The Obstacles to ICT Implementation in the Kindergarten Environment: Kindergarten Teachers’ Beliefs

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to identify the obstacles to information and communication technology (ICT) implementation in the kindergarten environment through exploring the beliefs of kindergarten teachers. Thirty Israeli kindergarten teachers participated in semistructured interviews. Their content analysis revealed three main obstacle-related categories, of which the first two are most salient: (1) pedagogically, despite acknowledgment of its value, ICT does not play a key role in the kindergarten teachers’ education philosophy; (2) didactically, ICT is used mainly as a source of information and for instructional illustration, rather than as a means to new teaching strategies; and (3) developmentally, computer use affects children’s social development, especially those with special needs, but not always positively. The main conclusion is that kindergarten teachers neither overcome these obstacles nor utilize ICT potential to its fullest; hence, teachers should be encouraged to participate in ICT-related professional training to understand the didactic opportunities ICT offers early childhood education and its developmentally related pros and cons and adopt innovative ICT-related pedagogies.