CREATIVE THINKING AS A PROCESS OF CHANGING EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS’ ATTITUDES ABOUT NEW TECHNOLOGIES - THE CASE OF INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT

Abstract

This research detects the potential of the creative practice of brainstorming to change the attitudes of future pedagogues regarding the exploitation of new technologies in the early childhood education and care. The survey involved 111 future educators who were divided into two groups of 54 and 57 respectively. Both groups attended an equivalent training program on the use of new technologies in pre-school education. In the first group, the experimental one, the intervention which was implemented exploited an experiential creative practice. The issue of intervention is about IoT (Internet of Things) as it is a trend that is consistent with the concepts of innovation and creativity. The same subject was taught to the second group, the control group, but with traditional teaching practices. In both groups, the same questionnaire of views and attitudes was applied, both before and after completion of the course. The results showed that the experimental group changed its attitude towards new technologies to a greater extent than in the control group. According to the findings of the research, the educators' active participation in creative practice helped them change their attitudes towards the use of technology in pre-school education. Article visualizations: