Young children’s access and use of computers in family child care and child care centers

Abstract

Forty eight family child care providers and 37 center-based providers completed surveys about the availability and use of computers for children in their care. In addition, the providers were asked about their attitudes towards technology and their own computer skills. The impact of setting type on computer placement and rules about their use did not differ very much by setting type. Several factors were associated with the amount of time children were reported to use the computers. Overall, it appears that child care providers had developmentally sensitive guidelines for fostering computer use in both child care settings.