Early childhood education and care in the app generation: Digital documentation, assessment for learning and parent communication

Abstract

While early childhood educators’ use of digital applications (apps) to document children’s experiences and support parent communication is increasing, there is limited empirical research about the impact of these applications on children’s experiences and educators’ practices. This article provides a critical analysis of the findings from this body of research with a focus on affordances and challenges. While the research supports potential benefits for parent engagement and pedagogy, a range of challenges relating to content, access, equity, workload and ethics are highlighted. Features of the neoliberal contextual that may enable the increasing use of apps and shape the way they are used are considered, and opportunities for future research to further critique, enhance understandings and inform practice proposed.

The role of digital technologies in supporting quality improvement in Australian early childhood education and care settings

“…The findings of this study revealed that educators used a range of digital tools for pedagogical documentation and for making children’s everyday learning visible to families (see themes ‘a’ and ‘d’ under QA1). Research in this area is emerging (Stratigos & Fenech, 2021 ), indicating benefits, such as fast, easy access from any location; efficiency; extending learning from home; pedagogical benefits; richer insights and links with curriculum, theory and research and actively engaging children in the documentation process. Challenges have also been reported, including data security and privacy concerns, equity, increased workloads for educators, as well as decreasing interactions with children and other stakeholders (Higgins & Cherrington, 2017 ; Hooker, 2019 ; McFadden & Thomas, 2016 ; Penman, 2014 ; Plumb & Kautz, 2014 ).…”

“…While some families prefer face-to-face communications due to issues of familiarity, layout, user friendliness and cultural barriers, including written and spoken English as a second language, parents and ECEC staff favour the immediacy of exchanging information in an online environment. Parents also favour the use of social media as it provides access to additional insights and details about their child's everyday routines (Donohue & Schomburg, 2017 ; Goodman & Cherrington, 2015 ; Stratigos & Fenech, 2021 ; Yost & Fan, 2014 ). However, there is limited research investigating the voices of early childhood educators on this issue, the impact on their workload and whether the various forms of communication facilitated by digital technologies has actually improved the quality of relationships, partnerships and parents’ input (Parnell & Bartlett, 2012 ; Stratigos & Fenech, 2021 ).…”

Communication with families: Understanding the perspectives of early childhood teachers

“…These technologies have features that can make communication easier, such as automatic translation for non-English speakers and allowing individuals to communicate without using their personal mobile phone numbers. Using electronic technologies in EC can provide a fast and easy way to share information and give a professional appearance, with teachers describing apps with an academic focus as helpful for informing families about learning topics at school and extending learning at home (Stratigos and Fenech, 2021).…”

“…A study conducted in New Zealand reported that communication with their child’s teacher supported families to extend learning to the home setting (Higgins and Cherrington, 2017). Furthermore, a literature review inclusive of studies conducted internationally reported that teachers provide more responsive planning when they have knowledge of the family context (Stratigos and Fenech, 2021). Little is known, however, about teachers’ perceptions of communicating with families.…”

“…Family engagement and communication are evolving as digital media offers extensive opportunities to connect and collaborate with families (Weiss and Lopez, 2015). New electronic technologies available can include, but are not limited to, email, social media, ePortfolios, mobile apps, and texting (Higgins and Cherrington, 2017; Snell et al, 2020; Stratigos and Fenech, 2021). These technologies have features that can make communication easier, such as automatic translation for non-English speakers and allowing individuals to communicate without using their personal mobile phone numbers.…”