Page 103 - Gateways for Early Educators

Gateways for Early Educators
Participants were asked about their general experience in the trainings and whether they plan on doing something new in their child care program as a result of participating in the training and how they would rate the training. The trainings received very favorable responses with participants rating the training Excellent or Good (Excellent=4, Good=3, Mean=3.87). In addition, 100% of participants indicated they Agree or Strongly Agree that they plan to do something different in their program as a result of the training. Of those who provided specific examples of what they plan on doing, the majority indicated they will continue to practice the skills they learned in the trainings or that they will continue to explore some aspect of the California ECE Workforce Registry. Of participants who provided comments about what could be improved about the training, most indicated that they would like longer trainings, more sessions, or more frequent trainings regarding computer and technology.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Overall, participants reported a positive experience in the computer and technology training and reported change in various computer and technology skills. However, what is evident both through the computer literacy assessment and in the technology trainings is that participants have different computer and technology skills and training needs depending on their primary language. Given this language disparity was also evident during the 2014-2015 program year, providing different levels of training should be considered. Spanish-speaking participants benefited from the level of training offered this program year showing considerable growth in the skills focused on in the trainings and a large percentage of participants benefited from having the Registry be part of the focus. However, English- speaking participants entered the trainings having already honed many of the skills addressed in the training. Given the myriads of potential uses of computer and technology by early childhood educators and in ECE programs, it is recommended that a more advanced training be developed. This would benefit English-speaking participants who already have the basic computer and technology skills offered by the current training and Spanish-speaking participants who are ready to move on to more advanced training.
2016
Care and Education Workforce Registry account via e-mail.
93