The Role of Computer Technology in Supporting Children’s Learning in Jordanian Early Years Education

ABSTRACT

The current research investigated early years teachers’ perspectives regarding the role of computer technology in supporting children’s learning in Jordanian kindergartens. Thirty semistructured interviews were conducted with preschool teachers. The sample of kindergartens in this study was purposefully selected from the targeted population of Jordanian public kindergartens in the central, northern, and southern regions. Selected kindergartens for this study were distributed among the three regions based on the proportion of kindergartens in each region compared to the total number of kindergartens across Jordan. Findings indicated that the preschool teachers did not have certain understandings of the benefits and advantages of young children’s computer use. Nevertheless, some of them highlighted some potential advantages of computer use for young children, such as acquisition of basic computer skills; the provision of a new means of self-expression; enhancement of learning, particularly in literacy and numeracy; and enrichment of school curricula. The study provides several practical and theoretical recommendations to improve the use of computer technology in the Jordanian kindergarten context to support children’s learning, particularly in the area of literacy and numeracy.

KEYWORDS:

• Children’s learning
• early years education
• information and communication technology
• literacy and numeracy
• preschool teachers