A cross-cultural exploration of early childhood educators’ beliefs and experiences around the use of touchscreen technologies with children under 3 years of age

The study investigates kindergarten employees’ beliefs and experiences related to the use of touchscreen technologies in toddler departments in Norway, England and Greece. The research questions are: (1) What beliefs and experiences related to the use of touchscreens do kindergarten employees have in toddler departments in the three countries? (2) Are there clear national differences or similarities between kindergarten employees’ beliefs and experiences? (3) Are there connections between kindergarten employees’ educational philosophy and their beliefs related to the use of touchscreens in toddler departments across the three countries?

According to this study, kindergarten staff in all three countries are confident in their use of touchscreens both at work and privately. However, they report a certain amount of reservation regarding the use of touchscreens when the youngest children are involved. Kindergarten staff in the three countries are calling for better training in the use of touchscreens in kindergartens. The Norwegian kindergarten teachers were most positive to the use of touchscreens in their work with young children.

A total of 273 kindergarten employees from the three countries participated in the study by answering a survey.

Fotakopoulou, O., Hatzigianni, M., Dardanou, M., Unstad, T. & O'Connor, J. (2020). "A cross-cultural exploration of early childhood educators’ beliefs and experiences around the use of touchscreen technologies with children under 3 years of age". European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 28(2):272-285.