A study of the impact of technology in early education

UPTEC IT 14 009

Examensarbete 30 hp Juni 2014

A study of the impact of technology in early education

Rafal Wajszczyk

Teknisk- naturvetenskaplig fakultet UTH-enheten

Bes?ksadress: ?ngstr?mlaboratoriet L?gerhyddsv?gen 1 Hus 4, Plan 0

Postadress: Box 536 751 21 Uppsala

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Telefax: 018 ? 471 30 00

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Abstract

A study of the impact of technology in early education

Rafal Wajszczyk

The purpose of this study is to analyse the current state of the use of Information and communication technology (ICT) and its impact on pupils in their early stages of education. The aim is to find out how, when and in what context ICT is used in the work with students. The overall objective is to study teachers views on ICT and their opinion on how ICT does affects pupils - positively or negatively. The results of this study are based on both a literature review and a qualitative study. The use of the qualitative methods in-depth interviews and surveys in strategically chosen primary schools extended the understanding and knowledge of the current state of ICT in early education. The result of this study shows a number of different aspects and issues that introduction of ICT into early education has caused and how it influences both teachers and students. As a result of the interviews and the survey answers, the main factors that have to the highest degree influence on how ICT does affects pupils are the access to technology and the abilities of both students and teachers. Despite all negative effects that ICT may be associated with, it can be concluded that the impact of ICT on students is positive in most cases.

Handledare: Lars-?ke Nord?n ?mnesgranskare: Mats Daniels Examinator: Lars-?ke Nord?n ISSN: 1401-5749, UPTEC IT 14 009 Tryckt av: Reprocentralen ITC

Contents

Contents

i

List of Figures

iii

1 Introduction

1

1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.2 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.3 Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.4 Thesis disposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Literature study

5

2.1 ICT in education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.2 Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.3 The teacher's role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.4 The teacher's didactic choice and teaching methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.5 The teacher competence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3 Theoretical perspective

23

3.1 Developmental state of children's progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3.2 Socio-Cultural Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4 Method

29

4.1 Research strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

4.2 Selection of respondents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4.3 Data collection method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4.3.1 Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4.3.2 Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

4.4 Validity and reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

4.5 Ethical aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

4.6 Material processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

5 Analysis

35

5.1 What perceptions do teachers have of ICT in education? . . . . . . . . . . 35

5.1.1 Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

5.1.2 Ability and further training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

5.1.3 Attitude towards ICT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

5.1.4 Changes caused by ICT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

5.2 What perceptions do teachers have on how ICT influences students. . . . 41

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