Early Childhood Special Education and Assistive Technology Blog

By: Alicia Giannelli, EC-SEAT Scholar Goal: The audience was able to create videos using Screencastify   My team was given no time to get ready to teach online. The preschool team had a lot on their plates with determining how to teach three and four-year-old students. They were not sure how to use videos, apps, and other online materials. Many of them were feeling very nervous to create videos and share them. Others were ready to create videos but did not know where to start. This is why I decided to host a zoom meeting and walk them through the process of Screencastify . Screencastify is a way for teachers to create videos and share them easily with their students. Screencastify allows for a person to upload a video and edit it, create videos, and share them easily with a link. I walked the Deerfield Community School Preschool staff members through the process on how to download Screencastify for free while on the video. I also demonstrated how to record from your computer, how...

By Alicia Giannelli, EC-SEAT Scholar Education has always shifted. It has changed and evolved based on current socio-cultural values and goals. Over time, these goals have changed based on societal needs and desires. When early education began it was very different than what we have today. That is because society’s needs and learning opportunities have changed. In the past, children needed to be home to help the family and did not need simple educational skills, but now education is for all children to allow them to explore the world around them and to get the skills needed to support themselves and their families later. “The modern human mind has evolved with the history of the human species” (Bodrova, 2007, pg 11). Today there are many cultural influences that affect the early childhood education practice. Some of these include the push-down method and behavior management. These two influences are changing the nature of teaching and what the early childhood classroom looks like. Wh...

By: Alexa Splagounias, EC-SEAT Scholar Providing proper training and education to preservice teachers in their teacher preparation programs then they will enter the field feeling well prepared to support the needs of all students in the classroom, which will in turn lead to teachers having more positive views on inclusion and improved student learning outcomes. Introduction Inclusion of children with special needs into the general education classroom is becoming more and more prevalent. Roughly sixty percent of students with disabilities spend more than eighty percent of their day in general education classrooms. Further, roughly ninety- six percent of general education teachers have students with special needs in their classroom. Despite the increased prevalence of inclusion within schools and policies to support that, our teacher preparation programs are not reflective of these changes. The school system is ever changing and it is important that our policies and teacher pre...

By: Carrie Portrie, M.Ed, EC-SEAT project coordinator and doctoral student at the University of New Hampshire Transcribed using VoiceBase  and human verification (audio available) CP: I'm here with Beth Setear Preschool Coordinator for the Portsmouth School district, and she's going to talk to us about the referral process for preschool a special education... And much more. BS: So the process begins when anybody has a concern about the development of a young child. Ages between the ages of three and five. Doctors can make referrals parents can make referrals child care centers can make referrals. We encourage childcare centers to have parents make the referral. So we can talk to them on the phone and gather some information. Usually we gather information about the child's history. And if they're in a preschool or childcare center we also ask [the center] to fill out a checklist. And that helps us understand what the concerns are. CP: What is the differ...