ICT IN EARLY EDUCATION: REASONS FOR INSUFFICIENT APPLICATION

Abstract

The issues related to the potential of ICT tools in the education of young children are addressed by a significant number of authors. Consequently, the importance of the implementation of the modern ICT tools in educational work is pointed out because of its extensive impact on child development. The reasons for insufficient use of the ICT tools in kindergartens are analysed, indicating that their application is conditioned by a large number and variety of factors that may be general, conditioned by the social context and the degree of the computerization in a particular social context, or factors of a personal nature - which are determined by the attitudes and competences of teachers. The methodological part is dedicated to the interpretation of the results of the empirical research that is aimed at examining the attitudes of teachers in regard to the reasons for poor implementation of ICT tools in the educational work with young children. The main instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire that was specifically designed for the research purposes. The survey was conducted on a sample of teachers employed in preschool institutions in Serbia. Hypotheses are: (1) that educators believe that the potential of ICT tools are underutilized, especially in working with children; (2) that their views on the application of ICT tools are conditioned by dependent variables: education and years of service. Research results confirmed the hypotheses and pointed to a positive correlation between the studied variables. Specifically, it was found that there is a statistically significant difference in the attitudes of teachers about the reasons for poor implementation of ICT tools in kindergartens in relation to the qualifications and seniority. In conclusion, the research points to the need for systemic changes which would imply better ICT equipment in kindergartens, as well as the necessity of professional training programs for competence development of teachers in the field of new technologies application.