Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.0
3.0
Journals
Education Sciences
Special Issues
Digital Technologies in Early Childhood Education and Care
share announcement

Digital Technologies in Early Childhood Education and Care

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "Early Childhood Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2024 | Viewed by 3151

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Maria Dardanou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Education, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromso, Norway
Interests: digital technology; early years; IoToys; professional development in digital technologies
Dr. Siri Sollied Madsen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Education, UiT Norges Arktiske Universitet, Tromso, Norway
Interests: digital technology and teaching; early childhood education and care; professional digital competence in educational settings

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This special issue aims to bring together emergent knowledge that can contribute to the development of both early childhood educators’ and pre-service educators’ understanding, practices and implementation of pedagogies - the complex connection between technology, pedagogy, and content for digital technologies in early years.

The Special Issue calls for original academic papers sharing insight into ongoing projects and research relevant to digital technologies in early childhood education and care.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Maria Dardanou
Dr. Siri Sollied Madsen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • digital technology
  • digital competencies
  • early childhood
  • digital practices
  • pre- and in- service educators
  • professional digital competence
  • digital literacy
  • digital contents and educational resources

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 1441 KiB  
Article
Views of Parents on Using Technology-Enhanced Toys in the Free Play of Children Aged One to Four Years
by Dimitra Bourha, Maria Hatzigianni, Trifaini Sidiropoulou and Michael Vitoulis
Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(5), 469; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14050469 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2024
Viewed by 123
Abstract
New technology has brought about a novel approach to play termed digital play. Digital play shares many characteristics with traditional play but also presents new possibilities (e.g., building concepts and skills about STEM, opportunities for physical, outdoor activities). Despite new toys with technological [...] Read more.
New technology has brought about a novel approach to play termed digital play. Digital play shares many characteristics with traditional play but also presents new possibilities (e.g., building concepts and skills about STEM, opportunities for physical, outdoor activities). Despite new toys with technological characteristics being popular, there is limited research on this specific area for children under four years old and their parents. This study explored parental perspectives and was part of a larger investigation that examined 68 (38 boys and 30 girls) very young children’s (1–4 years) engagement with technology-enhanced toys (TETs) in early childhood settings. A sequential explanatory design was employed, wherein parents completed questionnaires before and after their children engaged with TETs. Statistical and thematic analysis revealed that family demographics play an important role in children ‘s use of TETs and digital technologies (e.g., on the quality of engagement with their children during playing with TETs). Parents noted improvements in their children’s skills, including fine motor skills, language, and creativity. This study underscores the importance of considering parental backgrounds in digital technology initiatives for early childhood development. Policymakers and educators may benefit from these insights to tailor digital integration and support children’s digital competence effectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Technologies in Early Childhood Education and Care)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 983 KiB  
Article
International Perspectives on the Dynamics of Pre-Service Early Childhood Teachers’ Digital Competences
by Siri Sollied Madsen, Jane O’Connor, Aleksander Janeš, Andreja Klančar, Rita Brito, Nataliia Demeshkant, Ahmet Sami Konca, Serhii Krasin, Heidi Iren Saure, Beate Gjesdal, Shannon Ludgate, Mustafa Jwaifell, Reham Almuhtadi and Steinar Thorvaldsen
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(7), 633; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13070633 - 21 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1913
Abstract
Researchers and society in general seem to be conflicted regarding the use of digital technology in early childhood education (ECE). Some are focusing on the positive aspects of using digital technology, while others are critical and position it as an enemy of early [...] Read more.
Researchers and society in general seem to be conflicted regarding the use of digital technology in early childhood education (ECE). Some are focusing on the positive aspects of using digital technology, while others are critical and position it as an enemy of early childhood practice. It has been argued that digital technology is not appropriate for young children’s cognitive, physical, social and emotional development. Nevertheless, supporting and developing young children’s beginning digital competence is implemented in curricula and teacher education globally. The need for teachers’ professional digital competence (PDC) is increasing according to the development and increased use of digital technology in society as a whole, including in the field of education. The field of research has, to a large extent, been focused on primary and secondary education, and there is a lack of research on PDC in ECE. To gain insight into the dynamics of PDC in ECE, we investigated a range of ECE contexts by including different international perspectives in a comparative study of pre-service early childhood (EC) teachers transitioning to being in-service teachers. The survey was conducted in eight different nations (Norway, Slovenia, Portugal, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine, England and Jordan) and resulted in 772 responses from pre-service teachers in the last year of their education. The paper discusses these international perspectives, considering the differences found between nations. It also investigates the dynamics of PDC, understood in this article as comprising attitudes, skills and knowledge. Following this, it also investigates how these dynamics are affecting the pre-service teachers’ expectations related to their future application of digital tools as teachers to be. The results indicate large differences between nations for both single items and multi-item scales. At the same time, the dynamics of digital practices across nations reveal that attitudes, digital skills and knowledge are statistically strong predictors of pre-service teachers’ future use of educational digital technology (EDT). This indicates both similarities and differences across nations and could serve as insight regarding the development of teacher programmes and the importance of including all aspects when developing pre-service teachers’ PDC. This article, due to its limitation, will not elaborate in depth on contextual differences, and further qualitative research is needed to understand the complexity related to educational culture and practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Technologies in Early Childhood Education and Care)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop