There's an alien in my playcorner: Computers and the early childhood teacher

This paper examines computers in relation to early childhood teachers, the children they teach and the curriculum. The author points out that there is no doubt that young children are able to use and learn from computers; but as to why children should use computers in preference to more traditional means she finds no answers in the current literature. Increased government intervention in education has resulted in major changes in schools curricula. The examples Britain and parts of Australia are cited. Concomitant with these changes comes state promotion of computers in to schools. Yet whether technology is adapted to education, or vice versa, has not yet been addressed. The position of teachers relative to this innovation is reviewed and the complexity of how a teacher acquires the necessary competence to use computers effectively in class is enunciated. The article looks finally to the future and calls on governments, policy makers and the computer industry to fund research into the use of computers in the early years.