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By
William Peet, Ph.D.
Curriculum: There have been many
efforts at creating comprehensive developmentally-appropriate
computer software-based curricula since educational computing
began about twenty years ago. Most of these have been created
at great cost, thereby guaranteeing that they will cost you a
lot and are by nature exclusive of other competing curricular
ideas, with a few exceptions. Examples are multi-grade
packages by Jostens, Computer Curriculum Corporation,
Lightspan, Scholastic ("WiggleWorks") and IBM (the "Writing to
Read" project). "Writing to Read" and "WiggleWorks" represent
an exception to the rule, in my estimation. "Writing to Read"
was one of the first and one of the most successful programs,
partly because John Henry Martin's curricular philosophy
embraced both 'whole language' and 'phonics' with the
incorporation of the talking word processor, "Primary Editor
Plus," by Joe Potts, director of "Writing to Read" in the
'80s. "Writing to Read" was eclectic in embracing the two
competing approaches. "WiggleWorks" is both eclectic and
naturally interest-driven, with both talking interactive
fiction and a built-in picture-story writer with
text-to-speech.
There are a number of new web sites that are really powerful,
low-cost or no-cost sites, and quite selective, which may be
accessed from Interest-Driven Learning, Inc. Resources page:
http://drpeet.com/other.htm. Using the Web as a source of
interesting information is a curricular 'must-do’ under the
careful guidance of sophisticated web-savvy educators:
http://www.drpeet.com/
Research: No one has yet done a definitive,
control-experimental, multi-site, long-term, comparative
analysis of a juried 'best effort' list of the competing
computer-based curricula. But I have outlined such an
analysis, in a non-funded proposal submitted to the National
Research Council in 1998, and I'd very much like to help make
it happen, if anyone is interested. We would set up a major
research project, with five or more of everyone's favorite
approaches in the mix, compared head to head with each of the
other approaches, at multiple test sites, over a one to two
year period.
Take a look at the summary of research compiled by the
Software Publisher's Association in 1997:
www.siia.net. It contains
excellent quotes from a number of research efforts on the
effectiveness of various software approaches in the early
childhood arena. Also, one of the only control-experimental,
multi-site, long-term professional studies done to date on a
single curriculum was conducted by Harvard COE professor, Lynn
Hickey Schultz. It consisted of a study on Scholastic's "WiggleWorks":
http://teacher.scholastic.com/WiggleWorks/validation.htm.
My point here is that without definitive, third-party research
looking at how well competing approaches work across learning
styles and multiple intelligences, we remain in the dark. We
need to be eclectic, to use 'found' curricula, and to use our
professional intuition as to the best solutions for each
learner.
Uniqueness (What the computer can offer early learners that
is offered by no other learning medium): Talking word
processors (developmentally appropriate, beginning with Dr.
Peet's TalkWriter, including Co:Writer, IntelliTalk, Kidworks
Deluxe, and Write:Outloud), talking and non-talking
interactive fiction (Just Grandma and Me, Arthur's Teacher
Troubles, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego, to name a
few), non-fiction simulations that are literacy-rich
(Oregon/Amazon/Yukon/ Trail, Crosscountry USA/Canada, and so
on), and talking/non-talking picture-writers (such as KidWorks
Deluxe, Dr. Peet's PictureWriter, KidPix, Print Shop). Each of
these packages is extremely important, since each offers a
young learner a unique tool, available through no other
medium. Please note that I have left out packages based on use
of voice input devices, since I don't know of any that can
consistently recognize the voices of very young children in
unlimited speech flow. Voice input will become very important
to early learning, when a tool is developed using a good
sample of young children's speech, rather than the adult
speech used as the basis for all current tools.
Special Ed./Regular Ed. Connection: Much of the
software mentioned above was developed under the umbrella of
special education technology, yet the tools are crucially
relevant in early childhood learning. Therefore, I also
suggest that you take a look at Stages, by Madalaine Pugliese.
Though written with special needs populations in mind,
Pugliese describes universal stages of literacy and cognitive
development and relevant software for each stage. You can find
her book at
http://www.assistivetech.com/prod-index.htm.
Reluctance of Professionals to Recommend a Full Curriculum:
Since the comparative research has not been done, you may find
professionals will offer you selection criteria and let you
choose. To that end, the Haugland and Wright book does contain
valuable software evaluation tools. Warren Buckleitner's
evaluation criteria for his Children's Software Revue are
helpful. But what you need is someone with broad experience to
both give you selection criteria and suggest a starter package
of software, e-toys, literacy toys and books, with adaptive
access tools for children with special needs, to ensure full
inclusion in your classrooms. You need a flexible approach,
with tools from all of the best publishers.
My wife and professional colleague, Libby Peet, M.Ed., is a
special education teacher and adaptive access specialist.
Together, we have created a blend of the "best of the best"
for early literacy. We have juried software, electronic books
and toys, games, support materials, assessment tools, and
adaptive access devices and strategies to come up with kits
that are developmentally appropriate for learners from
pre-literacy to a sixth grade reading level. Adaptive software
and devices may be added upon request. Currently, we are
accepting e-mail requests for kit information or to place
orders for the kits:
drpeet@drpeet.com. However, Dr. Peet’s software may be
purchased on this web site:
www.drpeet.com.
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Last modified: January 15, 2004 |
