Digital Technology Use In Elementary Education.

As I am still torn about choosing a topic, I decided to continue to delve a little deeper into research on technology use in elementary, mostly to see what is already out there. I quickly came across two common themes that grabbed my attention: factors impacting Elementary teachers’ use or implementation of digital technology, and the impacts of use of tablets and/or mobile devices in Elementary education.

Factors impacting Elementary teachers’ use of digital technology:

The research here seems to largely reflect the anecdotal opinions I hear from teachers and teacher candidates all the time, that the factors limiting the use of technology in the classroom include: lack of knowledge, lack of training, lack of resources, and lack of time. Further, as noted in my previous post, Pappa, Georgiou, and Pittich (2023) found that a “need for clarity in curriculum standards” linked to technology is necessary for proper integration. In one study looking at preservice teachers they found, “For effective use of digital technology in pedagogical processes with primary school students, preservice teachers also require their own experience in addition to integrating it into study processes.” (JaneÅ¡ and Klančar, 2023, p. 53). Indicating that preservice teachers also see the need for more technology training throughout their studies. I cannot see an easy solution to any of these issues as so much is going to be circumstantial (availability of funding, training, time, …) but wonder then if the focus should be on research to understand what technology or what manner of choosing technology is most beneficial for students and working backwards from there?

Benefits of use of tablets and/or mobile devices in Elementary education:

“The most common mobile devices used in schools are tablet computers.” (Dorris et al., 2021, p. 2)

I was not surprised to see several articles talk about tablets being the most common mobile devices in elementary, I see them daily in classrooms. Further, Dorris et al (2021) also note that “as mobile devices were not primarily designed as tools for an educational setting, effort will be needed to adapt them to and embed them within existing pedagogy.” That stuck out for me as I wondered should the tablets be adapted or if it is the pedagogy that needs to change?… but I digress. A few studies indicated the benefits of tablets including increased motivation to learn and overall enjoyment. In particular, one study also mentioned a better understanding of the material or that “misconceptions were eased,” ((Fokides et al., 2020, pg 621) when learning involved tablets.

This is an interesting video of an elementary school that fully embraces students using technology from Pre-K up. This video also grabbed my attention as randomly I was a presenter at this school, about 15 years ago with a touring art project I was working on. We presented and stayed the night at the school.

References

Dorris, C., Winter, K., O’Hare, L., & Lwoga, E. T. (2021). PROTOCOL: A systematic review of mobile device use in the primary school classroom and its impact on pupil literacy and numeracy attainment. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 17(2), e1155. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1155
Fokides, E., Atsikpasi, P., & Karageorgou, D. (2020). Tablets, Plants, and Primary School Students: A Study. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 25(3), 621–649. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-020-09445-7
Janeš, Aleksander, and Andreja Klančar. “Attitudes of Preservice Teachers About the Use of Digital Technologies and the Use of Digital Technologies in Primary Education.” In New Media Pedagogy: Research Trends, Methodological Challenges and Successful Implementations, edited by Łukasz Tomczyk, 1916:42–58. Communications in Computer and Information Science. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44581-1_4.
Pappa, Christina Ioanna, Despoina Georgiou, and Daniel Pittich. “Technology Education in Primary Schools: Addressing Teachers’ Perceptions, Perceived Barriers, and Needs.” International Journal of Technology and Design Education, April 30, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-023-09828-8.