Allison Coburn

Too often in early childhood education, we assume technology is "bad" because we default to the child as the user/consumer and fail to consider the tech skills of the educator.  In our community college program, our discipline-specific standards for accreditation now include stringent incorporation of technology skills for our learners.  Many "millennials" come knowledgeable about Tic-Tok and Facebook but cannot open and save a document on a desktop computer.  I'm learning that "keyboarding" and "computer classes" are no longer included in many of our state's high school programs; students access materials for class via iPads and their personal phones.  Given… >>>

This course reinforced how very little we spend in teacher education programs "teaching" adult learners how to work with/team with other adults.  Our programs spend a tremendous amount of time preparing teachers for their work with young children; however, in the majority of early care and education settings there are 2 adults leading instruction as a team in one classroom and these 2 adults are part of other teams (e.g., all the classrooms representing particular age groups; all the adults working together on behalf of the young children and their families; working alongside families on behalf of a child's growth… >>>

At this reflection point in the course, I am gravitating towards the IDEALS framework as a teaching strategy for building/strengthening critical thinking skills in my students.  I serve as faculty and program chair for a community college early childhood education program, and am tasked with designing program components that marry the art of science of career readiness for our graduates while respecting that many of our students "after the fact"...that is to say that they have been working in early childhood prior to enrolling in our program.  IDEALS might be a great way to meet my students where they are… >>>