A cross-cultural exploration of early childhood educators’ beliefs and experiences around the use of touchscreen technologies with children under three years of age

Fotakopoulou, Olga and Hatzigianni, Maria and Unstad, Torstein and Dardanou, Maria and O'Connor, Jane (2020) A cross-cultural exploration of early childhood educators’ beliefs and experiences around the use of touchscreen technologies with children under three years of age. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal. ISSN 1752-1807

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Abstract

This paper will discuss the beliefs and experiences of early childhood educators across three countries England, Norway and Greece in relation to the use of touchscreen technology with the youngest children in their settings. Building on previous research which explored parents’ perspectives, this study now extends the investigation to early childhood educators who play a key role in children’s learning and development. A detailed online survey was implemented across the three countries based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework and with a focus on their teaching philosophy. Findings indicate that although there are some pertinent cultural differences, overall educators are generally confident when using technology for work/personal purposes but less so when integrating technology with very young children. Educators across all countries were not satisfied with their training. The country of origin had a significant impact on teachers’ philosophy and their views towards technology, with Norwegian educators reporting the most positive views towards using touchscreen technologies in educational settings with very young children. Macrosystemic factors in each country could be explored in future research to contribute to a deeper interpretation of similarities and differences between countries and cultural contexts.

Item Type: Article
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2020.1735744
Dates:
DateEvent
12 February 2020Accepted
11 March 2020Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords: Early childhood settings, touchscreen technology, teaching philosophy, children under 3 years, infants and toddlers, educators’ beliefs
Subjects: CAH22 - education and teaching > CAH22-01 - education and teaching > CAH22-01-01 - education
Divisions: Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences > Centre for Study of Practice and Culture in Education (C-SPACE)
Depositing User: Jane O'connor
Date Deposited: 03 Mar 2020 11:37
Last Modified: 03 Mar 2022 16:58
URI: https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/8975

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