As the participating educators in the ECCDC pilot research project continue using iPads, they are discovering some interesting and novel ways to connect and extend upon children’s emerging interests. In this research update, we feature a few vignettes from the educators’ shared blog of actual practices being enacted with the iPads. These snapshots help highlight the essential role of the educator in scaffolding children’s technological knowledge. Fellow researchers, Plowman and McPake (2013) emphasize that the role of educators should encompass the following aspects:

• Recognizing children’s different preferences
• Developing an awareness of the role of a wide range of technologies in the child’s home learning environment
• Acknowledging the range and diversity of children’s 
early experiences at home and the ways in which parents, siblings, and caregivers induct children into culturally significant technological practices
• Extending their vision of the nature of children’s technological competences beyond operational skills

Brock University & ECCDC Research Collaborative: iPad Project Interim Report, September 17 2014
Brock University & ECCDC Research Update, January 2015
Brock University & ECCDC Research Collaborative: iPad Project Final Report, June 1 2015