Projects

Tools to Support Preschool Teachers: Advancing dual-language learners’ learning with educational technology
2017 to 2019

[Resources created by this project are available at https://www.edc.org/early-ed-tools ]

This project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, addresses the need to support early childhood educators in promoting dual-language learners’ academic success. This work will address two issues faced by early childhood educators. First, many educators who serve young children have emergent bilinguals or dual language learners in their classrooms, yet are unprepared to support their particular needs. Second, many educators in the early learning community want to use digital resources to support their young learners, but may not have adequate information about effective strategies and approaches to support children’s learning.

In an effort to address these two needs, this project undertakes the development of four documents for use by preschool teachers. The first two documents target the developmentally appropriate use of technology in early learning classrooms. These documents include a classroom checklist that educators can use to prepare for technology use, and a set of research-based effective practices for use of technology to support young learners.

The second two documents target the development of a supportive learning environment for emergent bilingual learners. These documents include a classroom checklist to help preschool educators identify approaches and strategies that can support language and literacy proficiency for this population, and a set of research-based effective practices for engaging emergent bilingual learners in the classroom.

Each document is designed for use by practitioners of all levels, who often have limited time but are interested in increasing their expertise in these areas of instruction. The documents are available online at no cost to the general public in English, Spanish, and simple Mandarin.

STAFF

Lucy Nelson
Alexia Raynal