Early childhood education teachers' iPad-supported practices in young children's learning and exploration (original) (raw)
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iPads and opportunities for teaching and learning for young children (iPads n kids)
Tablet technologies such as the Apple iPad (iPad) have been garnering interest and increasingly adopted as a potential learning tool and resource to engage children’s learning. Despite a growing literature on the ways educators have attempted to use iPads in their teaching across the compulsory schooling and tertiary sectors, there is a scarcity of studies in the early childhood education (ECE) context. This exploratory qualitative research project, the iPads and opportunities for teaching and learning for young children (iPads n Kids), is intended to inform the current debate on young children’s iPad use. It aimed to better understand the iPad use for educational purposes from the perspective of teachers, young children and their parents/caregivers. It recognises that young children are increasingly exposed to (and to an extent expected to make use of) digital and mobile technologies as members of a digital generation. Teachers and caregivers are further expected to take advantage ...
Children's journey with iPads in the classroom
2011
In this paper, the adoption and use of iPad in the elementary school classroom is discussed. One 4th grade class of 26 students was equipped with 6 iPads. The goal of the study was to see what effect these artifacts have on learning, play and possibilities of influencing the preset curriculum by the students. Instead of the technology adoption model (TAM), we use classroom information ecology framework. The investigation method we chose is based on ethnography. Additional information was collected through interviews with the teacher, families and students, as well as from several short surveys. Two workshops were conducted in order to gain deeper understanding of how iPad may be used to support creative processes and search for information. Our initial results show that the students are very interested in creative activities supported by iPad. The main obstacle to fuller use of iPads is the language (the children are not native English speakers). In spite of the language problem, teaching was enhanced in several ways. The children became very skilled in the use of their iPads, in particular when searching for information or using Apps in class. The teacher found it faster and easier to teach with the iPads as the children could accomplish more tasks on their own. The overall conclusion from this study period is that the use of iPad is working exceptionally well as a complement to traditional ways of teaching, with interesting possibilities for giving children a larger role in influencing their own curriculum.
Beyond professional development: A case study of implementing iPads in early childhood education
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), 2015
In the rapidly changing context of highly ubiquitous mobile technologies, past assumptions about technology use and adoption within early childhood education are continuously evolving. This case study examines a two-year project on implementing iPads by 15 teachers from Hawaii preschools. Using a multiple methods case study approach and theoretical foundation of adoption theory, we found that previous assumptions about professional development need to be updated. Rather than questions of should technology be used, increasingly the concern is how to assist early childhood educators with the tools, knowledge, and strategies required to respond to such rapid shifts in the digital landscape.
Computers in New Zealand Schools: Learning, teaching, technology, 25(1–3), 38–55
"In New Zealand, there are growing numbers of schools which are investing in iPad deployment, ranging from schools who have made a strong commitment to iPads through to those who have purchased a small number for student groups to use. Recent studies have comprehensively reflected the kinds of affordances that iPads offer, such as mobility, flexibility, ease of use, and range of applications. It is timely to begin to consider the type of education that might be afforded by such technologies. Using three future-focused themes—diversity, connectedness and coherence (Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd, & Hipkins, 2012)—as lenses for analysis, this paper presents three vignettes from junior classes that reflect the way iPads might afford deep, personalised approaches to learning to support young people effectively as they move through their school years. The analysis suggests that, where educators adopt a learner-centred pedagogy as part of a whole school systematic vision for learning, iPads can offer a powerful tool for engagement. "
International Journal of Early Years Education , 2021
In Norway’s ‘Framework Plan for kindergartens’ digital tools are to be implemented for learning, play and creativity. Implicitly the concept of digital tools, or ICTs, tend to be tablets, computers, and interactive whiteboards, smartphones are as such not taken into account. However, we find that the smartphone is particularly interesting because it differs from the other types of ICTs used in Early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions. Tablets, computers and interactive whiteboards, are all implemented as distinctly pedagogical tools, potentially fulfilling the framework plan, while smartphones have been implemented primarily as administrative and documentational tools. Yet, in this case study on the use of ICTs in a Norwegian ECEC we found that such administrative use of smartphones was blended with undercurrents of ‘filler use’ for pedagogical purposes. In this article we build on the literature on ICT’s in ECEC by exploring the outcome such filler use of smartphones may have. To do this we draw on the domestication theory to describe the practice, symbolic and meaning dimensions in the enactment of smartphones in an ECEC setting.
Pre-service Primary Teachers’ Use of iPads to Support Teaching: Implications for Teacher Education
In this article the use of iPads in primary schools by a group of pre-service teachers completing their professional experience is reported on. The study was developed as part of the university's activities in the national Teaching Teachers for the Future (TTF) project. The study is a qualitative case study and the data gathering tools consist of participant journals, preservice teacher focus groups, and staff interviews. Participants consist of 16 fourth-year Bachelor of Education (Primary) pre-service teachers completing a Maths Education subject, and two Maths lecturers at an Australian university. The results indicate that the teachers in the study used a variety of apps as well as inbuilt features of the iPad to support learning across a range of subjects. The teachers also used the iPad for self-reflective and assessment purposes. The implications of iPad use by pre-service teachers for teacher training in universities are discussed.
Connections, diversity, coherence: Three vignettes exploring learning with iPads in primary schools
2013
In New Zealand, there are growing numbers of schools which are investing in iPad deployment, ranging from schools who have made a strong commitment to iPads through to those who have purchased a small number for student groups to use. Recent studies have comprehensively reflected the kinds of affordances that iPads offer, such as mobility, flexibility, ease of use, and range of applications. It is timely to begin to consider the type of education that might be afforded by such technologies. Using three future-focused themes—diversity, connectedness and coherence (Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd, & Hipkins, 2012)—as lenses for analysis, this paper presents three vignettes from junior classes that reflect the way iPads might afford deep, personalised approaches to learning to support young people effectively as they move through their school years. The analysis suggests that, where educators adopt a learner-centred pedagogy as part of a whole school systematic vision for learni...
Touch, learn, play : what children do with an iPad in the classroom
This thesis presents a case study of technology acceptance of iPad as a classroom tool. The study spans an eleven months period within the context of a rural Norwegian elementary school. Six iPads were introduced in to classroom information ecology of a fourth grade class.Through ethnography-based observations, workshops, questionnaires and interviews , changes in the classroom information ecology are documented. In cooperation with the teacher, some parts of the curriculum have been adapted to this new platform. Observations were made around the use of iPad both in the classroom setting as well as at home for the purposes of learning, entertainment and socialization.
2018
Preschool children today will not remember a time when there were no smartphones, laptops, or iPads. The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to develop an in-depth understanding of the challenges and benefits of implementing tablet technology for early education teachers that work in subsidized preschool programs. Tablet utilization in preschool classrooms was generally defined as how teachers from five different classrooms utilize tablet technology to enhance the instructional programs for children in subsidized preschool programs. The setting for this study was five early education centers in a large urban school district. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, audio-visual recordings, and observations. Data were analyzed by applying within-case analysis, cross-case synthesis, and direct interpretation of the evidence. Issues of trustworthiness were addressed through triangulation, member checks, and clarifying researcher bias. The primary researc...