What are some good pieces of new technology for a preschool classroom?

I wrote an educational program (https://code.google.com/p/rur-ple/; http://rur-ple.sourceforge.net/) that's been downloaded over 50,000 times and formed the basis of a book written and distributed by Samsung to elementary school children in South Korea. So, I am all for the *appropriate* use of technology in the classroom. However, NOT for preschoolers. My advice for technology at that age: wooden blocks and legos.

I'm not going to try to convince you this is a bad thing, but I hope you can see that there's no good reason to introduce technology to preschool. Anyway, the http://www.readingrainbow.com/rr-app works only on iPads and Kindle Fire, so if your starting premise is to use this app, then you'd probably best be served getting some iPads and heavy-duty cases. You don't really have a whole lot of choices here. Also, if there are 30 kids, the teachers better have a good sharing plan because I can see that thing being pulled out of kids hands and a whole lot of fighting going on over the new shiny. The RR app is basically some videos giving backstory and someone reading the book. I'm all for technology but I just can't fathom why the teachers can't read to the kids. Why an app? And based on the responses you've gotten here weighing in heavily against the use of technology in preschool, I would definitely run this by parents. I understand your good intentions here but I think the thing of it is, and I'm speaking as a teacher/administrator as well as a parent, those preschool years are critical years for brain development and learning social skills. They're short years and you don't get them back and preschool is what...maybe 30 hours a week? This is not an argument, it is a truth when I say: When a child is using technology they are NOT ACTIVELY engaging with others.

I do not have kids and my imaginary kids do not have a preschool. However, if I did have kids I would see technology in a pre-school as a negative not positive feature. Given that kids under 2 are recommended to have 0 screen time and preschool kids should have very limited screentime (with most kids likely getting the maximum daily dosage at home and most parents eager to save it for home so they can make dinner, if they're trying to limit screentime). I wouldn't want to send my kids to preschool and find out they were using computers or tablets while there. I understand the RR app is educational, but it seems like the kind of educational material -- talking about books, learning about the topics of books, reading books, hearing what kids think of different books -- that I would want provided by the preschool itself, involving actual interaction with live human beings and development of social skills. Not via video. So, I would use whatever budget you have to buy actual books, and you (the adults) should use whatever technology you have access to to use the RR app yourselves for ideas and book suggestions, if you like. If you must hand the screentime over to students, I would buy a cheap android tablet, lock it down for RR (and a few other limited apps, if you like) use and let parents/families sign it out for the night/weekend so it can replace TV time at home instead of replacing interactions with teachers and kids at preschool. I'm not anti-technology and I am not in the tiniest bit sympathetic to people who claim that the internet and social media are somehow replacing "real relationships." but preschool kids are learning to interact and read social cues. They need to talk to people not watch videos.

I'd really like to see these alleged studies that show that technology use is good in a preschool classroom.

Our preschool uses no technology and we like it that way. I'd actually be really unhappy to have something like this introduced as it takes away from the play-time and social time the kids should be getting. What we do have is old laptops, keyboards, mice, cell phones, regular phones that are NOT connected and come at for some play times when the kids place "office worker" (It's really cute) Could you use this energy and experience to help some of the other parents learn technology? Office app training? Linux installation on older laptops, etc...

As the parent of a recent preschooler, n'thing that I would find it really problematic if I learned the school was including a lot of screen time in its curriculum. Doubtless some others would disagree, but to me plunking a bunch of 3-4-year-olds in front of tablet apps, however instructional, would read either as laziness on the teacher's part or as some higher-up's being infatuated with flashy tech at the expense of real consideration for the educational needs of kids this age. I would not be a fan. Using technology to empower the adults-- whether by plugging the teacher into online educational resources or improving the tech literacy of the parents-- seems like a vastly preferable direction.

I am a mom to a preschooler and I would be really, really against ANY technology in the preschool classroom. I believe that the important lessons at this age are socialization and play. I would much, much, much rather you used the money to replace old or worn out toys, bought new books for class or maybe some of the awesome but more expensive imaginative toys (magformers come to mind). Also class room improvements would be great. Refresh the play kitchen, get new art supplies replace the worn classroom story time rug.

While I appreciate the anti-technology opinion, and to a certain degree I can understand it, that does little to answer my question. I was introduced to computers in Kindergarten. For 30 minutes a day. We actually learned BASIC programming, and I was super into it. We never had a computer at home. Ever. When I was in 1st grade my "computer teacher" wrote on my report card that I had an understanding of computers at the level of an 8th grader. I didn't get my first computer until I was 17 years old. My parents didn't get theirs until I was 20-something. I now work in computers... in education, just higher education. I actually had no intention of being an IT person, but I am now. I want my children to understand and appreciate technology. And so far they do. The classroom my children attend is super engaged with small groups, an assortment of teachers, and so on. There is outdoor play for the majority of the day (weather permitting). There is a TON of hands-on learning. Insects, animals, books, blocks, texture tables, you name it. There's music. There's dancing. Etc. You will never convince me that technology in the hands of small children is a bad thing. Especially under the watchful eye of good teachers (and good parents, such as myself and my wife). Especially in moderation. These children are going to grow up working on these very things daily, and you think excluding them from that is best? No one is saying here that these kids cannot be creative. But other than blacksmiths, and glassblowers, and whatever lo-tech job you can dream up, everyone everywhere uses technology. We're using it to have this discussion. I'm not, and the school is not looking to turn these children into mindless drones. We are looking to educate. And I am looking for the best systems for doing so. Thank you. P.S. - As I was wrapping up this response, I received a newer "answer" that expressed a bit about "need to be able to." No, my children, and the 28 other children in this class do not "need to be able to use a computer." But there is genuinely no harm in doing so. It is a tool that adds onto learning. P.P.S. - I'm not looking to start internet flamewar 3.0 either. Again, I am telling you straight up, you are not going to convince me that this is a bad thing. I work in education, I have friends who are educators to K thru 2. I have read the studies. And for every study on your side, is another study on my side. I am simply looking for use cases/hardware suggestions.

I work with special needs kids (though mostly elementary age). The big push is for tablets because they are portable, there are a lot of therapy (occupational and speech) goals that can be worked on through apps that are also great for typically developing young children. It's just more interactive and can be a great motivator. My experience is with ipads but I agree it's probably not the best choice in your situation. A lot of the parents I work with want to buy ipads for their kids but it is a financial burden for a lot of people. And you need good, strong cases. Really. However, if you don't have wi-fi there, I'd advise against it. Nowadays a lot of apps non-functional without a connection (it used to be you could download apps, and use them offline but that's changed a lot).