Pre-Schooling and Primary Education, Research Methodology, Technology and Education Research Papers (original) (raw)

The paper deals with the current issue of Information and Communication Technologies and their implementation into the educational activities of preschool children via the most natural activity of the child – the game. In an effort to improve the quality of the educational process, the authors emphasize the importance of construction games and activities as an integral part of the educational process in kindergarten. The issue is addressed in the context of technical education and the specifics of its implementation in a kindergarten. One of the main topics of this paper is a technical game activity of a preschool child, and its possibilities, benefits and risks. The paper presents games/toys as one of the means of exploring and understanding technology as an essential part of human culture. The purpose of the technical subjects in the field of general education is to mediate the basic understanding of technology, to create the balanced attitudes to it, and to develop the competences required to solve the problematic or ambiguous situations linked to the application of technology. That includes also the creation of the ability to assess the technology, the awareness of its importance in the past as well as in the present, creation of the self-assessment and also the self-concept in relation to the technology. These tasks are often solved during a quite small time scale, therefore, it is necessary to follow the results of other subjects and the pupils' previous experience and cognition. This also relates to the requirements of the pedagogic constructivism. It is not really necessary to prove the fact that the pupils, currently, cognize the technology frequently also outside school. These encounters with technology are, however accidental, also valuable for the pupils; it takes place from the early years and it includes both simple situations with simple elements, and also the activities with advanced digital technology. This encountering of a child and technology is focused on objects and object-related activities, which are for a child attractive, understandable, safe, corresponding to their fantasy, and are an integral part or a means of the game. It also depends on the concrete determiners and conditions of a child and their environment. However, comparing to the older generations, a child nowadays acquires rich and diverse technology-related experience, its possibilities, their possibilities while using the technology, the required responsibility for its usage, and they also consider the technology as an integral part of their lives. They can develop the imagination, thinking, motor skills and other preconditions connected to the technology, which are important for their future. The aim of this article is to present and/or assess the areas that are a basis or a foundation for the creation of children's naïve concepts or preconcepts of technology. From this, it is possible to generally foresee, in which areas will these concepts more or less based – this will serve for the choice of the optimal strategy of instruction about the technology, cognition of the essential facts about technology, for the right activity with it and for the assessment of one's own preconditions for the area of technology, which is, nowadays, one of the sub-tasks of the preschool education. The study is aimed to the children of a preschool age and pupils of the lower grades of the primary education. It is not necessary to describe the age specifics of these children, we basically focus only on the characteristics which are important " for the technology " and, mainly, on the preschool children. The preschool age is the age of game. The emotions predominate and, in this sense, the development of activity and motion is typical. A child experiences everything " fully " , they cannot divert their attention. However, they cannot concentrate for long. The child asserts themselves in a peer group, communicate, and acquire the common norms. According to J. Piaget, the child's thinking is illustrative – they can express the elementary terms by a word, but they is limited only on the well