Early childhood educators’ attitudes and beliefs around the use of touchscreen technologies by children under three years of age

Abstract

This paper reports on an Australian study around early childhood educators’ attitudes and beliefs on the use of touchscreen technologies by very young children, under three years of age. The study adopted an ecological perspective and educators and directors of early childhood centres completed an online survey and were interviewed on this specific topic. Data were analysed to identify teachers’ competencies (eg, digital skills) but also possible factors behind attitudes and beliefs (eg, leadership styles; training; teaching philosophy). Findings suggest that early childhood teachers’ views are evolving and they are now more confident when they use technology for work/personal purposes but n..