The Technology Landscape for Connecticut Child Care Providers

Background and Purpose. Technology plays an important role in the provision of quality early childhood care and can maximize the efficiency of child care providers. However, access to technology may not be equitable, and child care professionals may face myriad barriers (e.g., financial, technical) to procuring, installing, and leveraging technological tools in their roles.

As part of a research partnership between the University of Connecticut School of Social Work and the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC), this analysis aims to elucidate the current technology landscape for Connecticut’s child care providers with implications for tailored statewide services to combat technology-related disparities.

Methods. This analysis examines quantitative and qualitative data from 1,142 child care providers in Connecticut who responded to a survey about their use, comfort, and preferences related to technology in the workplace (approximate response rate = 30% of all child care providers in Connecticut). The survey was administered by the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood to current child care providers via Survey Monkey in the spring of 2023. Quantitative analyses included frequencies, Chi-square tests, and multivariate linear and logistic regressions, and were conducted using R statistical software. Thematic analysis of open-ended responses was also conducted by two members of the research team; a high level of inter-coder agreement was established.

Results. Findings indicate that child care providers in Connecticut need increased access to properly functioning technological devices for business use—especially family child care home providers and providers working in more socially vulnerable towns. For example, 24% of family child care home providers reported they did not have a device specifically for business use; by comparison, only 8% of child care center and group home providers reported not having a business-specific device. Further, in conjunction with increased access to technology, providers could also benefit from ongoing technology training and support. Indeed, only 43% of child care providers reported being “very comfortable” with basic use of technology and 10% of respondents indicated in response to an open-ended item that they wanted training or support to improve their technology skills (e.g., “I would like to learn to use more technology and computer it’s very hard for me to use computer I always have to ask my son for help.").

The importance of child care providers’ technological literacy is underscored by findings that providers who were at least somewhat comfortable with basic technology reported significantly fewer business-related tasks (e.g., tuition billing) and educational tasks (e.g., developmental assessments) as taking “significant time to complete” than providers who were not comfortable with basic technology.

Conclusions and Implications. Resources are needed to provide early childhood professionals, especially family child care business owners, with dedicated business

devices and software to enhance the efficiency of their business operations and potentially support employment retention. In order to put these devices and software to best use, ongoing child care specific support is also warranted.