Technology and digital media are now embedded in children's daily lives and can have significant impact on children's early development and learning. Preparing early childhood teachers to integrate a variety of technologies into classroom practices can be challenging. This study explores perceptions of preservice teachers about technology integration into their educational programs and assesses their satisfaction with such preparation. A total of 192 preservice teachers participated in this study. Data were collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Results indicated that preservice teachers held positive perceptions of the importance of technology and digital media integration in early childhood classrooms. However, their satisfaction with their preparation for technology integration into classrooms was less positive. Knowledge needs indicated by the preservice included learning more about technology integration in practice, and how to engage children in activities using technology and digital media. Based on the overall findings, it seems that teacher education programs need to develop stronger curricula that address these concerns so that future teachers are more confident and able to support children's learning through integration of technologies into their teaching practice.
Many children appear to experience low motivation towards learning mathematics, which may negatively impact on their performance and engagement in further learning. More recently, educational games have been presented as a way of improving student motivation and performance in mathematics. The current study aimed to explore the impact that educational games had on the development of number concepts in kindergarten children aged between 5 and 6 years in Amman, Jordan. Employing purposive sampling techniques, fifty-five (N=55) kindergarten children (25 males and 30 females) in private kindergartens participated in the study. The sample was randomly distributed into two groups: twenty-nine (29) in the experimental group and twenty-six (26) in the control group. Researchers developed an innovative Mathematical Educational Games Program (MEGP) and an achievement test for children. Results indicated a significant difference between the control and experimental groups in favour of the experimental group with no significant difference being attributed to gender. In addition, the results showed no interaction between gender and the MEGP. This paper will therefore discuss the implications of these findings on the development of number concepts with kindergarten-aged children.
This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of three types of kindergarten curricula in promoting national consciousness among Jordanian kindergarten children. The Ex post facto research design employed where a comparison was conducted between three types of kindergarten curricula on a sample of 120 children. A national test was used where it was found that there were statistically significant differences between respondents' national consciousness levels was attributed to the used curriculum while the modern comprehensive developmental curricula was the most effective curriculum for promoting national consciousness. Additionally, respondents who were enrolled in a kindergarten have higher national consciousness levels than those who did not enroll. It was found that there was no difference between respondents' national consciousness levels that can be attributed to their gender. Furthermore, there has been no difference between respondents' national consciousness levels which can be attributed to the interaction between respondents' gender and type of curriculum.
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