[baldfat]

I work with 3 to 5 year old children, all bellow the poverty line, working with STEM and early literacy learning. This was a great article just due to the frustration I see of my students literacy programs we spend thousands of dollars on. They think all children can just see and learn letters without going to the foundations of shapes and distinguish sounds.

I can't tell you how many children have difficulty with straight lines vs curved lines. Now bring that to learning letter shapes of A and H or S. It is believed that children learn straight line letters that cross quicker than curved, but I have not seen this with the hundreds of children I see every week. I now struggle on the now what in my work to get down to the shapes sooner rather than later with that work and how to convince these horrible developmentally inappropriate children applications that I use to work more in these foundational steps. If anyone wants to back me to take a 2 year sabbatical to develop some children tools it would be greatly appreciated :)

[mkempe]

Have you looked at Maria Montessori's pedagogy? my daughters both learned to write cursive, starting at age 2 with tracing activities (geometrical inset/outset, sandpaper letters, etc.). Having watched them interact with apps on the iPad, I think the sensorial and perceptual presence of the learning materials is very important -- apps are not a sufficient substitute.

[jerf]

"I think the sensorial and perceptual presence of the learning materials is very important -- apps are not a sufficient substitute."

I have wondered if a custom touchscreen setup could be designed to make this easier. The problem seems to me not to be something intrinsically "wrong" with screens, but that the touchscreens are too smooth if you use them with some sort of stylus, and to have too much difference between static and dynamic friction if you use your finger directly on the screen. As an adult, my handwriting gets noticeably worse on a touchscreen with a stylus, and only marginally better than my third-grader's writing when using my finger. It seems like if someone put their mind to it, a touchscreen+stylus combo could be created that would be very similar to pencil-on-paper in feel. It's even possible this could be done with a stylus and a generic overlay that could be put on any existing touchscreen (albeit possibly limited to higher quality capacitive screens).

The disadvantage is that this overlay will probably render the underlying touch screen no longer pleasant to use with a finger, and you probably want a semi-permanent adhesion so it's not going to be a thing you can easily take on and put off. (It could be experimented with but I bet it doesn't work out very well.) But still, an off-the-shelf tablet + $20 (at scale) in stylus + overlay might be able to mitigate and/or eliminate the sensory issues, while retaining the advantages that an app can bring, instant feedback primarily.

(In my opinion, the biggest thing that computers can bring to education is instant feedback, which can be mathematically shown to improve the maximum possible learning rate, and any attempt to bring computers into education that don't involve harnessing this are starting at a severe disadvantage.)

[baldfat]

I work with Head Start in the US. We also use the same materials and they really are great. The issue I am running into is how to be cutting edge with STEM and be developmentally appropriate with activities. The vast majority of apps are just glorified worksheets and worksheets don't work. When you do a 1 for 1 real-life to digital-life examples the real-life works better 100%. If I want to show cause and effect nothing works better than dominions.

[goldenkey]

I'm sure if you had some way to app-ize your ideas or generate a return on investment, many people here would back you. (Shouldn't need to be said, but I do feel expedient education of our youth is endlessly valuable despite where it might sit in the capitalistic cabal)

[baldfat]

> generate a return on investment

Right now there are two models

A) Web based with ads (Most children activities and games online)

B) Subscription Model (ABC Mouse, iStation)

I would love to figure out another model

[xrd]

Any favorite books you have read that contributed to a better understanding of your work?

[baldfat]

Sadly I am the only STEM Lab Coach in the nation for 3 to 5-year-olds, that I know of. So I kind of had to invent my own position which thankfully has been supported by local Fortune 500 Companies in the community.

I read a lot from our curriculum "Creative Curriculum", accreditation standards and philosophy and my old Developmental Psychology classes. Lots of Academic research and many online resources like the Fred Rodgers Institute (http://www.fredrogerscenter.org/).

The only book I found to be helpful has been "Instructional Technology in Early Childhood: Teaching in the Digital Age." Most books are either surface level practical (I really enjoy the philosophy piece which is usually missing) or outdated and not very valuable.