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Good article from Young Children on using web-based resources for family communication.

Blog of NACCRRA, with a wide variety of information. Interesting way to use a blog to get information to the early childhhood field.

A mom's blog with ideas for using technology with children in productive ways.

Blog on early education policy by the New America Foundation. According to their website, Early Education Watch "provides analysis, reporting, and commentary on early education, with a focus on policies that affect children's access to high-quality, aligned educational programs from ages 3 through 8. I haven't explored the blog well enough yet to see whether it contains information about technology and young children, but it's a good example of using technology to connect early childhood educators with public policy.

As our class has been discussing technology with young children, the issue of protecting children's privacy has come up more than once. The question I have for this entire group is how to use new technologies to encourage children's literacy, build their self-confidence, and communicate with parents and other family members -- while still protecting children's privacy.

Of course, careful teacher monitoring of what children are posting online is a key step. But there are other issues. Here are a few I can think of:
--How early should we begin teaching internet safety to young children, and what kinds of messages should be taught to young children?
--How can ECE professionals inform parents (who are at different levels of comfort and familiarity with technology themselves) about their children's use of technology, and how do you ensure that they are comfortable with what their children are doing online? Are there ways to help get them "on board" with the use of technology in early childhood?
--How can we honor young children's need for privacy around web-based tools? How do we avoid "pushing" children who are not ready or comfortable using technology, while still encouraging them?

Any thoughts on privacy issues would be welcome. I don't have good answers to these questions. Do any of you who are teachers have ideas to share?

wiki site for CHFD 5130 class working on Tech in ECE project