Pedagogical documentation in the era of digital platforms: Early childhood educators’ professionalism in a dilemma

Abstract

The so-called logic of datafication and platformisation, as a consolidated business model for the BigTech industry with applications to education (van Dijck et al., 2018), can also reach (and affect) early education and care. In a kid’s culture that values documenting and sharing with parents, social media and instant messaging are widely used. Educators feel overloaded with the challenges posed by digital platforms, but contextual issues are relevant to finding ways for resistance and engagement in political actions to transform the edtech platforms’ dominance. Investigating the specific discourses and approaches to platformisation from early education professionals appears relevant to promoting not only awareness but also ways to rethink professional and political agency. Our preliminary study is based on 14 individual interviews and one group interview with educators in the Italian region of Veneto. The results of our thematic analysis indicate that achieving a balance between technology-based documentation and children’s privacy is not straightforward. Also, educators are calling for policies and further support for technology-driven services and activities that make thoughtful and conscious use of technology to avoid harming children. On these bases, we advance recommendations to deepen early childhood educators’ professional development requirements in a data-driven and post-digital society.

Wisdom of the Masses? Users and Educators Contrasting Perspectives on the Data Privacy and Safety of Early Years’ Apps

“…This project aims at mapping datafication and platformisation in early years in Italy, bridging families and educational practices. Within this context, analysing or "benchmarking" the educational quality and privacy protection of 0-3 apps was considered a preliminary approach to actual practices and concerns by both educators (Restiglian et al, 2023) and families (ongoing study). The project unfolds around the educator's role, whose professionalism is crucial to the development processes of formulating policies and regulations to control the negative impacts of technologies.…”

“…The empirical validation was carried out using interrater's agreement, and a reliability analysis is introduced in the results. Annex 1 presents the instrument adopted, which has also been published as open data (Restiglian et al, 2023). The instrument was structured as a database where each app was placed as a case.…”

“…According to several studies, in this particular group of ages, parental digital exposure and decisions about the children's digital footprint is crucial (Jibb et al, 2022;Pimienta et al, 2023). Most importantly, there is a clear relationship between the safeguarding of children's rights and the provision of high-quality educational environments, as education is inherently recognised as a fundamental right (Restiglian et al, 2023;Swist & Collin, 2017).…”

“…In ECEC, specific individuals may exhibit enthusiasm and disregard for privacy concerns or data justice. Others experience a sense of being overwhelmed by datafication and platformisation (Restiglian et al, 2023). In this juncture, educators' professionalism can be deemed crucial to contrast the inequities and issues in screens' exposure, together with families (OECD, 2017).…”

“…The debate on the value and effectiveness of new digital technologies integrated into nursery or early childhood education is a highly topical issue involving various professional figures, each contributing with their specific training (Ferranti, 2018). Apps can be adopted not only at home but also in early education settings (Restiglian et al, 2023). In this regard, the convergent understanding of problems and the concurrent collaboration between families and educators appears crucial.…”