ABSTRACT
Whilst a lot is known about the digital environments of preschools, less is understood about the emerging digital pedagogies of teachers. This paper presents the findings of a cultural-historical study of pedagogical practices of teachers as they implemented a digitally enhanced play-based programme where the MyCreate app was used to make an animation of a fairytale. Over a period of 5.4 weeks, digital observations (27.3 h) of 5 teachers and their 31 children (aged 3.4–5.5 years; mean age of 4.4 years) were undertaken. The central findings capture both the existing practices found in the literature and a new practice named as a digital pop-up. The microgenetic analysis identified that the same digital pop-up afforded very different actions by the teacher to realise the goal for making a digital animation. It is argued that the new digital pop-up needs new pedagogies where teachers act as co-actors, co-animators, co-directors with sensitivities around person and digital intersubjectivity, virtual-concrete combination; virtual designing; stimulating digital motive; digital authenticity; pop-up digital area; digital imaginary situations. A digital pop-up is purposefully oriented towards the goals of preschool education and its original institutional structure, but in ways that capture the digital dynamic world of the young child.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).