Christine Stephen

Preschool children's learning with technology at home

We produced case studies of fourteen families based on nine rounds of data collection during the period from June 2008 to October 2009. We focused on fourteen children who were three years old when our visits started and used an ecocultural approach to examine their experiences of learning and playing with technologies at home. The study describes i) which technologies children encounter at home, ii) how family practices influence childrens encounters with technology, and iii) what children are learning through their interactions with technology. We present a framework of four areas of learning that could be supported by technology: acquiring operational skills, extending knowledge and understanding of the world, developing dispositions to learn, and understanding the role of technology in everyday life.

Pedagogy: the silent partner in early years learning

This paper sets out to look critically at the influences on pedagogy in early years education, at the ways in which it is enacted in practice and the pedagogical perspectives held by practitioners. The aim of the paper is to explore the current state of understanding and suggest areas to be included in an agenda for future research. The factors that influence practitioners’ actions are reviewed and the consensus around child‐centredness and play is challenged. Findings from two studies of pedagogy in action in the early years are presented and examined in terms of sociocultural theory and its implications for practice. The first of these studies draws attention to the varied nature of pedagogical interactions that support learning while the second looks at the experience of pedagogical innovation. The need for researchers and practitioners to find effective ways of communicating and working together is stressed throughout the paper.

Growing Up With Technology : Young Children Learning in a Digital World

First paragraph: The children in our studies were three or four years old. Like Andy and Evie they used technologies in different ways. They went to nursery, enjoyed active lives, and engaged in a diverse range of pursuits with friends and family. Whilst all the children had exposure to technologies at home their experiences varied: some children lived in homes with high levels of technology but preferred to read books, draw pictures or play with toys. Other children lived in homes where parents lacked confidence or interest in how to use technology and yet the children were able to find creative ways of integrating technology into their play. Andy was a keen Game Boy player, enjoyed surfing the web with his Dad but also liked dressing up, football and swimming. Evies favourite toy was the LeapPad but, apart from that, she did not show much interest in technology, preferring to look after her guinea pigs, play hopscotch or draw pictures.

Learning from the children: exploring preschool children's encounters with ICT at home

This article is an account of our attempts to understand preschool childrens experiences with information and communication technologies (ICT) at home. Using case study data, we focus on what we can learn from talking directly to the children that might otherwise have been overlooked and on describing and evaluating the methods we adopted to ensure that we maximized the childrens contributions to the research. By paying attention to the childrens perspectives we have learned that they are discriminating users of ICT who evaluate their own performances, know what gives them pleasure and who differentiate between operational competence and the substantive activities made possible by ICT.

Enhancing Learning with Information and Communication Technologies in Pre-School.

Earlier observations suggested that young children’s engagement with information and communication technologies (ICT) could be unproductive. Interplay: Play, Learning and ICT in Pre‐school Settings set out to explore how practitioners can enhance three‐year‐olds’ to four‐year‐olds’ encounters with new technologies in the playroom. The study took place in pre‐school settings where practice was characterised by free‐play and child‐initiated activity. Practitioners and researchers worked together in a process of guided enquiry with staff planning and implementing technology‐based interventions in their playrooms. The concept of guided interaction is used to describe the kind of adult support necessary to enhance young children’s learning with a range of ICT. In this paper we present an elaborated understanding of guided interaction (considering both distal and proximal interactions) and our findings about children’s and practitioners’ learning when adults proactively support learning with ICT in the playroom.

Supporting young children's learning with technology at home and in preschool

We describe two empirical investigations of three‐ and four‐year‐old childrens uses of technology, one conducted in family homes and the other in preschool settings, with the aim of comparing the ways in which childrens learning with technology is supported in these different settings. The studies conceptualise learning within a sociocultural framework and use the concept of guided interaction to focus the discussion. Three areas of learning that can be supported by the use of technologies are outlined (extending knowledge of the world, acquiring operational skills and developing dispositions to learn), with the addition of learning about the cultural roles of technology in the home context. Both studies took place in Scotland and families were selected according to socioeconomic factors. The first study, of eight preschool settings, involved practitioners in implementing two interventions involving learning with technology. Findings were based on video analysis, interviews with practitioners and a process of guided enquiry. The second study, of childrens homes, involved survey responses from 346 parents and five visits over about 15 months to an initial 24 case‐study families. The paper also draws on a discussion with educational experts to discuss the policy and practice implications for transition to school. There were differences in terms of the human and technological resources available, the motivation and opportunities for providing guided interaction and the types of learning that were supported. Children encountered a more diverse range of technologies at home, were more likely to request help and could benefit from observing family practices. The limitations on the technologies available in most preschool settings and their lack of use for authentic activities meant that there were fewer opportunities to develop childrens awareness of the different cultural and work‐related uses of technology. Preschool and primary school staff have limited knowledge of childrens home experiences with technology.

The big picture? Video and the representation of interaction

Researchers who use video to record interactions usually need to translate the video data into another medium at some stage in order to facilitate its analysis and dissemination. This article considers some methodological issues that arise in this process by examining transcripts, diagrams and pictures as examples of different techniques for representing interaction. These examples are used to identify some general principles for the representation of data where video is the source material. The article presents an outline of guided interaction and this is used as a case for illustrating these principles in the context of young children, technology and adults in pre‐school settings. Although the article focuses on a specific study and solution, the principles are applicable in all cases where video is used as a source of data for the representation of interaction, whether or not it is technologically mediated.

Information and Communication Technologies in Pre-School Settings: A Review of the Literature.

This article reviews the research evidence that relates to the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in pre-school settings. While there is widespread agreement that children should be helped to become confident users of ICTs, the literature presents a more qualified picture of potential benefits and barriers. The review considers the polarised debate about whether computer use is desirable for young children; the position of ICTs as one element in the multimedia mix experienced by children; evidence available about current ICT provision and practice in pre-school settings in the UK and perspectives on the contribution that ICTs make to learning. The need for adults and children to acquire ICT literacy skills is identified, along with a requirement that practitioners should be equipped to make appropriate resource choices. The way in which ICTs can play a compensatory and engaging role or further entrench disadvantage (‘the digital divide’) is discussed. The review concludes that the pedagogical imperative must remain with practitioners.

Play in the primary school classroom? The experience of teachers supporting children's learning through a new pedagogy

In Scotland in recent years there has been growing interest in a more play‐based pedagogy commonly described as Active Learning. The research reported in this article is an exploration of moves towards creating an active play‐based learning environment in six Primary 1 classrooms in Scotland and is concerned with (i) the children’s experiences in such a play‐based active learning environment in school and (ii) their teachers’ perspectives on this pedagogical innovation and their roles in supporting the learners. This study examined experiences and perspectives within and across each of the six child‐centred and play‐focused classes. The main findings suggest that the role of the teacher varies between what could be considered as teacher‐intensive and teacher‐initiated activities. ‘Active’ or ‘play‐based’ learning was interpreted differently by teachers; play in some classrooms was peripheral rather than integral to the learning process and curriculum‐embedded.

Young children engaging with technologies at home: The influence of family context

This article is about the ways in which young children engage with technological toys and resources at home and, in particular, the ways in which the family context makes a difference to young children’s engagement with these technologies. The data reviewed come from family interviews and parent-recorded video of four case study children as they used specific resources: a screen-based games console designed for family use, a technology-mediated reading scheme, a child’s games console and two technological ‘pets’. We found the same repertoire of direct pedagogical actions across the families when they supported their children’s use of the resources, yet the evidence makes it clear that the child’s experience was different in each home. The article goes on to present evidence that four dimensions of family context made a difference to children’s engagement with technological toys and resources at home. We argue that understanding children’s experiences with technologies at home necessitates finding out about the distinct family contexts in which they engage with the resources.