The effect of video instruction on social interactions of children in the inclusive preschool

Social competence is an important consideration for early childhood education. Furthermore, young children with disabilities are increasingly being placed in community preschool programs therefore necessitating strategies to increase the number and quality of social interactions between young children with and without disabilities. Beginning at a very young age nearly all children have access to television, VCR or DVD, and cable or satellite. Therefore, media may serve as a vehicle to increase the number and quality of social interactions between young children with and without disabilities.; This study had two purposes. The first was to investigate the effect of scripted video instruction on the quantity of social interactions between young children with and without disabilities in an inclusive preschool classroom. The second purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of scripted video instruction on the quality of social interactions between young children with and without disabilities in an inclusive preschool classroom. Eighteen four and five year-old children with and without disabilities were selected to participate in this study. The subjects were randomly selected from two classrooms at an inclusive preschool program housed in the College of Education, on an urban university campus in the southwestern region of the United States. Upon selection of the participants, the subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups, the intervention group, the parallel group, or the comparison group. Each group consisted of three males, three females, two children with a disability, and four children without a disability.; The results from this study indicated that scripted video instruction had a positive effect on the number and quality of social interactions between young children with and without disabilities in the inclusive preschool classroom. However, there were no significant differences indicated for disability status or gender regardless of group assignment or session.