5 Chapter 5: Conclusion

In this paper, I have talked extensively about interactively constructing learning, intentional design, and the need for digital learning objects in the context of early childhood education. The three DLOs created for this project showcase my previous experiences combined with more than six years of diverse learning, development, and research activities. All of this culminates to say that, in general, I have observed that the field of early childhood education has been wary of incorporating technology into its learning environments. However, when technology is used meaningfully, it can have tremendous positive impacts on our learning and development. In this project, DLOs have been intentionally created to support learning professional skills for pre-service and in-service ECEs. Here is where we see the potential for interactive DLOs when they have been created from the design stage to support and enhance learning.

While DLOs are not new in many fields, in early childhood education they remain relatively new and unknown. Despite their novelty and some wary perceptions of technology within ECE, DLOs present us with an incredible opportunity. DLOs are a technological innovation that is somewhat like a flame, as is my unique approach to a master’s project, but the question is, what will you do with the flame in your learning environment? All kinds of things can fuel or extinguish the fire; we can put it out, feed it, or use it to fuel other things. We can build it into a great burning bonfire, or frantically smother the flames for fear of being burned. The future is here now, and we can either panic and smother the flames out of a fear of getting burnt, or we can embrace potentially messy moments as we blaze a trail toward innovation in a new age of early childhood education and creative master’s projects.