Technology and Early Childhood Education: A Technology Integration Professional Development Model for Practicing Teachers Jared Keengwe ® Grace Onchwari Published online: 3 September 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract Despite the promise of technology in educa- tion, many practicing teachers are faced with multiple challenges of effectively integrating technology into their classroom instruction. Additionally, teachers who are suc- cessful incorporating educational technology into their instruction recognize that although technology tools have the potential to help children, they are not ends in them- selves. This article describes a Summer Institute project that the authors facilitated in a medium sized midwest public university. The summer workshop afforded partici- pating early childhood education teachers exciting oppor- tunities to interact with various instructional tools and technology applications. Further, the practicing teachers explored various strategies to integrate specific technology tools into their lessons in a manner consistent with con- structivist pedagogy. This article is intended to stimulate reflections on the need to adopt a suitable technology integration professional development model in early childhood education classrooms to support young learners. Keywords Early childhood education Á Teachers Á Technology integration Á Professional development Introduction The integration of educational technology into classroom instruction to enhance student learning is of increasing interest to stakeholders such as policymakers, administra- tors, educators, students, and parents (Keengwe 2007). Over the past decade, educators have been under pressure to reform school through technology. Public and political support for technology use has generated billions of dollars toward increasing its availability to schools and colleges (Cuban 2001; Oppenheimer 2003). About 90% of all children today have used a computer (Debell and Chapman 2003). However, the National Center for Education Sta- tistics (NCES) reported that only half of the public school teachers who had computers or the Internet available in the schools used them for classroom instruction (Judson 2006). Many parents recognize that technology is important and its use can improve the quality of work children complete in and outside school (Kook 1997). Even so, there are concerns about technology’s potential benefits or harm to young children. By creating appropriate technol- ogy-based learning environments and developmentally appropriate activities for children, teachers can provide a variety of positive learning experiences for young learners. However, as Wang and Hoot (2006) note: Early childhood educators are now moving away from asking the simple question of whether technol- ogy is developmentally appropriate for young chil- dren. Rather, they are more concerned with how [information and communication technology] can be effectively used to facilitate children’s learning and development (p. 317). There is evidence that technology is changing the business of teaching. For instance, in a study about the effectiveness of technology in schools, Sivin-Kachala and Bialo (2000) reported positive and consistent patterns when students were engaged in technology-rich environments. Sivin-Kachala and Bialo concluded that technology can J. Keengwe (&) Á G. Onchwari Department of Teaching and Learning, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA e-mail: jared.keengwe@und.edu G. Onchwari e-mail: grace.onchwari@und.edu 123 Early Childhood Educ J (2009) 37:209–218 DOI 10.1007/s10643-009-0341-0