A new study indicates that preschoolers become literate faster in a curriculum that uses video and online technology. Menlo Park's SRI International conducted the research at a school in East Palo Alto.
Do literacy skills increase when preschool classrooms incorporate video and games? To answer that question, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting commissioned Education Development Corporation and SRI International. They studied 80 classrooms from New York to Ravenswood Child Development Center in East Palo Alto, where Tanya Senegal teaches 4-year-olds. "They're great," she says. "As you can see, they're eager, they love the sound, they love the music. And I like the fact that they can get up and be engaged with the video. They don't have to just sit."