Technology Tie-In

Using Technology to Record Infant and Toddler Development

Many early childhood professionals are using technology to record the development of infants and toddlers. This technology can include compact discs, digital cameras, tape recorders, video cameras, and video recorders. This technology is used to document milestone achievements, as well as significant learning. The documentation can be included as part of a child's portfolio, in conferences with parents, and used as the basis for providing optimal learning and environmental experiences suited to individual children.

A professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is using technology to record her own son's development in their home. The Human Speechome Project, as it is known, uses cameras and microphones to record every waking moment of the child's life. Dr. Deb Roy hopes the project will shed light on how babies acquire language.

The Human Speechome Project
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4987880.stm