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Identificiation: technology in early education
RCOE needs to train early care educators (home providers & center staff) on ways to appropriately integrate technology in the classroom. The education the earliest learners receive in child care will set the pace for school readiness. Many early care educators are not educated on technology nor are they able to provide this training to the children in their programs. RCOE needs to identify affordable solutions for training early care educators & digital classroom options for children/families. -
Period: to
Technology in early learning environments
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Provider suvey
Need to survey a wide range of early care professionals (family child care home providers, child care center staff, Spanish & English speakers, providers located in various areas of the county) to create a baseline of technology skills, available resources, and willingness to integrate technology in their early learning setting. -
Research various technology-based early learning programs
Compile various low/no tech and higher tech options for early learning environments. Compile various means to provide training to early care professionals. Compare technology options to the data compiled from the provider surveys. Create layered plan for feasibility & sustainability of each option. -
Evaluate current learning environments
Once all research & evaluation has been completed and analyzed, a roll-out plan needs to be created highlighting each step of the process, who is responsible, deadlines, available resources, etc. After determining viable options, various pilot early learning environments need to be selected and evaluated for the ability to roll-out the proposed plan. -
Implementation
Implementation of the proposed plans begins and needs to be evaluated every three months for obstacles, lessons learned, and successes. -
Ongoing evaluation & plan redirection
The implementation must be continually evaluated throughout the first year and plans of redirection for anything not working. At the end of the first year of the project, a Phase 2 roll-out plan needs to be established.
