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dren that emphasize oral language, experiences<br />
with print, storybook reading, <strong>and</strong> writing<br />
for different purposes (Beck; D<strong>on</strong>ovan,<br />
Milewicz, & Smolkin, 2003; Van Scooter &<br />
Boss). Sadly, AT is infrequently used in many<br />
classrooms to support emerging literacy activities,<br />
<strong>and</strong> its potential to help develop important<br />
skills needed for later learning <strong>and</strong> success<br />
may be minimized. This is compounded<br />
by <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> fact that most early childhood educati<strong>on</strong><br />
preservice programs still do not prepare<br />
teachers to be able to effectively c<strong>on</strong>sider AT<br />
during IEP development processes (Derer,<br />
Posgrove, & Reith, 1996; Lahm, 2003; Lesar,<br />
1998; Mistreet et al., 2005; Parette, Peters<strong>on</strong>-<br />
Karlan, & Wojcik, 2005), nor do <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y rapidly<br />
integrate AT into <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir curricula (Zorfass &<br />
Rivero, 2005). The net result has been that (a)<br />
relatively few children receive AT in early interventi<strong>on</strong><br />
programs (RESNA Technical Assistance<br />
Project, as cited in L<strong>on</strong>g, Huang, Woodbridge,<br />
Woolvert<strong>on</strong>, & Minkel, 2003); (b) few<br />
professi<strong>on</strong>al publicati<strong>on</strong>s discuss AT usage<br />
with young children (Edyburn, 2001, 2002,<br />
2003); <strong>and</strong> (c) little is known about effective<br />
AT emergent literacy integrati<strong>on</strong> practices<br />
with early childhood populati<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
Thus, it seems appropriate to ask <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> questi<strong>on</strong>s,<br />
“Why are teachers not c<strong>on</strong>sidering <strong>and</strong><br />
using AT for young children with disabilities?”<br />
<strong>and</strong> “What are <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>cerns that teachers have<br />
about AT?” Asht<strong>on</strong> (2005) noted that if negative<br />
percepti<strong>on</strong>s or attitudes towards AT exist<br />
am<strong>on</strong>g practicing professi<strong>on</strong>als, it is virtually<br />
an insurmountable task to change <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir mindsets.<br />
Asht<strong>on</strong> fur<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r observed that “Forcing<br />
teachers to learn something <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y perceive as<br />
unnecessary will prove a fruitless endeavor”<br />
(p. 236).<br />
Exploring Early Childhood Teacher Needs<br />
One project designed to address this need is<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Making A Difference Using Assistive Technology<br />
(MDAT) Project, funded by <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Illinois<br />
Children’s Healthcare Foundati<strong>on</strong> in 2005<br />
(Parette, St<strong>on</strong>er, & Watts, 2005). The goal of<br />
this project was to develop an AT toolkit to<br />
enhance emerging literacy skills with preschool<br />
children who were at-risk or who had<br />
disabilities. However, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> project involved <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
potential for substantive organizati<strong>on</strong> changes<br />
with regard to curricula approaches <strong>and</strong> pro-<br />
fessi<strong>on</strong>al development strategies used in<br />
schools. Research has indicated that when an<br />
organizati<strong>on</strong> is facing change <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re should be<br />
a systematic <strong>and</strong> deliberate process in place to<br />
ensure success <strong>and</strong> it is vital to involve those<br />
individuals affected by change in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> initial<br />
planning process (Kotter, 1999). Similarly, attitudes<br />
of educati<strong>on</strong> professi<strong>on</strong>als toward AT<br />
<strong>and</strong> its implementati<strong>on</strong> in school programming<br />
has been reported to be a major challenge<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>wide (SEAT Center, Nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
Center for Technology Innovati<strong>on</strong>, <strong>and</strong> Kansas<br />
University, 2005).<br />
C<strong>on</strong>sequently, before <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> MDAT Project<br />
could be implemented <strong>and</strong> an AT toolkit developed,<br />
it was imperative to examine teacher<br />
percepti<strong>on</strong>s regarding technology <strong>and</strong> literacy<br />
to assist project staff in decisi<strong>on</strong>-making regarding<br />
effective professi<strong>on</strong>al development<br />
<strong>and</strong> subsequent interventi<strong>on</strong> approaches. This<br />
preliminary work prior to project implementati<strong>on</strong><br />
was guided by <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> following research<br />
questi<strong>on</strong>s:<br />
1. How do teachers of preschool children describe<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir percepti<strong>on</strong>s AT?<br />
2. How do preschool teachers describe <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cerns about implementati<strong>on</strong> of a<br />
school-wide AT program?<br />
3. How do preschool teachers perceive AT for<br />
assisting with literacy skill development?<br />
4. What are <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> preschool teachers’ experiences<br />
<strong>and</strong> self-reported uses of AT?<br />
Method<br />
Participants<br />
Participants were nine teachers at a self-c<strong>on</strong>tained<br />
preschool facility in a Midwestern city.<br />
Four of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> teachers were teaching children<br />
with identified disabilities <strong>and</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> remaining<br />
five taught children who were identified as<br />
being ‘at-risk.’ All teachers held state teaching<br />
certificates (see Table 1).<br />
Research Design<br />
78 / Educati<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> Training in Developmental Disabilities-March 2008<br />
The study employed qualitative strategies described<br />
by numerous researchers (e.g., Bogdan<br />
& Biklen, 1998; Leedy & Ormrod, 2001;<br />
Millan & Wergin, 2002). Specifically, qualitative<br />
research allowed <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> researchers to deeply