Digital play for language development in the early grades

Abstract

Background: The digital world and the concomitant changes in early childhood education have created uncertainty for teachers not knowing how to adjust their pedagogical practices of using digital play to enhance language development.Aim: This study aimed to analyse what teachers understand by digital play and how they use it for language teaching in the early grades, with specific reference to the reception year.Setting: The researcher chose a primary school in an urban area that had digital technology available in the classroom involving eight Grade R teachers.Methods: Semi-structured questionnaires and focus group interviews were used to collect data on how teachers interact with learners using digital technology. Non-participatory observations of these interactions were also noted. Data analysis considered teacher views about the role of information communication technology (ICT) in education, digital games, and the extent to which digital pedagogies can enhance language acquisition.Results: The analysis found that the teachers are willing to experiment with digital games. However, there is a need to understand more about digital technology and increase their knowledge on using digital games when teaching language. Teachers shared the view that digital games should, as is the case with traditional play-based pedagogies, be used to enhance language teaching as this generation is growing up in a digital environment.Conclusion: It was clear that the emphasis needs to be on the development of games, which use digital technology relevant to language teaching. Furthermore, the findings suggest that those pedagogies that use digital games relevant to the Digital Era be adopted. There is a need for further enquiry into teachers’ beliefs and digital literacy and practices in more diverse settings to further understand the value of digital play in language teaching.

Digital Play for Enhancing Language Learning in Early Grades

“…Children aged 5-8 at a 2-day session in Hong Kong utilized film-language to tell tales about their toy-playing stories and make a 1-minute movie (Van der Westhuizen & Hannaway, 2021). This illustrates that digital tools may be used to include digital technology into early childhood education curricula.…”

“…According to Vygotsky, the concept of scaffolding is vital in understanding how children learn language because it empowers and encourages them to grasp what is said or done (Van der Westhuizen & Hannaway, 2021). When it comes to teaching, Vygotsky advocated a "scaffold pedagogical method," which he referred to as a "collaborative learning environment."…”

“…It was unanimously agreed upon by Van der Westhuizen and Hannaway (Van der Westhuizen & Hannaway, 2021) that technology should be included in the curriculum for children's growth and that educational techniques must be altered. It is possible for a teacher to tailor their instructional approach to the usage of digital tools, according to Van der Westhuizen and Hannaway (Van der Westhuizen & Hannaway, 2021). According to this study, teachers are often unprepared to effectively integrate digital pedagogical approaches into their classrooms.…”

Percepción de las educadoras de párvulos con relación a su conocimiento técnico pedagógico del contenido (TPACK) cuando integran tecnologías de la información y la comunicación en tiempos de COVID-19

“…Diversas investigaciones reconocen y valoran la importancia de la incorporación de las tecnologías en la enseñanza del leguaje en los niños del nivel inicial, se comprende que cuando se integran recursos dinámicos y novedosos, los estudiantes se sienten más a gusto y motivados a aprender, se obtienen mejores logros en los aprendizajes cuando se usan dispositivos, sin embargo, se identifica necesario aprender y comprender mejor el uso de las tecnologías, las educadoras de párvulos reconocen falta de conocimiento en el aspecto tecnológico y cómo se puede vincular al desarrollo del lenguaje (Neumann y Neumann, 2014;Luna et al, 2019;Van der Westhuizen y Hannaway, 2021).…”

Digital Technologies Used by Children in Kindergarten

“…Vzniknutá situácia predstavuje veľkú záťaž pre vzdelávanie a pedagógov pri riešení problematiky učenia a učenia sa v ére rýchlych zmien, mnohých vývojov, inovácií. Digitálny svet a sprievodné zmeny vo vzdelávaní (Gjelaj, Buza, Shatri & Zabeli, 2020;Grava & Pole, 2021;Westhuizen & Hannaway, 2021) v ranom detstve vytvorili i neistotu v učiteľoch, ktorí možno nevedia, ako prispôsobiť svoje pedagogické postupy na využívanie digitálnych technológií. Potenciál, ktorý nové technológie napr.…”