Technological Advances at
The Early Childhood Laboratory School
A Case Study

Field Project Report

Within the past two years the Early Childhood Laboratory School on the UMass campus has changed from one that employs only low technology to one that utilizes digital cameras on a daily bases, displays student teacher designed documen-tation panels created through video editing, and maintains a web site. In this case study I want to explore the reasons behind these changes. I will explain how, what, where and why these changes have taken place. I will also focus on who the benefici-aries of these changes are. I will conclude with how the new technology has changed the school within the last few years and how this relates to present literature studies about technological change in schools. But first let us start at the beginning.

The ECLS
The Early Childhood Laboratory School (ECLS) is nestled in the center of the University of Massachusetts' Amherst campus. It is located in the basement of Skinner Hall across from the Campus Pond. The ECLS is both a preschool and a training site for Early Childhood Education majors. The school presently has two classrooms running, one for younger preschoolers and one for older preschoolers, with a total enroll-ment of 40 children. Since the school is in a university setting, though not limited to university affiliates, preschoolers come from all around the world. Some of the children who enter the ECLS speak English as a second language; indeed some of these new preschoolers speak no English at all.
The primary staff at the ECLS fluctuates depending upon the number of classrooms in operation. There are always two lead teachers in each room with a team of eight student teachers. Since the fall of 1999 the primary staff at the ECLS has consisted of three T.A.s/lead teachers and one director along with a team of eight student teachers. The student teachers change each semester while the primary staff remains throughout the year.
The primary mission of the ECLS is to be both a teacher-training site and a re-search site because of its connection to the School of Education at UMass. In Massachusetts student teachers, majoring in Early Childhood Education, need to satisfy two final teaching practicum; one at the preschool level and one at the K-3 level. They fulfill their preschool level certification at the ECLS. The subsequent mission of the ECLS is to be a place for parents to come and bring their young children. It provides a nurturing environment for children to have a positive experience as a young child.

History of ECLS
The ECLS was not always part of the School of Education. It was originally designed a as Laboratory School for the Department of Consumer Studies, hence it is housed in Skinner Hall, which is a Consumer Studies Building. The University of Massachusetts was originally a Land Grant Institution. It was in a rural area and util-ized various extension services to help people learn about agriculture. The Laboratory School was established, as part of the extension service, to help women with their do-mestic responsibilities. Women needed skills in different areas of consumer studies particularly cooking, childcare, home financing, and managing the budget. At the Laboratory School people were trained in these areas. They were provided the oppor-tunity to unobtrusively observe the training sessions in both classrooms through a veiled observation booth. Each room had an observation both equipped with a sound system. The trainees would take these resources and go out into the commonwealth and teach women about their domestic tasks.
In the early 1970's the Skinner Laboratory School became the School of Constructivism, staffed by Professor George Forman. At this school children constructed their own knowledge through play. Various learning apparatuses that were designed at the School of Constructive Play are still in use at the ECLS. One of these is the Grav-ity Wall, which consists of an upright wall with slits and planks. A child can move the planks around to form various pathways. He or she can then place a ball on the top plank and watch it roll to the bottom. This structure, along with others from the School of Constructive play, is in use in several Children's Museums.

Dotty Meyer arrives at the ECLS - 1988
Dotty Meyer was hired as an afternoon teacher for the Preschool Program and the faculty facilitator for student teachers placed at the ECLS in 1988. When she ar-rived at the ECLS there were three classrooms in operation servicing infants through preschoolers. There were two preschool programs that met in room 5, a morning pro-gram with sixteen younger preschoolers and an afternoon session with sixteen older preschoolers. Each of the preschool programs was staffed with a lead teacher, a T.A. and eight student teachers. Seven infants were placed in room 4 and nine toddlers were placed in the Discovery room. Dotty was the afternoon preschool teacher. The in-fant/toddler program phased out soon after Dotty arrived. Student teachers were never placed in the infant or toddler rooms, since their certification was PreK-3, and thus outside staff had to be hired for these rooms. Professors, such as Kevin Nugent, who were interested in early intervention, would observe the infants and toddlers and write about them.
Dotty was attracted to the ECLS because it had a history of being a constructivist-learning environment. In 1991, Newsweek Magazine proclaimed that the best most innovative preschools in the world are in Reggio Emelia, Italy. The faculty at UMass, especially at the ECLS, began to question what was going on in Italy. Being university professionals they feel that it was important to keep cutting edge and to seek current research in the field. Around 1991 they started to look more closely at what was going on in Reggio. A close colleague of Dotty's, Professor George Forman flew over to Italy to learn more about their approach. While in Reggio he did a lot of videotaping. One of the videotapes he created, based on their unique teaching method was entitled, "Amusement Park for the Birds". He also interviewed many teachers and then shared this information with the staff at the ECLS. One of the teachers he inter-viewed in Reggio, master teacher Amelia Gambetti, was genuinely interested in com-ing to America. Professor Forman spoke with the Dean and arranged to have Amelia Gambetti hired at UMass as a visiting lecturer.
Dotty was hired to be the Director of the ECLS in 1992. As she took over her new role she was informed that a visiting lecturer from Italy, Amelia Gambetti, would be part of her staff. By this time the Infant/Toddler Program had been phased out so room 4 was empty. Dotty moved the younger preschoolers into room 4 and Amelia had the older preschoolers along with a T.A. in room 5. Both classes now operated on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings with a team of eight student teachers placed in them.
Though Dotty wasn't in the same room as Amelia she still learned a great deal through her. She became completely intrigued by the Reggio Approach and started to implement the Reggio Approach into her teaching styles. She realized immediately that it is a really wonderful way to work with children. Yet in order to be proficient in this style of teaching she knew that she needed to employ better technology, especially video cameras.

The Reggio Approach
So what is this teaching approach that the ECLS gravitated toward beginning in 1992? In Reggio Emelia educators develop curriculum in an emergent and negoti-ated way. Instead of providing young children with a prescribed, thematic curriculum, educators carefully watch and listen to children and negotiate next steps to develop meaningful learning encounters with them. In the Reggio Emelia municipal schools, teachers, children and parents share the power to plan and implement curriculum. The teacher becomes a "partner" with the learner, researching with him or her to un-cover new possibilities, rather than focusing on disseminating information. In Reggio, teachers are keen observers and become deeply connected to the learner. They know when to intervene and when to stay silent. Teachers in this learning community help children make meaning in their learning, and are willing to move slowly in order to explore concepts in-depth (Dotty Meyer, MEET Proposal 2001).
Children in Reggio Emelia are viewed as rich, powerful and competent individuals. They are not empty vessels waiting to be filled but instead powerful individuals with rich theories of their own. The environment is the 3rd teacher, thus the environment has to be aesthetically pleasing and inviting in order to encourage the children to explore it.

Farewell to Room 4
When Amelia left Dotty moved over into room 5. Dotty was planning to keep a preschool classroom operating in room 4 but unfortunately the Amherst Public Schools moved into the space. The Amherst Schools had been looking for a space to set up a satellite program for their overabundance of preschoolers. When they heard about the open space at Skinner they promptly went to the Dean and asked if they could use the now empty room at Skinner Hall and set up a preschool there. The Dean said yes so they began a preschool that met five days a week until 1:00, with a differ-ent calendar and a different schedule. Dotty remained by herself with student teachers in room 5. The ECLS continued to meet on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morn-ings. When Amherst Public Schools left Flex Care immediately moved in with their own full day schedule. It wasn't until the fall of 1999 that the ECLS regained access to room 4.

Technology at the ECLS
When Dotty started working at the ECLS only very low technology was being employed. The most innovative technology in use at that time was the sound systems and speakers in the observation booths. Totally unbeknownst to the people in the ECLS classrooms, observers were able to sit in a booth and look out into the class-rooms and watch people and listen to them.
The ECLS had no computers functioning in 1988. There were old computers stored away in the Teacher Room that had been donated by the professors in Furculo. When the School of Education Faculty got new computers they donated their old ones to the ECLS, but these were so old they were basically useless to the staff at the Lab School. The secretary at the ECLS used an electric typewriter for correspondence. She would type out letters to parents with a ditto master. These carbonized letters would be run off on a ditto machine, and then dittos would go in everyone's pockets announcing a field trip or other news. These letters did not come out very often; just once in a while parents would receive a tiny letter that was almost illegible.
There was one video camera at the ECLS yet it was really big and awkward. It had to be carried on the shoulder and needed two hands in order to operate. It was hardly ever taken out because it was really inconvenient. There were no VCRs or monitors in use. There were no Internet connections and thus there was no email.
Dotty saw an immediate need to upgrade the technology at the ECLS but this was no easy task. The ECLS is a nonprofit school and thus funding is limited. The school pays for all its own expenses (secretary, cleaner person, art supplies, consum-ables, and T.A.'s) with tuition money only. There isn't a lot of money left to purchase additional items. This was especially so when there was only one classroom running. Thus the changes in technology came about very slowly. Yet little by little purchases were made. The first major purchase soon after Dotty arrived, about twelve years ago, was a Power Mac that could actually take CDs. The next thing big purchase was a big monitor so that the students could actually view video.
The next thing that Dotty wanted to buy was a small video camera to replace the huge video camera that was rarely used due to its awkwardness. Dotty had been complaining about the monstrous video camera especially when the teacher from Reg-gio was presiding over room 5. She was not alone in her complaints. George Forman also wanted to capture Amelia Gambetti teaching practice on videotape. Because of the ECLS' gravitation towards Reggio, Forman wanted to be able to videotape what was going on in the classroom so that he could save the footage. He also hated the big camera. He agreed with Dotty that all the other wonderful teachable moments that were happening at the ECLS needed to be captured on video. No one wanted to use the big heavy camera. He and Dotty decided that they really needed to get a little video camera but this didn't happen until the fall of 1998. Yet they did manage to pur-chase their first 35 mm cameras: two Sure Shot Canon 35 mm cameras, one for each room, while Amelia Gambetti was still there. This was the first time they had actual cameras available and ready to go in the classrooms. It was the first year that Dotty actually began taking pictures of the children. Though they now had the additional ex-pense of large amounts of film to be developed it was well worth the cost. It wasn't until the 1998-1999 school year Dotty finally purchased a Sony Handy Cam. These were the only three cameras they had in operation for about six years, the two 35 mm cameras and the big video camera until Jane Broderick, Dotty's present T.A/ co-teacher began her Independent Study at the ECLS in the spring of 1999.

Impetus to change: Two factors:
Reggian influence and new state mandated certification requirements
Due to her Reggian influence Dotty knew that better more efficient technological equipment was a necessity. As Dotty became increasingly enamored with the Reggio Emelia Approach to Early Childhood Education she became aware of the need to use documentation to plan the curriculum. Since nothing is preset, dialogue and actions need to be recorded in order plan the curriculum.
Dotty and her teaching team were already writing down everything they ob-served, took photographs it when possible, and then analyzed and transcribed it. Dotty knew that a video camera would be so much more efficient than the quick scribbling of a pen. She realized that in order to really capture the children's words and actions she needed to either photograph them or videotape them and then take that information, analyze it, transcribe it and type it back out. Dotty knew that the advent of a video camera and a word processor (easy editing and storage of files) would contribute huge attributes to the process.
The other impetus for technological change was new state mandated certification requirements in the late 1990s. The new certification requirements included seven different program standards that were to be integrated into the curriculum. Profes-sors/instructors were mandated by the state to teach their undergraduate students about evaluation and communication. The state insisted that the students gain knowledge and skills in technology. These mandates that came from the state to help the students become certified forced the UMass faculty to really think about integrating technology into their programs and curriculum. Dotty realized that she needed to know this so that she could teach it and disseminate information about it because her future teachers needed to know it.

Technological Changes Commence
Enter Jane Broderick
"One of the main principles of the Reggio Approach is that we are building an emergent developmental program by looking at the development of the particular children in the room. In order to understand the particular development of those chil-dren we have to observe. Initially we're writing a lot down, we're looking really carefully and taking all that data and analyzing all that stuff so the video becomes an-other vehicle for observing really closely and getting a lot of details. Then by watching what the children are really doing we're analyzing not just what they're saying but what they're doing! We can start to even make guesses about what we think we see in their actions in order to plan, to bring materials in, and to meet them at that point at which they're already playing." Jane Broderick

Jane started working at the ECLS for an Independent Study in the spring of 1999. She performed the role of the "Atelierista" (Italian word for artist in residence) and did project work. The technology in use when Jane started working was the two 35 mm cameras. The teachers were taking lots of photographs of what the children were doing with 35 mm cameras. They were transcribing (in handwriting) what the children were saying. No video cameras were being used there was a big one but it wasn't being used. The teachers were not using computers. Everything was hand tran-scribed.
In fall of 1999 room 4 was once again part of the ECLS. Dotty hired Jane Broderick to be her new T.A./co-teacher in room 5. While Jane assumed her new T.A. position at the ECLS she also fulfilled the role of "Documentarian." Since Jane was familiar with the ECLS because of her Independent Study and was familiar with the Reggio Approach she felt competent in taking on this role. Dotty had just bought a new Camcorder.
The first thing Jane did was sort through the old equipment, stored haphazardly in the Teacher Room. She reorganized the Teacher Room; she put all the archives and tapes together; put all the electronic equipment in one place and got rid of a ton of computers that didn't work. She sorted through big VCRs and tapes and tried to get the big 35 mm video camera working properly. The camera worked but the only way they could get the video camera to print was with a video printer. The video printer had parts missing and wasn't useable for another semester.
Jane suggested that the teachers in room 4 begin using the big old video cam-era since the teachers in room 5 had Dotty's new camcorder. Some of teachers did use the large video camera yet they were unable to print out any footage.
That spring of 2000 Jane bought a digital camera but it needed an ILink. Jane didn't have an ILink computer at the time. She could record digitally but couldn't print anything out. She wound up buying herself an I Mac, which came out two months be-fore the I Movie. She then purchased a Global Village Program for her I Mac that could import through an analogue method into her home computer. She was now able to pop out pictures. Jane created documentation panels that were displayed at the ECLS Reggio Conference in April of 2000 with her Global Village Program. In the spring of 2001 Jane bought a Power Mac with an ILink. She could now read digital and analogue with her camera. She was also able to print things out straight from her computer.

Entering Cyber Space
In the spring of 2000, one of the parents, Kate Strub-Richards, was informed that the ECLS wanted to create a web site. Kate enrolled in a "Documentation" class with George Forman in order to authorize her pursuit of developing a web site. Kate knew nothing about web design but was interested enough to take on the challenge. She asked for other parent volunteers to help her design a functional web site. It was a long process of getting the site approved by the School of Education, and getting an IBM computer with Web capabilities. Yet by the close of the spring 2000 semester the ECLS had established it's own website. Along with the Internet Connection the ECLS was able to now have an email account.
In the fall of 2000 the School of Education decided to place two T.A.s in room 4 as opposed to hiring a preschool teacher from outside sources. Kate Strub-Richards and Jamie Broadhead were hired as co-teachers/T.A.s in room 4. Kate was determined to maintain the website and turn it into a viable teaching/informational tool for the ECLS community. The IBM computer was the only computer with Internet access un-til the summer of 2001 when the new I Mac computer was also linked to the Internet.

ECLS 2001
In the spring of 2001 the ECLS finally got a new I Mac Computer with I Movie that could handle digital images. That same spring semester spurred on by Kate's interest and newly developed knowledge of web site design, Dotty wrote a memo to her department head asking for permission to buy two digital video cameras. She put forth a strong argument as to why she thought the ECLS needed to buy two more cameras after just buying the I Mac and the printer. She insisted that these cam-eras were needed to really help with the maintenance of the ECLS web site and with their documentation and conferences. The digital cameras arrived at the ECLS in early fall of 2001. Before the digital cameras arrived only Jane's camera could use the I Movie because it was the only that could read digital.
With the arrival of the two new digital video cameras student teachers have begun performing a new role, that being the videographer. They spend three consecu-tive mornings videotaping the various activities in the classroom. When the preschool-ers go outside to play the videographer reviews her footage and cues up her tape to a clip that she finds relevant to the preschoolers' learning. She shows this footage to her teaching team during post session. After her three days are complete she edits her video footage using I Mac I Movie. Some of this edited footage is transformed into Documentation Panels that are posted on the walls of the classroom for everyone to see. Some of the footage is transformed into stills that are posted immediately on the classroom walls. Some of these panels are also posted onto the ECLS Website.

How Technology Has Changed the ECLS
Before the video cameras were purchased much of what was recorded was just hand written on a board or on small note pads. Many important details were lost. Jane and Dotty both realized the importance of having a video camera. When Jane started videotaping with Dotty's Handy Cam she began to rely on the camera more for Circle time because she could be more present in Circle by filming and get a lot more details. After filming Jane would scrutinize the video and would share it with her student teachers for processing. Now that a student teacher is in the role of videographer it is the student teachers responsibility to review the tape and cue up a segment for post session. With the aid of video footage during post session equal time can be spent dis-cussing both curriculum issues and social emotional issues based on the classroom footage.
The video footage is also a really good source for teachers themselves. When they look at themselves on video they are able to see if they're questioning too much or if they're not questioning enough.
The whole field of Early Childhood Education is affected. The children are thinking at a higher level and processing at a higher level, due to the immediacy of the documentation; there's more challenge there for them. No longer should early child-hood people be looked at as just babysitting children because very high-level work is taking place at the ECLS. The frequent little letters to parents, the images of drawings or photographs displayed on the walls, the beautiful documentation panels, and other information posted in the classroom offers a way to communicate to the parents and to visitors to the school what's been important to the children, what have been topics of study for the children, what have they been researching together.
The student teachers are now learning how to edit photographs and video clips. They are learning how to crop images so that they can immediately give the images and information back to the children on the following day. This encourages the pre-schoolers to go back and revisit experiences to see if they might want to do the same thing again or change it or build on it or whatever. Not only are the children benefiting from videotaping but also the student teachers. They are becoming much more reflec-tive and analytic, because now when they're videoing everything they have to rewind the tape and look at it again and look carefully for the little teachable moments that they want to pull out, capture, and maybe print out, to use with the children. This is thus forcing teachers to become a lot more reflective on their practice.

Beneficiaries of Technological Change
Dotty feels that absolutely everybody benefits from the technological advances at the ECLS. Parents are benefiting because there are new photos, and drawings, and dialogue almost every day. They really love seeing their children and hearing the little wonderful things that go on in the classroom. The documentation panels, posted on the walls, are a tool for the teachers to use to communicate to the community what they feel is important in the child's development. The Lab School has been very successful at this. The student teachers are learning about web sites and how to put things on a web page. They're learning about technology using a video camera. They're being opened up and exposed. By videotaping preschoolers at play they are able to experi-ment with technology without the fear of failure. They can edit their footage at their own pace without the constant pressure of someone breathing down their back. All the teachers are learning about digital photography and digital editing and this is a real asset.
The children benefit also because they're seeing their words, their artwork, and their photographs come right back up on the wall to show how much they are valued. They are able to see themselves as very competent little learners that have so much to contribute.

Do the student teachers benefit from the technological advances?
According to Dotty everyone benefits from the technological advances at the ECLS. I decided to ask the student teachers and parents myself. On November 19th I passed out questionnaires to my eight student teachers in room 4. I waited while they filled them out. I handed nine surveys to the student teachers in room 5. I received seven of these back. Of the seventeen surveys I gave to the ECLS student teachers, I received fifteen back. This is what I found out: By November 19, eleven of the teach-ers had used photographic equipment, mostly digital cameras, though some had started to do digital editing with I Movie. All of the eleven teachers who have used the video cameras found them to be helpful for various reasons these being: focusing on specific concepts; having access to visual material; to keep track of specific things in the class-room; to illustrate the children's actions; to have unlimited access to children's dialogue and photos; to reflect upon material and dialogue; to reflect upon children's thoughts and learning.
Nine of the twelve teachers who had used the video cameras, and four of the seven student teachers that have begun their digital editing thought they were ade-quately trained to use the equipment. In order to help them become more prepared in using the cameras and the video editor they suggested that there be a seminar, post session, a tutorial, or personal instruction that explains how to use them.
All of the teachers had edited video to create a documentation panel.
Twelve of the fourteen teachers found videotaping in the Early Childhood classroom to be helpful because it very accurate and helpful for future planning; it helps you see what you missed; to see what worked well in the classroom; it helps capture the moment, words and movements needed to plan curriculum; helps all the teachers understand what's going on in the class; it's great to capture children's work, thoughts and fun on camera. Five (of thirteen teachers who answered this question) felt that they are more reliant on using video to plan the curriculum.
Ten (of the eleven student teachers who answered this question) think that reviewing and editing video footage has made them a more reflective and analytic teacher. The reasons they gave were: I am able to look back at the children working on an activity; it allowed me to pay more attention to what the children were doing; the more I review it, the more critical I become of the footage; It helps to think critically on the subject for the panel; I was able to listen to myself and help myself learn more about the way I talk and facilitate with children. It helped me delve deeper into my footage and make further connections into other areas of the classroom; it's a good way to reflect; makes me analyze children's thoughts, movements, and projects much better because I have the actual footage to keep looking over; it helps me to see things I might have initially missed.
All of the teachers thought the ECLS is using more technological equipment than other schools.
Six of the fourteen teachers have visited the website. What these six teachers liked best was the information posted; examples of children's artwork; the teacher panels; the teacher bios, projects page, teachers photographs; and description of the school. They'd also like to see more panels, teacher suggestions, parent suggestions, newsletters and action photos of teachers and children on the web site. Eleven of the twelve teachers who answered this question would like to have their panels posted on the web. Five of the teachers would be interested in posting additional information on the web. Besides their panels they would like to post stories and activities from class. The reasons they gave were to learn how to do it, to show it in the future, and for portfolios, for getting jobs, and for interviews.
From the responses to these questionnaires I am able note that most of the stu-dent teachers feel that they are benefiting from the new technology being used at the ECLS. Almost all of them think that reviewing and editing video footage has made them a more reflective and analytic teacher! Twelve of the fourteen teachers found videotaping in the Early Childhood classroom to be helpful. All of the teachers who had videotaped before this interview took place found videotaping to be helpful. All of the student teachers want to post their documentation panels on the web! The only place in which I find error is that of training, many of the student teachers felt that they weren't properly trained.

How about the parents?
I also wanted to know what the parents thought about the use of technology at their child's preschool. I placed one survey, along with a letter of explanation, in each parent mailbox. I also spoke with several of them to let them know that it was I.
From the 40 surveys that I gave out I received fourteen back. This is what I found out: Six of the parents had visited the website. What they liked the best about the web site was the online documentation panel since it really gives a good idea of what goes on at the Lab School; it's clearly laid out; projects, upcoming events, and teacher bios; all the aspects of the program were included; the photos/story board (documentation panel). Five parents found it to be informative (hits all the major topics a person might want information on if they were interested in the school; enjoyed learning about the Reggio Emelia Approach; the calendar of events; enjoyed the explanation of the documentation panel; and found out when the last day of school was). One person stated that it is not informative for someone who knows the school but is good for someone who wants to know about the school. Some of the parents felt that there should have been more documentation panels on the web site; more specific informa-tion such as student/teacher ratios and more about the Reggio Approach. Additional information that parents would like to see on the web site is: more kids photos, art-work, and documentation panels; more detail on specific projects; resources to learn more about Reggio Emelia Approach and ways to facilitate the approach at home; par-ent quotes, student quotes, something from each child for parents and relatives to look at.
Thirteen of the parents had looked at the documentation panels. All of these parents found the panels to be informative because they: follow the path of learning and discovering; give parents a chance to see the learning process in action; show a child's developmental processing; you can see the child's thinking process in print; provide insight into the thought process and help parents see what their children are learning; helps me know what the kids are doing during the day; why they are doing certain activities; panels help me understand the planning and discussion behind the activities; shows visually what is being done; it's interesting to see what the kids are learning about in class and their funny comments; they give more detailed information about what's going on in the classroom; they combine the children's words with images.
Twelve of the parents interviewed said that videotaping could be relevant to their child's learning because the children can see themselves in action learning and interacting with others; it is also a form of repetition for them which is how they learn; videotaping can enhance a child's understanding of a lesson or project; show them student/teacher interactions; tell a story; documenting child's development decreases misinterpretations; when played back for the children, they can get a different per-spective on the activity; they provide insight into the thought process and help parents see what their children are learning but taping has the added benefit of showing the kids; children can better see the results or point of an activity in retrospect. They are too involved in the moment to see the big picture; especially if parents view with teacher to see how child learns; I think it helps teachers revisit what children do, figure out how to guide them, and check their thought and ideas; visual learning is important to learning - sometimes we can see things we weren't aware of at the moment; can learn a lot by watching yourself on video; watching something happening as opposed to being involved in the action gives kids and teachers a new perspective; teachers can be more effective. Also it could be used as feedback/showing a child video of him/herself.
All fourteen of the parents said that videotaping can be helpful for teachers (to plan/develop curriculum, become more reflective, etc.) because teachers can watch various aspects of the class they weren't aware of; show class dynamics; allow review of situations; reinforce children's responses; able to watch carefully how children in-teract and how they relate to each other; interaction, moments happen very fast. The video slows down or repeats the moment and can reveal new details previously missed; documenting child's development decreases misinterpretation; teachers can see the situation from a different perspective - maybe get an objective point of view. It's hard to see the full event when in the middle of it; it will give them helpful feedback about the children's behavior and tastes; class time is so busy that tapes can be beneficial in helping them review progress in depth; teachers are really busy during the day and involved with helping and projects that they miss other things that going on in the class aside from what they are doing; hard to tell child's level of involvement while actually teaching - can see what works, what doesn't; it helps teachers revisit what children do, figure out how to guide them, check their thought and ideas; seeing yourself on tape is always an eye opener - we see how others see and hear us and not how we perceive ourselves; so they can review what is going on in the classroom. If a specific teacher missed out on a particular conversation, they may see it on the video-tape; watching something happening as opposed to being involved in the action gives kids and teachers a new perspective; in the hectic environment of a preschool classroom teachers can use video as a reflective tool.
When asked what they would like to see displayed on the documentation panels the parents said: the children, maybe more of them; child initiated play; dialogue; children participating in different areas of class and interaction with other children and or teachers; the dialogue between child and teacher; my child's photo;
what they are doing now is fine; I think they are good the way they are currently being done but there should be more of them; love them the way they are, would like to see more quotes of what kids are saying/child's comments; the children's comments and ideas; pictures of students involved in specific activities, with lots of dialogue and details about those activities; a diversity of projects by a diversity of children.
When asked, "Do you feel that your child's contributions are valued at the ECLS?" Every parent answered yes.
By reading the answers to these surveys I knew that the parents feel that they are definitely benefiting from the use of the video equipment. All of the parents be-lieve that videotaping can be relevant to their child's learning and helpful for teachers. They think that the documentation panels are informative. Every parent thinks that their child's contributions are valued at the ECLS.

Future Plans
Dotty would like to learn more about working on a web site, digital photogra-phy and editing video. She would like to be more comfortable with it so that she can lead and be a mentor to others. She feels that as a professional, she should be better trained in technology yet she has never really been given the chance to do so. No one, like from the School of Education, has offered her the opportunity or the funds in which to attend a workshop or a conference to learn more about technology. She has never gotten any training or support to get training; it's all been self-driven.
In a year or so Dotty would hope to see computers in each of the classrooms, and/or the observation booths, that are Internet accessible. Information shared in the classroom could be documented almost immediately rather than waiting 'til after the children go home. There could be files that would be immediately accessible. She feels it would be great to have computers available in both classrooms that the chil-dren and teachers can both use. As far as the future goes Dotty can't really say. She just has to wait and see where this new age takes her and her school. She's sure that as the school gets further into it they're going to say they need more of this and that equipment. She hopes to remain cutting edge and keeping changing with the times.
After conducting this survey Kate would like to develop a more efficient way of training student teachers in the use of digital video cameras and digital editing. She is now creating a proposal for an independent study that would focus on this. She hopes to have training seminars, in the computer lab at Furculo Hall. This way the stu-dent interns will be able to manipulate their own individual computers after Kate gives a brief introduction/tutorial on the big screen monitor. She will focus on how to edit video to create documentation panels. She would also like to show these pre-service teachers how to display their panels on the web site.
Kate plans to update the ECLS web site based on responses to the student teachers and parents' questionnaires. The first thing she will do is post more of the children's artwork, photos, stories, and dialogue. She would like to post quotes about the school from parents and student teachers. She would especially like to have the photos and artwork from all the children whose parents have given permission to have their children on the site. During January she will train Jane and Dotty on how to use Dream Weaver. Then they will be able to post room 5 panels and various children's' artwork, photos, etc. onto the web site.
Kate will post this research report on the web as soon as Jane and Dotty have read it and given her feedback. She would like to continue to conduct research into the history of the Lab School. There are a great deal of unanswered questions due to a lack of time and resources. She wants to know about when the School of Education began to use the Lab as its primary preschool teacher-training site. When and how long was it a domestic training site for rural women? Did the Laboratory School exist before it was in Skinner Hall? When did the teacher-training program begin?

Synthesis
As I read the articles required for our Technology and Educational Change class I often thought of ways that they were directly related to the technological changes that were taking place at the ECLS. I will now briefly discuss a few of these required readings and how they relate to the ECLS.
In Fullan's chapter on the Sources of Educational Change (1991) he noted that there are a number of external and internal forces that over time create pressure for educational change. One of the ways that he said that pressures for educational policy change is through internal contradictions, specifically when one group perceives a dis-crepancy between educational values and outcomes affecting themselves or others. Dotty knew that the ECLS needed more efficient technological equipment in order to institute the Reggio Approach, which she firmly believes in. It is almost impossible to negotiate a curriculum without having a resource in which to assess and reflect on what the children are saying and doing. She knew that she needed video cameras in order to do this. The School of Education didn't always agree with her so she had to be forceful with her demands, and supply her own financial resources in order to get what she wanted, this being an I Mac with I Movie and the digital video cameras.
Dotty pushed for and promoted this educational change by hiring a staff that was also dedicated to creating a school that viewed children as powerful contributors to the curriculum. She sent various memos and attended numerous meetings with her superiors at Furculo. She knew that everyone would benefit from these changes, the student teachers, the parents, the preschoolers and the school of education in general. She knew that her requests were feasible; she now had fully enrolled preschool that allowed her the extra finances in which to purchase the materials for these changes. She did her homework. She consulted various people about what equipment to buy. Then she presented her proposal to the School of Education.

In Fullan's chapter on The Teacher (1991) I was particularly able to relate to what Fullan refers to as primacy of personal contact. We have recently introduced the role of videographer to our pre- service teachers since we just purchased digital video cameras for both preschool classrooms. We have asked each student teacher to fulfill the role of videographer/documentarian for three consecutive days. This job entails spending most of the morning videotaping the classroom activities, reviewing this footage (during snack and outside time), and choosing the most relevant piece of footage to share with the teaching team during post session. The student teacher then uses this footage to create a documentation panel through the use of IMovie video editing. We have been successful in this new role adaptation because we institute what Fullan refers to as primacy of personal contact. Each of our student teachers is shown indi-vidually how to use the digital cameras and video editing. As the student teacher be-gins to make her documentation panel she meets with her supervisor regularly during the process. During daily post sessions the entire teaching team shares the information offered by the videographer. The pre-service teachers are offered a great deal of personal contact in which they can reflect upon their teaching experience and professional development along with a supportive supervisor and teaching team.
I have taken this a step further by asking our student teachers to post their documentation panels on our web site. Since the pre-service want to be more familiar with web development they have offered to post their panels on our site often during their own personal time. I will sit with them and show them step by step how to post their information to the web. It is with great pride that they share their work with their relatives via the Internet. They also plan to use their Internet documentation as part of their teaching portfolios as they apply for teaching jobs. It is mainly due to the personal motivation and intimacy of training that has inspired these pre-service teachers to familiarize themselves with the imminent use of web sites in their future class-rooms.

In Sandholtz, Ringstaff, and Dwyer's article on Teaching with Technology (1997) they spoke about the importance of personal beliefs to instructional evolution. Dotty strongly believed that the advent of video camera would help her student teach-ers become more reflective and more competent in co-constructing the curriculum. She held various meetings with her primary teaching staff in order to express her con-cerns and visions with them. These primary teachers then shared Dotty's thought with their student teachers. Much discussion followed that concentrated on the importance of video in a Reggio influenced environment.
Sandholtz et al (1991) discuss the stages of instructional evolution. A couple of the student teachers at the ECLS are still at the Entry level. They don't see any point in using the video cameras. They don't think that they have helped in their reflection or in their curriculum design. Others of the student teachers are at the adoption stage. They see the value in using video cameras to help plan the curriculum. Some of the student teachers are at the adaptation stage, in which they are really trying to integrate the use of the video camera in the classroom to plan their curriculum. I think that since the video cameras have only been at the ECLS for three months the only people who have reached the appropriation stage are the primary teachers who are now using video cameras to accomplish real work.

While reading Hess and McNergney's article on Technological Trade-Offs (1998) and then again when I read the article by Bork on Technology in Education (1993) I was reminded of my pursuit to get a used IBM computer from the School of Education. We had just gotten the go ahead on our web site but only had a Mac com-puter. Since I am much more comfortable with an IBM over a Mac I asked the Busi-ness Office if they had an extra IBM computer that we could use. I was delighted when they said they had one to spare. Soon after its arrival I tried desperately to con-nect our computer to the Internet. After several fruitless attempts someone from LAN Support at OIT came over to help. They checked out the computer and soon found out that this newly donated computer was incompatible with the Internet. I realized that just because new technology is offered it doesn't necessarily mean that it is going to work. Fortunately LAN support offered us an IBM computer that was Internet accessible. They saw how desperate we were and came to our rescue!

In Clare Kilbane's article, Building Communities: A Case Study of Instructional Re-form (2000) she spoke of the important role that teachers have in creating a successful reform. It is because of the primary teachers absolute commitment to the administra-tion of new technological devices at the ECLS that has made it so successful. The teachers all wanted the new equipment, trained themselves in using the equipment and then did their best to train their student teachers. The primary staff has spent many hours outside of class time working with the student teachers to help them be success-ful in creating documentation panels based on their edited video tapes.

In Rogers article on Diffusion of Innovations (1995) he stated that Innovations that are perceived by individuals as having greater relative advantage, compatibility, trial-ability, observabilty, and less complexity will be adopted more readily than other innovations (Rogers, 1995, p.18). At the ECLS the relative advantage of the digital cam-eras and digital editing is that that they are more efficient than writing notes and then having to describe them. Dialogue can be easily listened to and transcribed using a video camera. Photos can be taken directly from the video camera instead of having to get photos developed and then scanned into the computer. The new technology at the ECLS is consistent with existing values, past experiences and needs of the potential adopters. Before the digital cameras and editing were introduced into the curriculum the staff was already taking photographs and copious notes about the preschoolers. The digital cameras and editing are basically just an advanced version of what was already being done. The complexity issues vary with each student teacher. The pri-mary staff is making every attempt to train the student teachers appropriately yet some feel that this is not being done. This is why the primary staff at the ECLS plans to have a training session be part of its future seminars. The student teachers are given a trial period of three days in which to use this new equipment. The results of the inno-vation are very observable. All the staff at the lab schools is constantly seeing some-one videotaping in both classrooms. They are also seeing the end product of this video taping as they view frequent displays of new documentation panels. The innovation of the new technology at the ECLS has been successful in its three months of existence. It continues to be used in both classrooms as a primary means of co-constructing and reflecting upon the curriculum by all of the staff at the ECLS.

Conclusion
In conclusion I would like to return to where I began. I started this research project by asking how, what, where, and why have these technological changes taken place. Who benefits from these changes? Let me briefly answer these questions.
The changes at the ECLS have occurred because a very driven director with a vision, along with her supportive, dedicated staff knew that the technology at the pre-school had to be upgraded in order to effectively incorporate the Reggio Approach and to meet the needs of the new state standards. The director raised her own funds, through the enrollment of more children; through various fundraisers; by donations from the parents; and by hosting an annual conference. She then presented arguments to the School of Education to have access to these funds. Equipment was also donated from other resources, such as the IBM computer from LAN support.
The visible changes in the ECLS are significant. There are four computers now in use at the ECLS, two of these with an Internet access. There are two digital video cameras and a video editor (I Movie). There is an email account and a school web site that displays both student teachers and preschoolers' work. The student teachers are now creating professional looking documentation panels that communicate to the preschool community (and to the world via the WWW) the topics of study of the chil-dren; what the children have been researching along with the teachers; and the devel-opmental progression of the preschoolers.
As clearly made visible in the student teacher and parent surveys, everyone benefits from the technological changes recently implemented at the ECLS. The stu-dent are becoming more reflective, analytical, and creative through their interaction with video taping and video editing. The parents know that their children are valued because they see their child's dialogue, photographs, and artwork displayed on the classroom and school walls. The children view themselves as powerful competent learners. They know that they are respected and that their requests will be honored.
The ECLS has come a long way since Dotty Meyer joined the staff in 1988. There is still a lot to do but with a vision and a dedicated staff anything is possible.

Bibliography

Bork, A. (1993). Technology in Education, an Historical Perspective. In Computers in Education, Muffoletto, R. & Knupfer N.N. eds. Hampton Press: Creskill, NJ.

Broderick, J.(2001) Interview at the ECLS. Amherst, MA: University of Massachu-setts.

Fullan, M.G & Stiegelbauer, S. (1991). The New Meaning of Educational Change. Teachers College Press: New York.

Hess, F.H.& McNergney, R.F. (March 2000) Technological Trade-Offs. Electronic School. pp A30-A33.

Kilbane, C. (2000) Building Communities: A Case Study of Instructional Reform. Spotlight on New Learning Environments: Journal of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational Design. (2), 4.

Meyer, Dotty (2001) Interview at the ECLS. Amherst, MA: University of Massachu-setts.

Meyer, Dotty (2001) Project Meet Technology Fellowship Proposal. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts.

Rogers, E.M. (1995). Diffusion of Innovations. 4th ed. The Free Press: New York.

Sandholtz, J.H., Ringstaff, C. & Dwyer D. (1997). Teaching with Technology: Creat-ing Student Centered Classrooms. Teachers College Press: New York.

Sireci, S. (2001) Constructing Questionnaires for Educational Research. In EDUC 661: Educational Research Methods. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts.

Sireci, S. (2001) Gathering Data in Educational Research Studies. In EDUC 661: Edu-cational Research Methods. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts.

Kate Strub- Richards
Educ 615E
December 19, 2001

Home Page