Rana P.

Winfrey
June 5, 2014
Article Summaries and Critiques
(Article 1)
Citation:
Keengwe, J., & Onchwari, G. (2009). Technology and early childhood education: a technology
integration professional development model for practicing teachers. Early Childhood
Education Journal, 37(3), 209-218. doi:10.1007/s10643-009-0341-0
Identification:
Professional Practice
Summary:
In the article, a group of teachers were given the opportunity to take part in a summer
program to help enhance their technological abilities. By enhancing their technological abilities,
it would also help them to integrate more technology into their instruction. Throughout the
article, it mentions that teachers and parents recognize the importance of using technology to
benefit a childs learning. Some of those benefits include greater gains in verbal and nonverbal
skills, problem solving, and abstract and conceptual skills. Even though there are many benefits,
there are also many concerns when it comes to using technology as a part of instruction.
Understanding and meeting some of these concerns were one of the goals of the Summer
Institute. The Summer Institute was designed to help teachers feel more comfortable about the
overall concept of using technology in the classroom. In the Summer Institute, teachers were
able to be hands-on and to work with other colleagues to help develop ways in which they could
use technology in their own classrooms. Once the program was complete, the teachers were
more comfortable with technology, but they continued to have concerns about the challenges that
they would face, such as lack of personal familiarity with technology, lack of support from
colleagues and administrators, curriculum integration difficulties, lack of time, and lack of
technical support.
Critique:
When reading this article, I felt that I could truly relate to the information being
presented. As I read the article, I was able to follow along with the idea of the constructivist
pedagogy that it mentioned. I feel that it was a good idea to include that section in the article
because that is where education wants us to go as teachers. Teachers are now supposed to be the
facilitators instead of the lecturers. I found that the article gave some interesting information
about the pros of integrating technology into instruction; however, I also understood the concerns
that were mentioned as well. I really liked that this article did not just place the idea of using
technology along with instruction mainly on the teacher. It stated that other responsible parties
included administrators, technical support, parents, and even the surrounding communities. I
really enjoyed reading this article because it was not all about what the teacher has to do to
instruct the child while using technology. I loved that they mentioned involving technology
leadership, technology partnership, and professional development as a way of making the use of
technology along with instruction a success. After reading this article, I wish they would have

included more about how these ideas were put into actual practice so that other teachers could
understand if there were positive or negative outcomes. Overall, I did really enjoy reading this
article. It really hit home for me because my school system does not have or use technology as
often as we probably could. As a teacher, I feel that I could also use more technology in my
classroom with my students, but I have also had some of those same concerns mentioned in the
article. I think one of the best things mentioned in the article was mentioned in the conclusion.
It stated that one of the main goals for schools should be to have teachers feel comfortable with
technology and be able to pass their knowledge and skills on to their students. This is ideal
because technology will always be a part of our everyday life and as soon as we are comfortable
with technology then we can help our students to become more equipped and be better prepared
for their future.

(Article 2)
Citation:
Northrop, L. & Killeen, E (2013). A framework for using ipads to build early literacy skills.
The Reading Teacher, 66(7), 531-537. doi:10.1002/TRTR.1155
Identification:
Professional Practice
Summary:
This article focuses on how teachers can integrate iPads into their classrooms to build on
a students literacy skills. It mentions that technology can be used to help increase a students
learning skills if used in an appropriate way. The article suggests that just because technology
increases a students engagement and motivation that it is important to note that it may not
automatically improve student achievement unless it is used appropriately. The overall message
of the article is that it is imperative that we allow our students to work with material that is
appropriate for his or her instructional or independent level when it comes to using technology,
and a framework lesson plan is included to show how to integrate iPads into the classroom.
Critique:
I felt that this article needed more to it to prove its point on building literacy skills. I
wish it would have included some more information that was study based and that proved that
iPads can help to build early literacy skills. I did appreciate that the authors included a step-bystep guide for effectively teaching with apps; however, I feel that the steps are things that many
of us do already in our classrooms. I know as a teacher that I try to explicitly teach concepts,
then explain and model those concepts, use guided practice, and then allow independent practice
to ensure that my students understand the concept that are being taught. I did like the fact that
they mentioned that it is recommended that technology be grouped with effective instructions to
show that students are actually learning and not just pushing a button or clicking a mouse to
move through their assignments. In my opinion, this is an issue that we sometimes come in
contact with as we use technology in our classroom, so I was glad to see that it was mentioned in
the article. One thing that I did find to be helpful in the article was the side bar titled Take
Action. It gave an overall summary of the steps, and it was broken down and easy to
understand. Overall, I did like the article, but I feel like there needed to be more information in
the article about how to incorporate the iPad into the classroom to help build the literacy skills
rather than just one framework.

(Article 3)
Citation:
Hargraves, V. (2014). Childrens theorizing about their world: exploring the practitioners role.
Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 39(1), 30-37.
Identification:
Theory-into-Practice
Summary:
The author discussed that childrens working theories are combinations of knowledge,
skills, and attitudes that support how a child understands the world. It also discusses that a
childs working theories can guide their actions, problem solving, and learning. In the article, it
mentions that a persons working theories develop over time and become more elaborate and
more useful for making sense of the world. It also discusses how a teacher can work with a
group of students to understand their world better and to understand how they use their working
theories. Within the study, the teacher identified several actions that helped to understand the
way a child thinks. She found out that it was important for students to share their ideas, to stay
focused on an open theme, to support the visibility of their ideas, and to also have the students to
extend their thinking. After going through the process, the teacher was now aware of how to put
the idea of working theories into practice among students and curriculum.
Critique:
As I read this article, I found some information to be helpful whereas other information
just seemed to be jumbled. I felt that some of the information would have been more helpful if it
did not repeat itself. I felt that I got a good understanding of what working theories is, but I
lacked understanding of how teachers could actually put it into practice. I felt like that was
supposed to be the point of the article was to have understanding of how teachers could put the
idea of working theories into their classrooms. From my point of view, I did not feel like the
article reached its goal. I think that it could have been improved by including ways that working
theories were put into play after the research was concluded.

(Article 4)
Citation:
Ainsa, T. (2013). Early childhood pre-service teachers response to mobile technology: creative
projects, analysis, and reflection on learning experiences. Education, 134(2), 161-166.
Identification:
Research
Summary:
This article tells about the ideas that student teachers have about using mobile technology
in the classroom. The study gave the student teachers the opportunity to learn about using
mobile technology in multiple ways. The students were informed that they could participate in
as many of the activities as they chose and they could discontinue the activities at any time. As
the students participated, their interest levels were recorded. In the end, there were seventy
participants. Many of the participants attended workshops to learn about mobile learning, but
only a few of the participants were actually interested in pursuing a route of engaging and using
the information that they learned. Even though there were smaller numbers of actual participants
to use what they had learned, the participants commented that they realized that mobile learning
was a part of the classroom and would be used as a tool for learning in their own classrooms. At
the end of the article, it gave a brief summary of mobile learning and stated that they believed
that mobile learning should be an aspect of pre-service teachers learning experience before they
are put into their own classrooms.
Critique:
I really enjoyed reading this article. As I read the article, I tried to put myself back in the
shoes of a pre-service teacher. It made me think about what I would have done if I had the
chance to be put in the same experience as the pre-teachers mentioned in the article. I found it
extremely helpful to have the full details of the opportunities that were put in front of the preservice teachers. I also liked that the article gave examples of the activities that the pre-service
teachers did to show that they used mobile learning when they did the extra steps. As I
continued reading the article, I also found it to be interesting that more pre-service teachers did
not hold of the opportunities that they were offered. I am sure that many of them thought of it as
extra work; however, it should have been a learning experience, but that is my opinion. I feel
that I would have taken the opportunity and moved full speed ahead and at least tried the other
activities since they were able to bow out at any time. I feel that it would have been beneficial to
the pre-service teachers because they all know that technology is always knocking at the door for
students to use in and out of the classroom. I also enjoyed learning about some new apps that I
did not know existed. One of my favorite parts of the entire article was the last paragraph. The
last paragraph gives a lasting thought a 21st century education must prepare students for
learning situations where almost all types of routine cognitive tasks are done by computers. As
teachers, we must be prepared to help our students to be prepared for the technological world
that is out there for them to explore, so I believe, just as the author does, that mobile learning
should be a part of pre-service teachers learning experiences. After reading this article, I truly
believe that going into the education field we are never 100 percent prepared for what may be

ahead of us in the classroom, but by constantly trying to learn something new, we are moving in
the right direction.

(Article 5)
Citation:
Gillis, A., Luthin, K., Parette, H., & Blum, C (2012). Using voicethread to create meaningful
receptive and expressive learning activities for young children. Early Childhood
Education Journal, 40(4), 203-211. doi: 10:1007/s10643-012-0521-1
Identification:
Professional Practice
Summary:
This article indicates that an important factor in helping young children to become
skillful readers and writers is helping them to grasp literacy skills early in life. Technology has
also helped to advance the learning of children. Based on information from the article, we
discover that technology has had positive impacts on students higher order thinking skills, selfconcept, motivation, and independence. VoiceThread is a Web 2.0 tool that also supports these
skills. The article provides suggestions for using VoiceThread in meaningful ways as well as a
step-by-step guide for using VoiceThread.
Critique:
I found this article to be quite helpful and interesting. VoiceThread is a program that I
have heard about, but I have never used it before. It gave a great deal of insight into how to
create and use VoiceThread. The step-by-step guide was very informative and made the program
seem easy to use. Also, the article gave some suggestions for using VoiceThread in the
classroom, which I thought was very beneficial to those who are not familiar with the program. I
also like that the article gave some advantages to using the program. Some of the advantages
mentioned are concerns that would be brought up by teachers and school systems, so I thought
that it was great that the author mentioned it along with other helpful information. I also enjoyed
reading about the practical applications of VoiceThread and how it coincided with UDL
(Universal Design for Learning). One thing that I think would have been more beneficial is
giving more examples of how VoiceThread has been used in the classrooms. Overall, I feel that
this article gave a wonderful impression of using technology in the classroom. It showed that
technology can be used in the early childhood education setting, and that is an area that we as
teachers need to embrace more.

(Article 6)
Citation:
Couse, L., & Chen, D (2010). A tablet computer for young children? exploring its viability for
early childhood education. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 43(1), 7598.
Identification:
Research
Summary:
This article tells of a study based on whether a tablet computer should be used in early
childhood education. Based on earlier studies, it has been proven that tablet computers have
helped improve writing, organizational skills, student engagement, and motivation in older
students, but there was no information on how these areas were affected when studying younger
students. In this article, the purpose of the research study was to discover if using stylusinterfaced technology was a viable tool for younger students as well as how stylus-interfaced
technology can align with technology curriculum standards for younger students. In the study,
many types of technological equipment were used in the classroom; however, tablet computers
were not part of the daily equipment. Also, the teachers believed that using technology was
important in the young students learning experience, but they all varied in their responses on
when technology should be introduced. In the study, the authors explored the viability of the
tablet computer by engaging them in freehand drawing as well as portraits on the tablet to
determine if it could be used as a tool for representing and understanding thoughts and
knowledge of a preschool student. To complete the study, data was collected in four phases:
introductory and warm-up sessions, final self-portrait drawing session, child interviews, and
teacher interviews. In the end, the results showed that young students were able to grasp how to
use the tablet computer and used it to represent their ideas and learning. It also showed that with
some guidance and scaffolding the students were comfortable with the technology and became
more independent over time. Overall, the authors came to a consensus that a tablet computer
could be a viable tool for younger students in an early childhood education setting if used
appropriately; however, they do feel that more research needs to be done on the topic.
Critique:
This article and research study was extremely interesting to me because I work with
younger students. I teach second graders, and I feel that this is a topic that would definitely
come up in conversation when deciding what are appropriate technological tools to use in the
classroom. I enjoyed reading this article because it gave me some insight into how to approach
using technology with younger students. It showed me that younger students need some
guidance and scaffolding to feel comfortable with new technology just as teachers need that
same guidance and scaffolding when we are unfamiliar with new kinds of technology. It also
showed me that there is potential for technology in classrooms as young as preschool. This
article shows that technology should start at very young ages and progress through higher grade
levels. As I read the article, I was glad to see that the authors mentioned that future research
needed to be done to examine the ways that teachers are integrating the tablet computer into the
curriculum to enhance the students learning. I would be very interested in that study as well. I

also felt that the last paragraph left a lasting impression. It mentioned that the tablet computer
was a viable tool to use in the classroom, and it allows the students to begin to become digital
citizens who are technologically literate in a constantly changing world of technology. Overall, I
truly enjoyed reading this study.

(Article 7)
Citation:
de Vries, P. (2013). The use of technology to facilitate music learning experiences in
preschools. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood,, 38(4), 30-41.
Identification:
Research
Summary:
This article informs us about the variety of technology that preschool teachers use to
make learning about music possible in their classrooms. It also discusses why they choose to use
or not to use certain technologies in their classrooms. In the study, a questionnaire was given to
teachers, and it concentrated on the types of technologies that were used in the classroom, what
kinds of activities were completed, and reasons for using and not using certain technologies.
After the study was completed, it was apparent that CDs were the technology of choice for the
majority of the teachers. The study also showed that DVDs, videos, television, and websites
were used for music learning practices but were not as evident as CDs in the classroom setting.
In the end, the study showed that the teachers valued using technology to assist with music
learning practices, but that they had some concerns such as cost and lack of knowledge when
using unfamiliar technologies.
Critique:
This article gave me some perspective on using technology to teach music in the
classroom. Music is not an area that I am familiar with, but it did give me an idea of how
technology is being used in the classroom by using medium such as CDs, karaoke machines,
radios, and others. I enjoyed reading the research article and discovering how technology can be
used to incorporate music into the classroom. I liked that the teachers made it a point to say that
they used technology and valued it in their classrooms, but they still felt that there were some
constraints and concerns when using technology. This was truly an honest opinion, and I feel
that this statement is among many teachers and not just for those that are teaching music. I also
liked that the authors included charts that showed information from their questionnaire and
research. The charts made the research easy to understand, and it gave the reader an idea of the
technologies used, the activities that involved music and technology, and their reasoning behind
using those technologies. In my opinion, I believe the charts helped to make the article even
more interesting. I feel that this article was very informative, but I feel that there needed to be a
section that involved some suggestions on how technology should be used to facilitate the
learning of music in the classroom. Overall, I feel that I learned a great deal from this article.
Even though I dont teach music, I feel that there are ways that I can incorporate technology and
music in the classroom to help them engage in those learning experiences after reading this
article.

(Article 8)
Citation:
Mohammad, M., & Mohammad, H. (2012). Computer integration into the early childhood
curriculum. Education, 133(1), 97-116.
Identification:
Research
Summary:
This article sates that one of the current curriculum issues that teachers and students face
in the area of education is the integration of computers in the early childhood education setting.
Todays world is directed by computers and technology, and they are beginning to appear in a
variety of areas, especially schools. In todays society, it is very likely that computers are seen in
schools and classroom, and they will become more established in the future. Even though there
will be an increase in the amount of computers used, there are still issues among us about the
positive and negative effects of having young children use technology in an early childhood
education setting. The overall purpose of this article was to examine research on the
incorporation of computers into the early childhood education setting in order to have a better
understanding of the concerns and benefits to young students. In the end, the research showed
that using computers with young students has been revealed as having potential to support a
childs development in a variety of areas if used appropriately.
Critique:
When reading this article, I felt that I learned a lot about how computers and technology
were intertwined with a childs development. Because I teach children who are ages 6 to 9, it
can be hard for me to grasp the idea of my students development stages because they have
already gone through several of these development stages when they reach me, but I did like
learning about what they experience in those early stages of life, especially when it involves
computers and technology. As I read this article, I considered it to be very helpful by discussing
the positive effects that technology can have our students in the different aspects of child
development. I feel that we would see a difference in our students abilities to use computers and
technology if we were to start at a young age such as preschool. I do agree with the authors that
computers should not replace those foundational skills, but I do believe that computers and
technology can help to supplement the foundational skills that are needed. After reading this
article, I feel that there is a place for computers and technology in all educational settings. I
believe that computers are designed to be a useful tool for teachers and students alike. With
computers and technology in our classrooms, I believe that we can make our curriculum more
fun and enjoyable for our students, which can lead to more positive effects in our students
educations and future lives.