Technology in Three American Preschools: Technological Influences of Ideology and Social Class

It is 10:00 a.m., center time for the children in Faith Christian’s Pre-K Classroom. The four and five-year-old children in the class are engaged in a myriad of activities: A few children are sprawled out on the carpet perusing picture books, while a couple sit at tables with paper and pencils, tracing their names with the teacher. Not far away three children sit on a rug in front of a Teddy Ruxpin doll, a bear that moves his mouth animatronically when a cassette is placed in the player on his back. They are listening to Teddy “recite” a book on tape. In another corner, two other children are sitting at desks, headphones on their ears and a computer mouse in hand. Staring intently at the monitor in front of them, they are playing games such as Franklin’s Adventures and My Very First Little People Farm. These children are autonomous in their interaction with the computer; although the teacher is near they need very little assistance in navigating the games as they move the mouse, point and click from screen to screen with confidence.