Source: UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING submitted to
TECHNOLOGY IN THE LIVES CHILDREN AND YOUTH: PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0231738
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
WYO-488-12
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2012
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2017
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Wade, CH.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
1000 E UNIVERSITY AVE DEPARTMENT 3434
LARAMIE,WY 82071-2000
Performing Department
Family And Consumer Sciences
Non Technical Summary
This project is designed to examine perceptions of the use of technology by parents, teachers, 4-H educators, young children, and youth. The project will begin with preschool-aged children, their teachers and parents to provide a glimpse into technologys potential impact on childrens learning, social development, and the transmission of culture and language. It will then expand to include 4-H youth, their parents, 4-H educators, and volunteers. Data collection methods include observations, field notes, interviews and surveys. Interviews, observational data, and field notes will be coded for themes and issues. Survey data will be statistically analyzed to look at trends and correlations with age, socioeconomic status (SES), culture, community size, and family composition. The goal is to obtain insights into access and equity as it relates to technology: who has access to technology and who doesnt; how can this issue be analyzed from a fairness and social justice perspective; and how does access or lack of access affect later learning potential Recommendations for teacher and 4-H educator preparation, child and youth program development, and volunteer training are the desired outcomes.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
75%
Developmental
25%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
8036010302065%
8036010303025%
8066010303010%
Goals / Objectives
Objectives: 1. To collect baseline data on parental, teacher, and child views and use of technology. 2. To qualitatively analyze baseline data for themes and issues. A particular focus will be to see if socioeconomic status (SES)and culture impact views and uses of technology. 3. To develop and pilot a survey for parents of 4-H youth program participants, 4-H leaders, and volunteers. 4. To collect baseline data on parental, 4-H leader, and volunteer perceptions and uses of technology in Wyoming. 5. To collect baseline data on the views of, interests in and knowledge of technology of 4-H youth program participants, particularly as it relates to culture and rural settings. 6. To make recommendations for youth programming, 4-H educator and volunteer training, and community education. 7. To disseminate the research findings and look at expanding to collaborative data collection in other states.
Project Methods
Phase 1 (Currently underway by Dr. Williams: Wind River Reservation, UW Early Care and Education Center, International School of the Hannover Region, and a yet to be determined location with a Hispanic population or low socioeconomic status (SES)minority population): a minimum of one month will be spent at each site. Data will be gathered using observational field notes, videotaping of play sessions to capture what the children may or may not bring into their play or conversations that relates to technology (such as objects in dramatic play), and interviews with the children where they will be shown photos of tech-oriented equipment and are allowed to talk about what they recognize and say anything they would like to about the objects in the pictures. Children will be asked, "What can you tell me about this picture" or "What is that child/person doing" These are the only two questions that the children will be asked, although they will be allowed to describe or talk about each picture as long as they would like to. Interviews will last approximately 10 minutes. Interviews will be audio-taped and transcribed. Parent interviews will last a maximum of 30 minutes, although if the parent is still engaged, the PI will let the parent talk for as long as they choose to. Interviews will be audio-taped and transcribed. The classroom teacher will also be interviewed using the same questions as those provided to the parents. They will also be asked about their exposure to the use of technology with young children in their early childhood teacher education program. Phase 2: Data from Phase 1 will be analyzed. Results will help shape the work done with 4-H educators, parents and volunteers. Questions will be modified and expanded into survey questions following input from state-level 4-H Extension Program Educators. (Dr. Wade and Dr. Williams will design the survey with input from Kim Reamon, Johnathan Despain and Warren Crawford in the state 4-H office). The survey will be piloted with individuals (parents, 4-H educators and volunteers) in two counties, one rural and one in a larger city in Wyoming. (Dr. Wade will statistically analyze the findings.) Phase 3: The survey will be finalized by Dr. Wade and Dr. Williams and deployed to 4-H educators, volunteers and parents whose children participate in 4-H in the state of Wyoming. Data will be statistically analyzed by Dr. Wade. A survey will be developed for use with 4-H youth by Dr. Williams and Dr. Wade and piloted. Phase 4: Based on pilot data, the youth survey will be modified and deployed to a modified random sample of 4-H youth in Wyoming by Dr. Wade and Dr. Williams. Youth will be chosen from counties that are most rural, those with cities, and those with minority populations including the Wind River Reservation. Data will be statistically analyzed. Focus groups or interviews will be conducted with a subset of youth by Dr. Williams. Phase 5: Data results will be disseminated with recommendations for programming.

Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results will be disseminated through the publishing of a journal article and a condensed version of this manuscript is being prepared to share with the Wyoming 4-H program. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Data from the 4-H surveys were analyzed and a manuscript was prepared that discussesviews of, interests in, and knowledge of technology of 4-H youth program participants, educators and parents. Recommendations are made for future research as well as potential implications for 4-H programs.

Publications


    Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

    Outputs
    Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Data results will be disseminated with recommendations for programming.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Data from the surveys collected from 4-H leaders, youth, and parents were entered into a database and analyses have begun.

    Publications


      Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

      Outputs
      Target Audience:Our target audience for this reporting period was 4-H youth program participants, participating youths' parents, and 4-H Extension educators in the state of Wyoming. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of the survey data will not be known until the next reporting period. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period we will finish coding and then analyze the survey data. Results will then be submitted for presentation and/or publication.

      Impacts
      What was accomplished under these goals? The surveys developed to explore the perceptions of 4-H youth program participants, participating youths' parents, and 4-H Extension educators regarding the use of technology in 4-H programs and at home were distributed to a random sample of 4-H youth in Wyoming as well as to all Wyoming 4-H Extension educators. Data was returned over the late spring/summer of 2015, and database creation and some data entry began in fall, 2015.

      Publications


        Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

        Outputs
        Target Audience: Our target audience for this reporting period was 4-H administrators and volunteer coordinators for the state of Wyoming. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? A summary report of the findings from the three early childhood education sites was created and given to all three sites for dissemination to participating parents and teachers in the program. In addition, results were presented at the Sheppard Symposium for Social Justice, and the presentation slides are now available in the Social Justice Research Center archives. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? In year 3, we plan to deploy the three new survey instruments regarding perceptions of technology statewide to 4-H youth and their parents as well as 4-H educators. Data from these surveys will then be coded and analyzed. In addition, a conference proposal will be submitted based on year 1 and 2 findings.

        Impacts
        What was accomplished under these goals? Data from site 3 was analyzed qualitatively. Results from the analyses of all three early childhood education sites were used to inform the development and creation of three new surveys. These new surveys explore perceptions regarding the use of technology in 4-H programs and at home. We created three different versions for three different target audiences: 4-H youth program participants, participating youths' parents, and 4-H leaders. After the surveys were developed, we piloted the surveys with 4-H administrators from the state of Wyoming. Feedback from these administrators was then used to reword confusing or unclear items, reformat item categories, and correct incorrect term usage.

        Publications


          Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13

          Outputs
          Target Audience: Three sites were utilized. At each site, early childhood teachers, administrators, parents and children were interviewed. Site 1 was on a Native American reservation. The Head Start program included families with lower socioeconomic status, some children with disabilities, and non-traditional family groupings. Site 2 was on a military base in the Southwest. All families had at least one parent in the military; some had more than one, but some families were civilian employees on the base. Site 3 was an international school in Germany. Some families were on low-income scholarships. The language of instruction was English, but non-English speakers received extra instruction in English while all other children received additional instruction in German. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Preliminary analyses have been completed and were presented at a conference in April, 2013. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? 2. To qualitatively analyze baseline data for themes and issues. A particular focus will be to see if socioeconomic status (SES)and culture impact views and uses of technology. Analyses will be completed on all three sites. 3. To develop and pilot a survey for parents of 4-H youth program participants, 4-H leaders, and volunteers. The pilot surveys will be developed and deployed to two counties, one rural and one urban. Pilot data will be examined and survey modifications will be made if needed. 7. To disseminate the research findings and look at expanding to collaborative data collection in other states. A conference presentation will be made to discuss the Year 1 findings. In addition, the Year 1 sites and participants will receive a summary of findings.

          Impacts
          What was accomplished under these goals? During phase 1, data was collected at a Head Start program on a reservation, at a University early care center, at an international school in Germany, and at a military child care center at an air force base in the southwest. A minimum of one month wasspent at each site. Data was gathered using observational field notes, videotaping of play sessions to capture what the children may or may not bring into their play or conversations that relates to technology (such as objects in dramatic play), and interviews with the children where they were shown photos of tech-oriented equipment and are allowed to talk about what they recognize and say anything they would like to about the objects in the pictures. The classroom teacher and other teachers at each site were also interviewed using the same questions as those provided to the parents. They were also asked about their exposure to the use of technology with young children in their early childhood teacher education program. Preliminary data analyses have begun for the first two sites. Questions from the interviews are being modified and expanded into survey questions following input from state-level 4-H Extension Program Educators. (Dr. Wade and Dr. Williams will design the survey with input from Kim Reamon, Johnathan Despain and Warren Crawford in the state 4-H office). The survey will be piloted with individuals (parents, 4-H educators and volunteers) in two counties, one rural and one in a larger city in Wyoming. (Dr. Wade will statistically analyze the findings). In Phase 3 the survey will be conducted in all counties in Wyoming. There is also the potential to involve other 4-H programs at the national level. Findings from Phase 1 are being written for publication and have already been presented at the Shephard Symposium for Social Justice. In addition, a manuscript is being written on heritage and culture with administrators at the Head Start Program on the reservation. Implications for the need for technology training in degree programs in Family & Consumer Sciences and Early Education are significant, as is the need to involve parents and others in appropriate uses of technology based on the International Society for Technology in Education Guidelines. Objectives: 1. To collect baseline data on parental, teacher, and child views and use of technology. Data was collected at three different sites, as described above. 2. To qualitatively analyze baseline data for themes and issues. A particular focus will be to see if socioeconomic status (SES)and culture impact views and uses of technology. Preliminary analyses have been completed and were presented at a conference in April, 2013. Themes and issues were identified for the first two sites, and are being identified for the third. 3. To develop and pilot a survey for parents of 4-H youth program participants, 4-H leaders, and volunteers. Preliminary findings from the site visits are being used to construct the 4-H pilot surveys. 4. To collect baseline data on parental, 4-H leader, and volunteer perceptions and uses of technology in Wyoming. This will not occur until Year 3. 5. To collect baseline data on the views of, interests in and knowledge of technology of 4-H youth program participants, particularly as it relates to culture and rural settings. This will not occur until Year 3. 6. To make recommendations for youth programming, 4-H educator and volunteer training, and community education. This will not occur until Year 3. 7. To disseminate the research findings and look at expanding to collaborative data collection in other states. This will not occur until Year 2 and beyond.

          Publications