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Abstract
One of the crucial 21st-century digital skills, in the context of digital transformation, is problem solving—equally so in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In the context of kindergarten, learning through play is central; therefore, pretend play, and particularly guided pretend play, is suggested as an innovative way to foster skills for digital problem solving. As yet, the potential of pretend play for children’s learning about digital transformation and digital problem-solving processes has hardly been researched. The paper examines how children solve digital problems in guided pretend play. In an explorative intervention study “We play the future”, an information technology center (IT center) is introduced as one of the play corners for pretend play in kindergartens, together with other inputs such as a smart home corner (Internet of Things) or autonomous vehicles. Children’s play was video recorded. From the 15 participating kindergartens, 13 h of sequences involving the IT center were analyzed using content analysis. The findings indicate that children identify problems in a play situation and solve them using problem-solving strategies, such as devising new applications and installing software. Furthermore, the findings show that the kindergarten teacher’s participation in the pretend play is important for enabling longer and more complex problem-solving processes. Consequences for further teacher training to foster problem-solving skills during guided pretend play are discussed.
Highlights
In our technology-based society, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are central
The present paper focuses on guided pretend play on topics of digital transformation to encourage young children to engage with processes of digital transformation and to acquire 21st-century skills
It is clear that establishing a play corner as an IT center facilitates pretend play with digital problem solving
Summary
In our technology-based society, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are central. In order to be able to participate in the future, children need to acquire certain skills, which are referred to as “21st-century skills” [10] This term covers a range of skills: In addition to technical skills and information management, skills such as communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving are crucial 21st-century skills. These skills should and can be fostered early on [2,4]. In order to deal successfully with the rapid change of digital transformation, soft skills such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving are required. Problem solving can be seen as a important soft skill for digital transformation [11] and is an important skill in STEM in general [12,13], as well as for digital technology [10,14]
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