Session Information
SES B 07, Paper Session
Paper Session
Contribution
Computers that emerged as a result of our great need to cope with tremendous information flow in a more practical and effective manner (Underwood & Underwood, 1990) have influenced our lives dramatically so far. In this era, children are born in a digital world where computers are inevitable part of our daily lives unlike their families who learned using computers as if they had learned a second language (Hertzog & Klein, 2005). It, as a result, becomes essential for children to acquire information and communication knowledge and skills to successfully adapt to their environment since digital technology acts like the paper and pencil of this age (Cooper, 2005). However, use of computers particularly with young children has resulted in hot debates among scholars. On one extreme side, there are ones who view computers as “Fool’s gold” for children (Cordes & Miller, 2000), whereas on the other side, there are ones pointing out its significant contributions to development and education of children in early childhood (Clements & Sarama, 2003). Consistent with this latter view, for instance, in England, objectives regarding information and communication technologies for 5-7 years old children had already been determined and in the USA, NAEYC (National Association of education of Young Children, 1996) ) published a position statement titled as “Technology and young children—ages 3 through 8” to describe the appropriate uses of computer with young children. However, promising expectations from the integration of computers into education as put forward by researchers starting from 1980s; are not likely to be achieved due to low investment of several schools in instructional technologies and infrequent technology use of teachers (Davis & Shade, 1994; Keller & Bichelmeyer, 2004 as cited in Cuban, 2001). It is;hence, likely that computers do not seem to create a reforming impact on the education due to problems in its integration, while teacher characteristics are considered to be only one of the influencial factors for this result. Consistent with this idea, aim of this study is then to describe the perception of prospective early childhood teachers in Turkey on the integration of computers into early childhood education along with gaining an understanding of their computer literacy skills, attitudes toward computer use in their daily life and perceived self efficacy in using computers with young children in order to comprehend at the end their readiness and interest for computer integration.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
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