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

Abstract

This paper will discuss the beliefs and experiences of early childhood educators across three countries, England, Norway and Greece, in relation to the use of touchscreen technology with the youngest children in their settings. Building on previous research which explored parents’ perspectives, this study now extends the investigation to early childhood educators who play a key role in children’s learning and development. A detailed online survey was implemented across the three countries based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework and with a focus on their teaching philosophy. Findings indicate that although there are some pertinent cultural differences, overall educators are generally confident when using technology for work/personal purposes but less so when integrating technology with very young children. Educators across all countries were not satisfied with their training. The country of origin had a significant impact on teachers’ philosophy and their views towards technology, with Norwegian educators reporting the most positive views towards using touchscreen technologies in educational settings with very young children. Macrosystemic factors in each country could be explored in future research to contribute to a deeper interpretation of similarities and differences between countries and cultural contexts.