Preschool teachers’ use of ICTs: Towards a typology of practice

This study aimed to identify the ways in which information and communication technologies (ICT) are integrated in three preschools in south-western Sweden. The case study involved observations of and interviews with preschool teachers. The findings support claims that ICT can enhance preschool practices by providing a variety of complementary opportunities to enrich and transform existing curricula. The study shows that in the studied preschools ICTs have been appropriated in distinctive ways: as an object to enrich existing practices; as a cultural mediator; as a way to entertain young children; and as a communication and documentation tool. In addition, by addressing the teachers’ values and attitudes to the role of ICT in early childhood, the paper also unpacks the stances of teachers who consider ICT to be unsuitable for early childhood education. The findings of this study may bring some clarity to the complexities that surround engagement with any innovation in preschool settings, and the adoption of new technologies in particular.

"...ICT is viewed as a tool for documentation and as an educational object to enrich and transform preschools’ existing practices. It is also seen as a cultural mediator that mediates young children’s cultural literacy. Finally, ICT is experienced as an object for entertaining young children and keeping them busy.... Classroom observations and interviews revealed that ICT was viewed ‘as a supplement’ to existing practices and activities – as a way of doing the same things that have always been done – rather than making ICT an integral part of the curriculum." (Author, 13-14)