Research that Benefits Children and Families

Imagine that you possess the means and the knowledge to conduct research studies about any topic in the early childhood field. Imagine further that you are not restricted by the reality of the present. Imagine that your study will make a major positive contribution to the well-being of children and/or their families. What topic would you choose? What can you imagine the positive contribution(s) would be?

If I had the opportunity to conduct research about a topic in early childhood I would choose the long term effects of technology on children. At this point I am aware that obesity is one adverse effect of too much technology and little to no physical activity. I can't help but wonder how long use of electronics effect children’s vision and concept of reality long term.

The results of my research would show whether or not children's vision is effected by using elections in close range to eyesight. It would also show whether nor not violence in video games or on TV programming allow children to have a warped sense of reality.  Is this why there has been an increase in violence in children; if children were not being exposed to these things how would it still be a problem in today's society? 

My Personal Research Journey

Prior to reading chapter two in the course text my focus was aimed towards finding ways in which we could improve the quality of early childhood education for children, improve the working conditions for early childhood educators and provide more access to early childhood education. After reading chapter two I have decided to shift my gears and focus on the best ways to train staff to work with young children. My reason for the change in directions has to do with me wanting to improve the productivity of my job performance.

 I am an education specialist and part of my job is to provide training's for the teachers at my school, I also coach, mentor and monitor what goes on in the classroom from the education side of things. Some of my “findings” in the classroom observations are used to generate training topics for the teachers. I have only been at my job for a year but many teachers have told me that our current training topics are becoming redundant which makes me think of two questions. If the training's are becoming repetitive then why are we still seeing the same things taking place in the classroom thus prompting us to review the same topics? What can we (as a team of education specialist) do to present the information in new and innovative ways they will support our teachers to change what they are doing in the classroom? For the simulation I chose to focus on finding was to increase the amount of information teachers retain from the training's as well as increase the implementation rate after professional development sessions.

I have to be honest this simulation process has been challenging as well as eye opening. This course has changed everything I thought I knew about conducting research. Even though this has its benefits, I am continuing to question whether or not I fully understand the process. The research chart has actually been one of the most informative pieces of this week.

I had to do a little more research on lit review plans to gain a better understanding of the process and I came across a detailed outline at: http://www.capella.edu/interactivemedia/library/litReviewTutorial/downloads/LitReviewPlan_FinalCopy.pdf

I hope this helps, please feel free to share any additional information you may have come across.