Parents’ Use of Mobile Documentation in a Reggio Emilia-Inspired School

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

“…Educators report that apps are fast and easy to use (Higgins, 2015; Hooker, 2016; Penman, 2014; Plumb & Kautz, 2014), quickly producing professional-looking posts including photos and videos to share with families (Beaumont-Bates, 2017). Parents also find apps easy to use and convenient, engaging with documentation at a time and location that suits them and easily sharing with extended family (Beaumont-Bates, 2017; Higgins & Cherrington, 2017; Lim & Cho, 2019; McFadden & Thomas, 2016; Penman, 2014). Parents enjoy receiving notifications of posts and immediate access to information about their child’s experiences (Higgins & Cherrington, 2017; Penman, 2014).…”

“…Some educators reported that the immediacy and frequency of the communication with families motivated them to post more stories about children (Beaumont-Bates, 2017; Hooker, 2017; Penman, 2014). Reported flow-on effects include educators reporting a better understanding of children’s family and home context (Beaumont-Bates, 2017; Penman, 2014), families reporting better understandings about children’s experiences in the centre (Beaumont-Bates, 2017; Lim & Cho, 2019; Penman, 2014), increased face-to-face communication between educators and parents (Beaumont-Bates, 2017; Higgins & Cherrington, 2017), and parents enjoying increased communication with their child about their experiences in the centre (Beaumont-Bates, 2017; Higgins, 2015; Lim & Cho, 2019; McFadden & Thomas, 2016; Penman, 2014).…”

“…McFadden and Thomas (2016) caution that not all parents want to use apps; thus they should not be considered a sole method of communication but rather, part of a suite of possibilities to support partnerships with diverse families. Some families express confidentiality and security concerns (McFadden & Thomas, 2016), while Lim and Cho (2019) found that Korean fathers demonstrate lower levels of engagement with ECEC apps than mothers. Access to the necessary technology required to engage with apps should not be assumed for all families.…”

“…Even among parents who used apps, two-way engagement was not always evident. Among parents who regularly accessed the app, over half never discussed this information with educators (Lim & Cho, 2019; McFadden & Thomas, 2016; Penman, 2014). Higgins (2015) reported that 45% of 29 parent participants only commented seldomly or occasionally, while Penman (2014) found 39% of 49 participant parents never commented.…”

“…Potential challenges to work-life balance were identified in studies where educators reported using apps in their personal time (Beaumont-Bates, 2017; Hooker, 2017). This impact may be related to firstly, parents’ concerns that the time taken by educators documenting and communicating via apps may compromise time teaching and interacting with children (McFadden & Thomas, 2016), and secondly, to parents’ expressed desire for increased individualised communication through apps, particularly photos of their own child, more immediate responses from educators (Lim & Cho, 2019), more detail about the child’s day including eating and sleeping (McFadden & Thomas, 2016), and disappointment at receiving notifications for group posts that do not include their child (Higgins, 2015).…”