Wonder children and victimizing parents – preservice early childhood teachers’ beliefs about children and technology at home

Mertala, Pekka

doi:10.1080/03004430.2017.1324434

Cited by 33 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Teachers' perspectives on digital technology use in writing lessons will ultimately shape the experiences and opportunities for children to use digital technology in literacy learning in the classroom (Aldhafeeri et al, 2016;Mertala, 2017). Whilst all of the teachers in this study were very positive about the potential of the use of iPads in writing lessons to engage and British Journal of Educational Technology motivate children, including reluctant learners, and the benefits of the multimodal nature of the created texts in allowing all children to experience success in "writing" stories through visual, verbal and print modes, they were ultimately still constrained by print-centric expectations of a primary classroom (see Loerts & Heydon, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Writing and iPads in the early years: Perspectives from within the classroom

Dunn¹,

Sweeney²

2018

Brit J Educational Tech

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Writing is a complex and effortful activity and recent surveys indicate that fewer children are enjoying writing or engaging in writing outside of school. Yet compositional writing is a part of the primary curriculum and is an essential part of education. This small‐scale international study aimed to garner the views of primary school teachers and children on using iPads in teaching compositional writing and how this writing differed from using paper and pencils. Three teachers and classes of primary school children in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland participated in the study. Individual interviews with the teachers, focus groups with the children and child‐led virtual tours of the iPad were all used to gather perspectives. All participants reported on the benefits of using iPads to teach compositional writing. These included fun and enjoyment, greater choice and creativity, the value of multimodal communication and assistance with spelling. However, all participants also advocated a balanced approach to the teaching of compositional writing.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Writing and iPads in the early years: Perspectives from within the classroom

Dunn¹,

Sweeney²

2018

Brit J Educational Tech

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“…Equity was one of the aims of Kaarina's tablet-project, based on a presumption that children from lower socioeconomic classes lack access to digital resources because their 'parents' lack the financial means to acquire a device for their children'. This so called 'needy child' discourse (Selwyn, 2003) has been identified among Finnish educators' beliefs about children's access to digital technologies (Mertala 2019 It is also worth exploring the actual methods schools are using in teaching children about digital skills. According to Timothy Rudd (2013, 154):…”

Section: Paradoxes Of Societal Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paradoxes of participation in the digitalization of education: a narrative account

Mertala

2019

Learning, Media and Technology

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The language used around the digitalization of education tends to be inherently political, value-laden, and deterministic. This position paper scrutinizes this so-called 'Ed-Tech speak' via narrative methodology. The analytical focus is the paradoxes that exist between the normalizing master narratives of Ed-Tech speak and the complexity and polyphony of everyday praxis in terms of participation. By using an educational tablet project conducted in Finnish primary and secondary schools as an empirical example this paper will problematize the promise of participation in the context of the digitalization of education through three different viewpoints: paradoxes of societal participation, paradoxes of participatory pedagogics, and paradoxical politics of participation.

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“…As noted by Mertala (2019), the origins of teachers' beliefs about digital technologies in the early years and the ways that these can be changed, are significant areas for development and exploration. Our teachers indeed appeared to find it difficult to offer a clear position without drawing on prevalent dominant discourses of childhood (Selwyn 2003).…”

Section: Conclusion and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early years teachers and digital literacies: Navigating a kaleidoscope of discourses

et al. 2019

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For many young children in developed countries, family and community life is mediated by digital technology. Despite this, for early years educators, the process of integrating digital technologies into classroom practice raises a number of issues and tensions. In an attempt to gain insights from early years teachers, we draw from semistructured interview data from ten practising teachers which explored their perspectives on digital technologies within their personal and professional lives, and of children's use of digital technologies within and outside educational settings. Our analysis builds on previous work that suggests that teachers draw on multiple discourses related to conceptualisations of childhood when thinking about digital technology and young children. In this paper we contribute to these discussions, drawing specifically on examples from the data where teachers articulate their understandings of children's use of digital technology where this relates directly to children's literacy practices. We assert that narrow conceptualized notions of literacy, compounded by national imperatives to raise print literacy standards, add another layer of discursive complexity that comes to the fore when teachers are asked to provide a rationale for the promotion of digital literacies in early years classrooms. A broader framing of literacy therefore, is needed if the potential of digital technologies in the early years is to be realized.

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Wonder children and victimizing parents – preservice early childhood teachers’ beliefs about children and technology at home

Cited by 33 publications

References 28 publications

Writing and iPads in the early years: Perspectives from within the classroom

Writing and iPads in the early years: Perspectives from within the classroom

Paradoxes of participation in the digitalization of education: a narrative account

Early years teachers and digital literacies: Navigating a kaleidoscope of discourses

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