A cross-cultural study on technology use in preschool classrooms: early childhood teacher’s preferences, time-use, impact and association with children’s play

ABSTRACT

Technology plays a large role in the daily experiences of young children. Presently, technology is used both to support and enhance ‘educational’ activities and in the context of children’s play. The aim of the present study is to understand how much time teachers in early childhood centres across 8 countries implemented technology into their classrooms. Our data revealed major similarities across countries, with technology play being the least used type of play by teachers and indoor non-technology and outdoor play being the most frequently used forms of play across the 8 countries studied. Similarities were also found in early childhood teachers’ perceptions regarding the value of technology play, even though they do not use it extensively and despite different aspects of technology contribution being reported. The research further revealed differences in the time allocated to technology play the types of technology equipment and resources available to children in each country.

KEYWORDS:

• Technology
• early childhood education
• play
• culture

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ruslan Slutsky

Ruslan Slutsky is a professor of early childhood education at the University of Toledo, Judith Herb College of Education. Ruslan teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in early childhood education. His research is qualitative in nature with current interests focusing on children's and teacher's use of technology, children's play, teacher professional development and early childhood education quality.

Grethe Kragh-Müller

Grethe Kragh-Müller is an Associate Professor at Aarhus University in the Department of Education. She has published articles at the national and international level as well as 9 books on child development, relationships, conflicts and problem solving between children and parents/caregivers/teachers and quality in childcare across cultures. Her main research areas are: Child development, identification and development of growth promoting relationships between child and their caregivers – with a focus on development and self and socioemotional development, quality in child care, also in a cross-cultural perspective, children's care and development in families and child care.

Konstantina Rentzou

Konstantina Rentzou holds a PhD in early childhood education and care. She has taught for more than 10 years in Greek and Cypriot higher and post-secondary education institutions, and participated as a researcher in Greek, Cypriot and EU-funded research projects. She has also worked as a country expert and reporter for various NGOs and the EU. Konstantina has published more than 30 papers in peer reviewed journals, a monograph on family engagement in ECEC and a co-authored book on the quality of the physical environment of preschool settings. Her research interests are in ECEC quality, parental involvement and parent caregiver relationships, involvement and recruitment of males in ECEC, the organization of the preschool environment and children's play.

Maire Tuul

Maire Tuul is an associate professor and a head of curricula of early childhood education at the School of Educational Sciences, Tallinn University, Estonia. The main areas of her research are teachers' professional development, different teaching approaches, teachers' and children's views on play and learning, curriculum development and use of robotics in preschool.

Mine Gol Guven

Dr. Mine Gol-Guven has participated in many research projects funded by EU and internationally recognized NGOs. She holds a faculty position at Bogazici University since 2006 training ECEC teachers. Her academic and practical work involve supporting adults to promote social-emotional skills in children, to build supportive environments with children, and to develop programs for early childhood settings. Her area of study also consists of adult involvement of children's play. Gol-Guven is an active member of international Special Interest Forum ‘ECEC in EU’. She defines herself as a child friendly researcher who advocates for/with children to communicate, interact and build relationships.

Daniela Foerch

Dr. Daniela Foerch is a Senior Instructor and Researcher of Early Childhood Education in the College of Arts, Sciences and Education within the School of Education and Human Development at Florida International University. Daniela has experience teaching face-to-face courses, fully online and hybrid courses using different platforms. She is the former Program Director of the Early Childhood Fully Online Undergraduate Program. Her research focuses on the nurturing of Emotional Intelligence in young children. Daniela is active in program and curriculum development. Daniela has presented her research to the local, national and international community and published several articles in the area of early childhood education. Aside from her teaching and research, Daniela serves as the Principal Investigator for the Developmental Assessment and the RULER Programs at FIU.

Jesús Paz-Albo

Dr. Jesús Paz-Albo served as the director of the Master's Degree in Leadership and Management of Educational Centers at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos from 2013 to 2018. His research interests focus on child development, educational technologies, teacher education and bilingual education.