Teaching in the Digital Age: Smart Tools for Age 3 to Grade 3

This is an excellent resource just chock full of technology ideas to implement in the early childhood classroom. As many states look at implementing the Common Core Standards, (and the technology skills woven throughout the Standards), this resource will be sure to become a must-have. I work with undergraduate students, many of them future teachers, and have shared many of the ideas in the book with my students. My favorite parts are the peeks into real teachers' classrooms, as these vignettes bring Brian Puerling's ideas to life, making the whole idea of integrating technology a little less scary! For example, reading about how, and why, Ms. Stegmaier uses a digital camera in her Kindergarten block center makes the concept concrete. This snapshot of Ms. Stegmaier's block center clearly indicates how she connects play to learning, and how she integrates technology, painting a picture of students engaged in learning. Hers was the first idea I shared with my students. Another bonus: Mr. Puerling's inclusion of QR codes allows the reader to access even more ideas, indicating he practices what he preaches-fantastic! There is something for everyone in this resource, for the novice or the expert. I highly recommend this book to all teachers "teaching in the digital age", as technology is clearly changing how children learn!

vERY INFORMATIVE.

I like the book however I am disappointed in the purchase because I bought a new book and received a book that has clear cover damage as well as usage.

Great read! I attended Brian's Pd twice. Can't wait to extend technology in my classroom and share this with my assistant

Great way to learn about incorporating technology into the classroom in appropriate and healthy ways!

Very nice, thanks.

There are some books that education students sell back as soon as the ink is dry on their final exam and others that they keep and use as a professional reference for decades. Teaching in the Digital Age is one of the latter. Don't let the fact that chapters are organized by technology types fool you. This is as much a book about how to be a great teacher as it is about tech. For example, Puerling doesn't just suggest using tablets and apps; he takes the reader step-by-step through the process of introducing the use of these tools to young users, including differentiation of practice for various age groups (developmentally appropriate practice). My personal favorite is the chapter on using photographs, including an explanation of why photos are, in many circumstance, a more effective educational tool for teaching observation and inquiry than the line drawings so common in educational materials.Media literacy educators might be a bit disappointed that Puerling never uses the phrase "media literacy" and he relies heavily on children developing their own questions without ever really helping them improve the quality of the probing questions they ask. However, the author's approach fulfills many of NAMLE's Core Principles of Media Literacy Education.** Puerling's pedagogy includes lots of inquiry (critical thinking), reflection (metacognition), careful observation, conversation (language development), effective communication, and creativity. People looking for practical ways to implement the recommendations in the new joint tech statement by NAEYC and the Fred Rogers Center will find in these pages a rich array of activity ideas and assessment tools; All in all, a well-rounded model for using technologies in ways that are intentional, mindful, and effective. And everything is presented in an elegant package - easy to read and beautifully laid out (kudos to Redleaf Press). If I could only purchase one book this year to support media literacy education in early childhood settings, this would be it.** For a detailed description of the Core Principles, see  The Teacher's Guide to Media Literacy: Critical Thinking in a Multimedia World .