Enhancing learning with information and communication technologies in pre‐school

Abstract

Earlier observations suggested that young children’s engagement with information and communication technologies (ICT) could be unproductive. Interplay: Play, Learning and ICT in Pre‐school Settings set out to explore how practitioners can enhance three‐year‐olds’ to four‐year‐olds’ encounters with new technologies in the playroom. The study took place in pre‐school settings where practice was characterised by free‐play and child‐initiated activity. Practitioners and researchers worked together in a process of guided enquiry with staff planning and implementing technology‐based interventions in their playrooms. The concept of guided interaction is used to describe the kind of adult support necessary to enhance young children’s learning with a range of ICT. In this paper we present an elaborated understanding of guided interaction (considering both distal and proximal interactions) and our findings about children’s and practitioners’ learning when adults proactively support learning with ICT in the playroom.

Keywords:

• Adult mediation
• Computers
• Guided interaction
• Information and communication technologies
• Pre‐school children

Acknowledgements

Interplay: Play, Learning and ICT in Pre‐school Education was funded by the ESRC’s Teaching and Learning Research Programme (award RES‐139‐25‐0006). The authors are grateful to the researchers, Susan Downey and Daniela Sime, and to the pre‐school practitioners and children who participated in the project.