‘Young children nowadays are very smart in ICT’ – preschool teachers’ perceptions of ICT use

Abstract

ABSTRACTWith the ubiquitous presence of ICT in the contemporary world, preschool teachers are expected to integrate ICT into their curricula and pedagogical practices. This paper reports on a study in which four preschool teachers were interviewed to explore their perceptions of changes and challenges related to the use of ICT. Teachers consistently viewed young children’s access to ICT as a positive change, which had broadened children’s knowledge about the world. However, this had challenged the teachers’ professional knowledge and pedagogical practices. Additionally, the teachers encountered significant barriers to incorporate ICT into their teaching, mainly due to lack of effective ICT training and professional development. Given the increasing emphasis on integrating ICT in early childhood education, it is urgent to develop specific ICT policies and curriculum for early childhood education that can enhance teachers’ ICT competencies for harnessing the potential of ICT.