Digital Technologies in Early Childhood: Attitudes and Practices of Parents and Teachers in Kosovo

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine preschool teachers and parents' attitudes and their practices regarding the use of digital technologies during preschool education. The main research questions the study intended to address focused on teachers' and parents' attitudes and practices about the role of digital technology supplies in young children's development. The study used a mixed research approach, using in-depth interviews and an online questionnaire. The results have shown that only one of the eight preschool teachers reported a positive attitude regarding the impact of digital technology in children's development. Most of the interviewed preschool teachers showed preference towards authentic play and activities exercising children's psycho-motor skills. However, most of parents have suggested that their children, starting from early years of their development, are exposed to different digital technologies. In conclusion, there are two contradictory findings (progressive and regressive philosophies) among parents and preschool teachers regarding their perceptions and practices on the use of digital technologies in young children's learning and development. The study advocates for continuous cooperation between parents and teachers to ensure prospects of maximizing benefits and alleviating potential risks of using digital technologies in early childhood education.

Digital Literacy Curriculum in Elementary School

“…The connection in the digital literacy implementation for elementary school students is on the personality and psychological aspects as determinants of the use of digital literacy for students. Furthermore, Majlinda Gjelaj et al (2020) explained that most parents said that children at elementary school age had been exposed to technology, where television is one of the technologies with the highest percentage of technology use for children, followed by smartphones, tablets, computers, and games as the least percentage among other technologies. One in eight teachers said a positive attitude from the impact of technology on children's development in developing psychomotor skills in applying technology-based games.…”

“…However, there was a problem regarding the elementary school students' lack of patience in navigating the content in the paper. In addition, Majlinda Gjelaj et al (2020), in their research, found that digital literacy is contradictory and can have progressive and regressive impacts; therefore, the collaboration between teachers and parents is needed to ensure prospects, maximize benefits, and reduce the potential risks of using digital technology in early childhood education and primary schools.…”

Media Pembelajaran Digital untuk Stimulasi Motorik Halus Anak Usia Dini

“…Lebih jauh, tujuh dari delapan guru dalam penelitian terdahulu mengungkapkan bahwa teknologi tidak memiliki dampak sama sekali terhadap perkembangan anak. Mereka lebih senang jika anak bermain secara nyata untuk membangun keterampilan psikomotoriknya (Gjelaj et al, 2020).…”

“…Guru memberi sedikit pernyataan kepada peneliti bahwa siswa sangat antusias mengikuti proses pembelajarannya, karena media digital berupa video pembelajaran ini jarang digunakan. Sebuah studi yang mengungkapkan bahwa sebagian sebagai besar yang merupakan guru PAUD mengatakan kurangnya pengalaman guru menggunakan teknologi berdampak pada pemanfaatan teknologi pada saat proses pembelajaran (Gjelaj et al, 2020). Guru PAUD perlu memperoleh semacam pogram pelatihan guru baik untuk calon guru maupun guru senior di lapangan tentang beragam tujuan pembelajaran yang dapat dicapai melalui penggunaan teknologi (Sickel, 2019).…”

Parents’ Beliefs and Attitudes on Their Children’s Distance Education Performance during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Greek Preschool Settings

“…The benefits of using technology in early childhood education are many and studies have shown that digital technologies can provide children with new opportunities to learn, communicate and explore. Digital technologies can empower children by enhancing literacy, mathematical understanding and science, problem solving, visual literacy and painting, media education and learning of music [12,13], but more research is needed to convince all educators. Because of the specificities of childhood, many teachers believe that technology cannot replace the immediacy of human contact.…”