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Makale Özeti:
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Bu çalışma, erken çocukluk eğitiminde kullanılan teknoloji türleri ile ilgili yapılmış olan çalışmaları açıklamaktadır. Seçilen çalışmalarda hem nitel hem de nicel araştırma yöntemleri tercih edilirken, her iki araştırma yöntemini de kullanan çalışmaların da yer aldığı görülmektedir. Araştırmanın inceleme aşamasında, EBSCOhost, Blackwell Synergy, and ScienceDirect veritabanları sistematik bir şekilde incelenmiş, 2003-2009 yılları arasında basılmış olan çalışmalar seçilmiştir. Çalışmalar üç konu bazında seçilmiştir: (1) teknolojinin çocuk gelişimindeki rolü, (2) teknolojinin öğretmen uygulamalarındaki rolü ve (3) teknolojinin hem okul ortamındaki çocuğun gelişimindeki hem de öğretmen uygulamalarındaki rolü. Sonuç olarak, 30 çalışma ele alınmış ve ayrıntılı analizleri gerçekleştirilmiştir. Seçilen çalışmaların yöntemleri, araştırmış oldukları teknoloji çeşitleri, amaç ve bulguları, basım yılları ve çalışmaların yapıldığı ülkeler gibi kriterler detaylı bir şekilde incelenmiştir. Bu çalışmalar, teknoloji ile ilişkili literatürde bilgisayarın önemli bir yere sahip olduğunu göstermektedir. Ayrıca, öğretmenlerin “Bilgi ve İletişim Teknolojileri” ve eğitim videolarını da uygulamalarında kullandıkları saptanmıştır. Erken çocukluk döneminde teknoloji kullanımının tercih edilmesinin gerek öğretmenlerin sınıf-içi uygulamalarına gerekse çocukların gelişimlerine olumlu katkıları bulunmaktadır.
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Alternatif Dilde Özet:
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Technology has become an indispensable part of life today and children grow up with technology. In fact, they experience computer technology long before they interact with books. Children generally see their parents using computers rather than reading books. There are brightly colored small-scale computers for children so they can imitate their parents. Moreover, computer technology is very attractive for young children because of the color, movement, and sounds. Thus, different technological tools can provide meaningful experiences for them (Saracho & Spodek, 2008). Until 1999, the literature generally focused on the effects of computer usage on the development of young children from the opposing perspectives of positive and negative. Studies were generally related to developmental gains such as intelligence, nonverbal skills, structural knowledge, long-term memory, verbal skills, and problem solving (Haugland, 1992), high level of communication and cooperation skills (Clements, 1994; Haugland &Wright, 1997), written language (Clements & Nastasi, 1993). After 1999, the focus in the literature shifted from computers to Information Communication Technology (ICT) and assistive technology in early childhood education. According to Bolstad (2004), ICT is “electronic or digital tools which aim to gain information, communicate with others, and influence the environment”. In early childhood education, ICT involves computers, digital cameras and digital video cameras, creativity and communication software tools, the Internet, telephones, fax machines, mobile phones, tape recorders, interactive stories and computer games, programmable toys, data projectors, and electronic whiteboards (Bolstad, 2004).
The purpose of this paper is to describe types of technology studies that have been conducted related to young children’s early education. A systematic review of studies was undertaken using EBSCOhost, Blackwell Synergy, and ScienceDirect databases, to identify all studies published between 2003 and 2009 according to specific criteria. The studies were selected on the basis of the following three issues: (1) the role of technology in children’s development, (2) the role of technology in teachers’ practices, and (3) studies that aimed to investigate the impact of technology usage on not only teacher practices but also young children’s development in school settings.
A comprehensive search of three online databases (EBSCOhost, Blackwell Synergy, and ScienceDirect) was conducted to identify all relevant studies published in years between 2003 and 2009. Thirty research studies were chosen since they fulfilled the criteria, dealing with technology usage in early childhood education from 2003 to 2009.
After the selection procedure was completed, the articles were independently analyzed by the first author and her findings were compared with the second author’s coding. The agreement rate was high (85%) therefore the reliability requirement was met (Creswell, 2007).
A database was created in order to clearly identify the key features of each article. The categories in the database included the publication year, title, author(s) name(s), independent researcher or university based research, country, purposes of the studies, participants, methods, results, and, if any, the supporting institution or organization.
A descriptive analysis of the key features in the database was undertaken. The three main categories to be analyzed in general were; the methodology of the studies, outcomes of the studies, and types of technology used. Regarding methodology of the studies, 11 studies (36. 7%) were conducted on the basis of qualitative approach, 13 studies (43. 3%) used a quantitative approach as shown in Figure 3.1. Six studies took a mixed approach (20. 0%).
Eight studies (26. 6%) were related to teacher outcomes, 20 studies (66. 7 %) were about child outcomes and two studies (6. 7%) concerned both child and teacher outcomes. Overall, the majority of the studies related to technology usage in early childhood settings mainly focused on children’s developmental areas. In terms of the technology types, the 30 studies were grouped, based on their content, into six areas: computer (n=17; 56. 7%), ICT (n=4; 13. 3%), e-book (n=1; 3. 3%), video (n=3; 10. 0%), audio-visual tools (n=3; 10. 0%), and assistive technology (n=2; 6. 7%) In-depth analyses indicated that the focus of the researchers varied, some having a single focus: a relationship between children’s development or technology, and teachers’ practices and technology, others gave priority to both children and teachers.
The literature evaluated for this study showed that technology appears to influence young children in a more positive way (e.g. Ching et al., 2006; Espinosa et al., 2006). Furthermore, it was discovered that technology was useful for early childhood teachers in terms of supporting their professional development (Chen & Chang, 2006a; Downer et al., 2009; NAEYC 1996). The results of these studies suggested that training programs should be provided for early childhood teachers in order that could use technology in ways that were appropriate for their young students. By attending technology-related courses in their pre-service education and became familiar with computer skills they were able to utilize these skills in their professional life. According to the statement from NAEYC (1996), both in-service and pre-service training should be conducted to allow early childhood teachers to benefit from the possible advantages of technology in their teaching.
This study reviewed technology-related articles from journals published from 2003 to 2009. From a content analysis it emerged that the main issues of these studies focused on the different types of technologies using in early childhood classrooms. This study showed that the “computer” as a technology plays an important role on technology-related literature. In addition, other types of technologies such as ICT, assistive technology were selected to be used in early childhood classrooms. Moreover, it was clear that most of the researchers chose the type of methodology on the basis of their research purposes. Therefore, this review can help future researchers to select an appropriate methodology to suit the purpose of their research.
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