childhood teacher preparation and professional development programs address alternative ways to assess the effectiveness of instructional technology tools used in the classrooms. Abstract The purpose of this research, which was carried out for the first time in Greece, is to focus on the early detection of preschool children’s internalizing problems , according to their teachers’ perceptions. The participants, 77 preschool teachers of 77 half-day and all-day preschool classes from the thirteen regions of Greece, completed: (a) the “Caregiver-Teacher Report Form (C-TRF) for ages 1½-5” of Achenbach (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2009) and (b) the “Demographic Questionnaire” (Doni, 2015), considering 1.234 mixed gender (617 boys and 617 girls) children 4-6 years of age. According to the results, preschool teachers detected internalizing problems in 10.4 % of the children, of whom 6.9% was included in the clinical range, while 3.5% was included in the borderline range. The highest rate, 10.9 % of the children, was included in either clinical or borderline range for withdrawal syndrome. Boys had higher rates of internalizing problems than girls. Moreover in all-day preschools, preschool teachers detected more cases of children with emotional reactivity . These findings could be useful in future studies specialized on children’s social and emotional functioning, in a future revision of universities curricula associated with early childhood education, as well as in preschool teachers’ training programs, by including modules related to the accurate and early detection and treatment of internalizing problems experienced by preschoolers. Abstract The study presents the results of a pilot project in which computer games were used for teaching English as a foreign language to primary school students. The target group was sixty fifth-grade primary school students, divided into three groups. The first group was taught conventionally using the textbook. In the second, a contemporary teaching method was used, but the instruction was not technologically enhanced. The third group of students used the computer games without the teacher’s intervention. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire and evaluation sheets. The data analysis revealed that the learning outcomes from the use of games were – more or less – the same as in the other methods. Also, the attitude of students towards games was very positive. The results can be attributed to students’ enjoyment, motivation, and positive attitude towards the use of games as well as to the teaching method. The results also lead to the need to examine ways that would allow digital games to be even more effective in the teaching of English as a foreign language.