engleski

Technology Use in Early Childhood

Modern childhood is closely connected to early use of technology such as Internet, especially Youtube, and different apps for smartphones and tablets. Recent researches revealed quite early start of technology use: children at the age of seven already use technology at everyday basis, and up to three hours a day. At the same time, parents use the same technologies parallel with their children, which parents consider as safety factor, i.e. parents think that their presence in the room during child being online makes their children safe from online threats. To find out how parents and preschool teachers perceive technology use in early childhood, for children up to seven years of age, online survey was conducted during November and December 2018 in Croatia. Overall 401 parents and preschool teachers from five Croatian counties participated in this survey. Results show that parents and preschool teachers consider technology in early education to be more useful and offering more potentials for children academic and social life, than it is a threat for their development. When they argue about potentials, they say technology can help a child in acquiring foreign language, acquiring competencies for appropriate use of technologies later in life, academic preparation for the school entrance, and knowledge about immediate surroundings. Majority of the parents and preschool teachers (85%) would recommend a technology use not prior the third year of life, however, some parents and preschool teachers would consider a technology use for children in their first and second year of life. Majority of participants recommend one hour a day for technology in home, yet for several parents and teachers, even two or three hours a day would be appropriate for children under seven. These results reveal that parents and teachers can recognize benefits of technology in early education. Yet, they have to get information about other impacts of use of technology in early childhood, including its impact on language development and social skills in toddlers.

early childhood ; parents ; preschool teachers ; technology ; benefits and risks

nije evidentirano