The Role of Computer Technology in Teaching Reading
and Writing: Preschool Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices
A lthough the use of computers in preschools used
to be rare, recent research of today’s preschoolers
found that not only do they have access to computers,
but they also have benefited from these experiences in
terms of their intelligence, long-term memory, literacy
and communication skills, problem-solving activity,
and manual dexterity. Studies on children’s literacy
indicate that computers have a positive effect on
children’s writing by helping them develop their sense of
audience and making it easy to create drafts and revise
work. Other researchers caution, however, against
preschoolers’ computer use, viewing it as detrimental
to their development. As in any classroom, the
preschool teacher plays an essential role in the learning
opportunities available to her students; her beliefs
may influence what she chooses to provide. Ihmeideh’s
study of Jordanian kindergarten teachers was designed
to examine their beliefs about computer technology in
teaching reading and writing and the impact of those
beliefs on their instructional practices. Since computer
technology is scarce in Jordanian kindergartens, the
researcher intended to use the results of his study to
inform the Ministry of Education about the learning
possibilities that computers afford for these children.
Ihmeideh’s random sample included teachers from
42 public and 112 private kindergartens from two
governorates of the sample; there were 28 trained
teachers and 126 untrained teachers. Two data sources,
a survey questionnaire and a semi-structured interview,
were used to gather information about the availability of
computers in classrooms, teachers’ beliefs, and classroom
practices with computers. The survey questionnaire
comprised two sections: a Teachers’ Belief (TB) Scale
of 19 items using a 5-point Likert scale (Strongly
Agree-Strongly Disagree) and a Teachers’ Practice
(TP) Scale of 19 items with a 5-point Likert scale for
frequency behaviors (Always—Never). The researcher
hand-delivered the questionnaires to the teachers,
Full article published in Journal of Research in Childhood Education, January-March 2010,
Volume 24, No. 1, pp. 60-79.
Summary written by Rebecca Harlin.
Fathi Ihmeideh,
Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan
collected them one week later, and then conducted the
15-minute follow-up interviews one semester later.
Descriptive statistics on the means from the TB Scale
showed that the teachers held moderate beliefs toward
computer technology and that while they felt the computer
should be part of their print-rich classroom environment,
they did not think that children should be allowed to
read and write daily through computers. These statistics
were similar to those in the TP Scale, which showed that
teachers had moderate use of technology (computers) in
their classrooms and did not allow children to access the
Internet, select software, or write using a word processing
program. The interview results coincided with the
questionnaire. Most teachers expressed a desire to have
computers as a center in their classrooms, but did not
believe that children would develop social, emotional, or
physical skills by using computers. Finally, 10 of the 12
teachers interviewed used the computer minimally in their
classrooms and 8 of 12 stated that they lacked the knowledge
to use and guide children’s learning with computers.
It should be noted that 41% of Ihmeideh’s sample did
not have computers in their classrooms. However, the
presence or absence of computers may not have as much
impact as the teachers’ beliefs about how to use them with
young children. Equipping classrooms with computers
without fully offering training and support for teachers
defeats the purpose of access to technology. While some
teachers in this study and in other countries assume that
children will have access to computers at home, that is
not always the case, nor do they necessarily use the
computers that may be in their homes advantageously.
This study underscores the importance of teachers’
knowledge and beliefs on the classroom experiences for
children, as well as the need to revamp early childhood
teacher education programs to take full advantage of
the possibilities that computers afford young children.
What the teacher doesn’t know or feel comfortable
using does matter to the children in her charge.