Speech and Language Therapy

Undergraduate students in Educational Departments are required to evaluate basic tools in Information Communication Technology in order to promote the learning process and outcomes. The teacher's ability to use the means of technology and adapt them in the educational process, apart from training, involves understanding the technology itself. This study addresses issues on undergraduate teachers' education, relevant to the effective use of Information Communication Technology. The aim of this study is to investigate how undergraduate students of the Department of Early Childhood Education understand and avail Information Communication Technology. Emphasis is given on the students' capabilities to evaluate and integrate educational content, retrieved from the Internet, in educational process. The current research was carried out in 2008 in the University of Ioannina in Greece. The sample consisted of 180 undergraduate students during their final year of their undergraduate studies. In that semester one of the tasks of the undergraduate students was to be trained on using Internet and Information Communication Technologies and then to carry out certain tasks regarding information retrieval from the Internet. Additionally, they attended a test performing similar activities. The results of this study were based on the evaluation of the above. The outcome of the study outlined: a. the students' deficiencies in Information Communication Technology literacy and b. the necessity for re-evaluation of the education and training of preschool teachers in using the Internet for information retrieval so as to promote more effective methods of Information Communication Technology activities' and the integration in the learning process.

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The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in preschool education is an important research issue, and accordingly a wide range of research results have been published. This paper analyzes and compares the research findings on ICT use in preschool education in the past decade in Greece and China. The main analysis framework of this paper focuses on three aspects: (i) access to and use of ICT in preschool; (ii) ICT and preschoolers; (iii) ICT and preschool teachers. Finally similarities and differences of the ICT usage in preschool settings in the two countries are discussed and concluded.

This study looks into new perspectives in preschoolers' assessment of being at risk for learning disabilities. Precisely, two innovative assessment approaches are examined in order to reveal new research perspectives. The first tool, a traditional approach, is the " Early Dyslexia Identification Test " and the second tool, a computerized approach, is an Internet based Speech Pathology Diagnostic Expert System named " APLo ". Both evaluate the sectors of phonological awareness, memory, psychomotor development, pre-writing and pre-reading skills in Greek. The findings of the current study formulate three directions: (1) the complementary of speech language and learning disorders as a systemic approach, (2) the diagnosis of suspicious factors and compatibilities of learning disabilities even at the preschool age, and (3) the application of alternative methods of assessment aiming for a multidimentional approach with the combined prospect and potential of web tools in the early diagnosis and intervention in learning disabilities.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is increasingly being used to integrate technology into the curriculum and to create learning environments in preschool education supported by a wide range of published research results. The aim of this study is to investigate the ICT use by pre-service preschool teachers and pre-service speech and language therapists in developing their digital case of a storytelling. Students were stimulated to use various multimedia editing and authoring tools. The research questions concern the students' accomplishments on intergrading technology in digital storytelling and the effectiveness of that learning environment they created. The results revealed a difference by implying that not only the learning theory and the teaching practices but also the content, the structure and the nature of the course together with the social interactions play an important role on how people learn and develop their skills. The results revealed that students of both departments overall accomplished very good project outcomes in digital storytelling meeting technical and pedagogical criteria. Finally similarities and differences of the students' approaches in the digital storytelling development are discussed and concluded in the demands of modern information society.

Abstract E-learning is increasingly used in higher education. The study aims to investigate higher education students' in clinical professions and kindergarten teachers' views on e-learning and conferences / seminars attendance via the internet (webinars). The results of the study indicate that e-learning and webinars can be considered as important additional teaching tools with great value in education. Students seem to realize e-learning's and webinars' potentials and their contribution to the completion of their studies, future professional development and lifelong learning.