Iceland University of Education
Kristín Norðdahl, lektor in nature studies
Svala Jónsdóttir, adjunkt in art
Information and Communication
Technology (ICT)
in six preschools in Iceland
NERA 12.march 2004
Paper in preparation
This outcast is not to be sited
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Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
in six preschools in Iceland
Introduction
This research is a part of a bigger research called NámUST (http://namust.khi.is/), which
is a project funded by the Research Council of Iceland under the Information Technology
research program. The purpose of the NámUST project is to consider the opportunities
presented when ICT is used as a medium in teaching and learning. To achieve this
purpose there is a need to understand what learning supported by technology involves
and how it might contribute to the knowledge base on learning. This research reaches all
school levels from preschool to university.
The purpose of this research was to collect informations about preschools who have been
using ICT in an interesting way. We have experienced that teachers are often insecure in
this area and figured that information like this could be helpful for teachers who are
starting to use ICT in their work at preschools.
In this research we investigated six preschools that have been using ICT. Four of them
have been using ICT in their work with children for some years. In one preschool the
personnel is learning to use ICT, preparing themselves for using it with the children. One
preschool is using ICT for organizational change and development in the preschool. In
that school a website with a database has been designed. This preeschool is not planning
to use ICT with the children.
Research Methods
The research described in this paper was built on qualitative research methods. Research
of this type seeks to observe and accurately describe particular events but with no
intention to infer that these observations apply to other groups.
Research questions
 What do the teachers see as the advantages and disadvantages in using ICT in
preschool education?
 What inspired teachers to begin to use ICT in the preschools?
 How did they begin to use ICT in the preschools?
 What kind of support does personnel that will start to use ICT in to the preschool
curriculum need?
 How do teachers use ICT in their work?
 How do teachers use ICT with children?
Data collection
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We interviewed one person in each preschool. This was the person with most
knowledge, experience and practice in using ICT. In some cases it was the
director of the preschool and in others another preschool teacher.
We did field studies and visited each preschool to examine the computer facilities
and where the computers were placed. We took photos of this and also of children
working on computers.
We examined material concerning use of ICT in the preschools, each preschools
curriculum, application for grants, reports on developmental projects, their
websites and examples of childrens work.
Computerization in the preschools
Four of the six preschools we researched used ICT with the children and began doing so
in the years 1997 - 1998. ICT first became a part of the preschool national curriculum in
1999, so in this aspect these schools were ahead of the national curriculum.
The initiative to begin using ICT in the preschools came from the director of the
preschools or the vice director in most of the schools, but in two of the schools the
initiative came from a community administrator. There were different reasons for the
emphasis on using ICT in these schools: one of the preschool directors started on a
graduated education, others participated in a Nordic conference on the subject which
inspired them. Yet another wanted to modernise the preschool she was leading. It was
obvious that the director's support was most important in this process. In all the schools
the directors were very interested in ICT even if it was not always their purpose to use
ICT with the children.
The personnel in the preschools got support in connection with using ICT in different
ways. Specialists on computer technology and in integrating use of computers in the
schools curriculum were involved in the projects. Those specialists came either from
outside of the schools or they were members of the staff group with good knowledge in
using ICT. In one of the schools they got a specialist that was good at teaching the
personnel on computers and who also knew how to use the computers with children in an
effective way. In another school a specialist in web design was hired to construct a
website connected with a database. In this case the specialist taught the staff to use the
computers. Three of the preschools had to seek technical assistance when the computers
failed or needed to be updated. In some schools there were teachers with good computer
skills and it turned out to be very important for the development of ICT in the schools
curriculum. Some of the schools had a special ICT project leader.
Many of the teachers mentioned the lack of an ICT policy from the authority, and the
need for it. They stressed the need for ICT courses for preschool personnel. The teachers
also mentioned that it was important that the personnel in each school formulated their
own policy about how they wanted to use the computers, which computer programs they
wished to use and which programs were appropriate for young children.
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Advantages and disadvantages according to the teachers
When the teachers were asked to name the main advantages of using ICT in preschool
they mentioned for instance that computer ability was a good preparation for primary
school. They also pointed out that it was important to make childrens access to computers
because some children had access to computers equal at home while others didn´t. Also
they didn´t have equal access to developmental computerprograms suitable for their age
at home. Then they mentioned that using computers was good for developing childrens
fine motoric skills and their coordination of eyes and hands. The children could see the
affect of handling the mouse on the screen. The teachers spoke of the computers as one of
the toys in the preschool, a toy that the children were interested in and from which they
could learn different things. They also mentioned that working with computers gave them
possibilities to work on projects in an interesting way. It was possible to use the
advantages of the computer to make multimedia material when combining pictures,
sounds and animation. The teachers also mentioned that by using computers it was
possible to broaden childrens horizon. They got aquainted with the possibilities of using
computers in many different and interesting ways for instance how it´s possible to use the
computer for communication via e-mail and to gain informations via internet.
In all the preschools but one the teachers were very positive towards the use of ICT. Still
they mentioned a few disadvantages. One of them concerned the computers being
expensive and fragile equipment likely to break down. The teachers mentioned their own
helplessness towards this and how they were to dependent on help from outside. Another
thing which they criticized was the selection of computerprograms for young children. In
most of these programs children were supposed to find one right solution and the teachers
would like to see more of open ended and creative computerprograms for children. They
said that the computerprograms had limited possibilities and often they weren´t
demanding enough for the children. One teacher mentioned that in preschool there were
many issues which were more important to work on with children and therefore there was
no reason to take time to work on computers.
The teachers mentioned that it was important to control that the children did not spend to
much time on computerwork and be aware of that some children were likely to take over
the computerwork and therefore it was important to make sure of that others got their
chance. These things mentioned here could just as well be relevant for other activities in
preschool.
The teachers also mentioned that there was a tendency either to think of the computer as
something of greater importance than other things in the preschool or to look upon it as
something dangerous. They wanted to change the attitude toward computers in the
direction to think of them as just another toy or equipment. This they found important
both among the staff and the parents.
Personnel using ICT
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The involvement of the personnel in ICT differed from school to school, ranging from
involvement of all or most of the personnel to the involvement of only one or few
teachers. Evidently there is a risk that the use of ICT in the preschools would decline if
these teachers quit working at the school.
It appeared that the older personnel in the schools were insecure in this area but interested
however. The personnel that had had an experience with using computers in their study
were much more confident in using ICT with the children than others.
It was evident that some teachers did not believe that general ICT courses were effective
for preparing teachers to use ICT with children. Often people didn't find a way to make
use of what they had learned in these courses in to the work with children. It would be
better, some said, if each individual found out what he or she wanted or needed to learn
and got assistance to master that and became able to use the skills in the work with
children. One of the schools emphasized increasing the personnel skills to use ICT in
order to make them more competent in using ICT with children. In a few cases some of
the personnel had attended courses where software for children was introduced and
afterwards they had spread this knowledge to the rest of the personnel. In this way the
ICT knowledge of the schools personnel was best utilized.
The teachers used computers a lot to prepare the work with the children, using programs
as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. In one school the personnel used part of their
preparation time to develop the skills they needed to use ICT in the way they wanted. In
another school the teachers had little space to prepare their work with children. There the
schools website was designed in a way that made it possible for the teachers to prepare
their work at home. They had access to all the data they needed on the website. Teachers
used the internet to seek information.
In one of the preschools the teachers and the children decided together the tasks they
wanted to work on and how to do it. Then the teachers could use the time they had for
preparing their work to document the children's work and make it visible to others. This
was mostly done in form of loading in pictures to the computers and writing texts. The
teachers often did this work in the children's playroom so children could observe it.
In another school the teachers took a lot of photos of the children. The pictures were
located in a special website, only available for the teachers. They analysed the pictures
for different purposes. Teachers could observe their own work with children and evaluate
it. They could also observe the works of other teachers and get new ideas from them on
how to work with the children. The photos were also used to observe children's divers
physical functions and development, such as the children's hand grip and movements.
The pictures were also used to examine whether there was any difference in how the
teachers took photos of boys and girls. The number of pictures taken of each child was
examined as well as what kind of pictures were taken. It appeared that the staff had taken
more group pictures of girls than boys, and more close up pictures of boys than girls.
The number of pictures of boys was higher than of girls and this was the fact even though
the personnel was extra alert on the gender differences in all their work with the children.
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They used the information they got by analysing the pictures to change their own
performance.
The teachers used e-mail to send information to the parents for instance newsletters,
annual reports or the schools bookkeeping. The parents sometimes used e -mail to report
if their children were ill or just to ask about something. In many cases the staffs e-mail
addresses were available on the schools websites.
In one school it was mentioned that parents did not use e-mail to communicate with the
teachers because they met the teachers daily. Other teachers talked about that the e-mail
had created a forum for communication that would be difficult to establish in another
way.
Teachers described that using ICT was a good way to make the work of the children more
visible for the parents. This was done for example by printing photos of the children or of
children's work and hang it upon the wall the same day. Teachers also created computer
slideshows that rotated for example at parents meetings at the schools.
In one of the school pictures from each child were collected and written on a CD-rom
which children got when they finished preschool.
In all the schools except one a school website had been designed. These websites
differed from school to school. Some schools had put great effort in the design but others
less. On the websites there were some general information about the preschools and the
children's work was made visible on some of them.
In one of the schools the teachers created a special web called the Science web
(http://www.idavollur.akureyri.is/Tolvurnar/), where they described children's projects in
the preschool. The teachers participated in a European contest, Eschola, in which
outstanding projects where ICT was used were rewarded. This was a competition for all
school levels and the Science web got the third prize out of 600 participants.
Using ICT with children
All teachers agreed that children showed interest in working with computers. One
teacher said that some children preferred to work with drawing programs rather than
playing computer games. Another teacher mentioned that children did not show more
interest in working with computers than with other tasks in the preschool. In three of the
schools teachers mentioned how children's interest in working with computers increased
when they had developed more skills and got more confident in working with computers.
One teacher mentioned that children seemed to be more familiar with computers now
than two years ago. Another teacher pointed out that the children were very interested in
computers at first when introduced to them but later the interest differed from child to
child.
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In all the schools we visited, the computers used by the children were placed in their play
area. In two schools it had not been so at first. Then computers had been located in
special rooms where children went for organized computer classes.
Teachers experienced that when children used computers they cooperated and they
helped and taught one another. The teachers encouraged the children to cooperate rather
than teaching the children themselves. In the beginning the teachers showed the children
what they could do and then only helped them when they needed it. One example of this
was when a teacher taught a child to set intervals between words when the child had
written a whole reciple in one word. Teachers mentioned that children with good
computer skills but less social skills got a new position in the group when teaching other
children to use ICT. Other teachers mentioned that children with good social skills and
also children who could read and write were popular in helping other children working
with the computers. It was also mentioned that children liked to play identical computer
games parallel in two computers. In this way they could help each other, and exchange
good tips about the game.
None of the teachers we interviewed mentioned gender differences in children’s interest
in working with computers. The teachers did not agree on whether there were differences
in boys and girls interest in working with drawing programs versus playing computer
games. Some teachers said there was no gender difference in this and some said that girls
were keener on drawing than boys. The teachers agreed on that there were no differences
in which computer games boys and girls choose to play. When a new game was
introduced to the children they all wanted to play in it. But the teachers said that there
was an obvious gender difference in how boys and girls worked in computers. Boys
examined all the possibilities of the software immediately, but the girls took their time.
Childrens subject and work in the Computer
The teachers agreed on that children found computer games very interesting. Most of the
teachers looked at computer games and educational software as just another toy for the
children to play with, a toy they could also learn from.
The youngest children we saw working with computers were two years old. They used a
game where they only had to move the mouse over the screen to make something happen.
Most of the software, the children were working with, was designed to teach the children
diverse things as; numbers, letters, colours, shapes, directions, time and so on. In some
programs children could create something by themselves (Disney Magic and Magic
Artist) as pictures made by putting together some ready made stamps that they could
choose. In another program children could create some music (Millie's Math house).
In one preschool we saw a computer game that was completely different from the others.
In this game a web eye was used so the child became a part of the game. The web eye
videotaped the child and when the child moved, the video film of the child moved on the
screen. The child's task was to crack balloons in the game.
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The personnel in the preschools decided what software was available for the children
from time to time. Sometimes it had to do with technical problems, if the children were
working with many different games at the same time the computers were constantly
freezing. In one case a teacher removed a game because he found its content
inappropriate for young children. Sometimes teachers decided to remove computer
games for a period and then the children were working in other programs for instance
drawing - or writing programs. Sometimes the children weren't interested in using
programs, which didn't give them any chance to explore by themselves and find their own
solutions.
One teacher mentioned that she wanted to give children a chance to work with programs
in the preschool which they didn't have access to at home.
In most of the preschools children used drawing programs frequently. The teachers were
satisfied with these programs because they are open ended and creative. Teachers found
drawing in computers a good way for children to learn to control the mouse. They could
see the affect of their operations and use these new skills when working with other
computer programs.
It is more difficult to control a computer mouse than a pencil. In two preschools we were
told that when the children started to use drawing programs their pictures reflected
another stage of development in drawing than when they drew with pencil on paper. They
all started scribbling but the older ones made progress quickly when they got used to
controlling the mouse.
Drawing programs were used in several different ways. Sometimes children drew
pictures and painted them in the computer, sometimes they drew pictures on paper,
scanned them into the computer and kept on working on them. Sometimes pictures were
drawn in the computer, then printed on paper and the children added colour to them in
traditional ways.
In some preeschools children drew pictures on the computer and made their own stories,
connected to the pictures, wich were written on the computer, sometimes by the teachers
and sometimes by children who could read and write a little. In two preschools these
books were used later when the children started primary school as their first textbook in
learning how to read.
It was quite common to make computer slideshows containing the childrens drawings or
photos of them. The children often recorded something they said or other sounds to be a
part of the show.
In two preschools children made brochures, combining photos they had taken and text
they had composed, using the layout program Publisher. One of the brochures was a
touristguide for the childrens hometown Akureyri and the other was a brochure to
introduce the preschool for children starting in the preschool. In one place Publisher was
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also used to make a calender. The children drew numbers which were scanned into the
computer and they put their numbers in the right place on the calender and drew a
picture for each month. In this way they learned to draw numbers and got a glimpse of
how a calender works and is designed.
In one preschool the children made a videofilm based on their own playversion of a fairy
tale. They wrote the script themselves, chose the scenes, played the characters and cut the
videofilm in the program Eye-movie. Later on they will make sounds to put into the film.
The teachers didn´t find it hard to work on a project like this with the children.
It was obvious that teachers were interested in using the computer as a tool with the
children. With all the software and equipment available now a days it is possible to do a
lot of things which would have been hard or even impossible to do if we didn't have the
computer technology. The digital technique makes it easy to work with photos, video and
sound. Service which had to be bought from outside before, for instance developing
photos, cutting video and mastering sound is now something that anyone can do if he has
the right equipment and programs. This makes it easy to make multimedia material and in
some of the preschools that was exactly what they were doing.
In this research we also checked what kind of equipment the preschools used in
connection with their work using ICT. They used printers and told us that the children
found it strange how it was possible to print more than one copy of their drawings. They
used digital cameras and the teachers were very pleased with using them. They made it
possible to take pictures and show immeadiatly what was going on in the preschool to
parents and others. Also they didn´t have to worry about expensive development of
photos. The children sometimes got permission to take photos and in their roleplay they
had stopped saying just smile when they were taking photos and now they said instead
smile and do you want to look. There were scanners in the preschools and they were
used to scan the childrens drawings among other things. CD-writers were used to make
copies of computerprograms and to write CD-roms with material concerning each child,
for instance photos, drawings, stories etc.. These personal CD-roms were sometimes
given to the children as memories of their stay in preschool. Microphones were used to
record stories told by the children, music they made and as mentioned before often put
into a computer slideshow. In one preschool the children were making a videofilm and
recorded sounds for that. In one preschool they had a microscope connected to a
computer. The thing they put in the microscope appeared in big scale on the
computerscreen and many children could watch it together. It is possible to take a photo
of the thing and in that way keep the image for further investigation and as a source for
artmaking later on. Also it is possible to make a short videoclip to catch for instance the
movements of a worm or an insect.
By using all kinds of tools as here have been described children learn about different kind
of technical equipment and its possibilities.
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In some of the preschools the computers that the children had acces to were connected to
the internet. In these schools children used e-mail. Children sent notes to their parents at
work telling them about what they were doing at that moment, and sometimes got a reply
right away. In the same way parents sent e-mail to the preschool telling about their work.
The teachers mentioned that this was a new form for communication and in this way
children and their parents got a glimpse of each others life when not together. Children
on holiday sometimet sent photos to the preschool or a description of activities from their
weekends. In this way the children also got a glimpse of each others life outside
preschool. Families of the children also sent Urls of interesting material and games found
on the internet to the preschool.
The computers were also used in the preschools to fetch computergames from websites
and to seek informations to use in themework. An exemple of that was when preschools
were doing themework about the raven and about crocodiles.They searched for useful
informations and pictures. In one of the preschools there was a girl born in Namibia and
there the internet was used to find informations about that country.
One of the preschools participated in a worldwide communication project called KidLink (http://www.kidlink.org). To take part the children had to answer four questions, send a
photo of themselves and drawings. The questions concerned their ideas of themselves,
their future dreams and their ideas about the world. This was the first Icelandic preschool
to participate in Kid-Link and some people doubted that so young children were capable
of it. But their answers turned out to be very thoughtful. 158 countries have participated
in this so the children got a chance to see answers from other children all over the world.
Some of the childrens drawings were chosen to be used as jig-saw puzzles in Kid-Link
along with drawings from other children. The children could point at a picture which then
broke into many pieces and they were supposed to put it together again.
The children in this preschool also took part in making an international dictionary in KidLink. Children drew a picture of a thing and wrote the name of it in their own language.
In the dictionary there are words in many different languages which the children can take
a look at.
What do children gain from using ICT in preschool?
Summary
To make children's access to using ICT more equal
The preschool children got access to software designed for children that they may not
have at home. There did not seem to be any gender difference in connection with
children's interest in using ICT. Many researches (Clements and Nastasi 1993) show that
a difference in boys and girls interest towards using computers appears later. To start
using ICT with children at a young age could promote girls to use ICT later on, on their
own premises.
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Children learn how to use ICT in diverse ways
It was obvious that by working with ICT children got to know different ways to use ICT.
They could play in computer games, write, draw, take pictures, record diverse sounds and
their own voices, put this all together and create something. Observe things in
enlargements, record sound and change it with a synthesizer. Children also got to know
how to use ICT to communicate with other people using e-mail and to gain information
on the internet.
Children communicate and help each other when using ICT
Children did not get isolated and unsocial when using ICT as many fear, on the contrary
they communicated a lot and helped each other.
Using ICT can promote children's reading and writing skills
The teachers agreed on that working with ICT with young children for example in writing
stories promoted children's reading skills. Some mentioned that programs like living
books for instance Stafakarlarnir (The letter guys) were good for promoting reading
skills. Other mentioned that today children are much better prepared for reading than ten
years ago.
ICT can give children a glimpse of other childrens live, culture and environment
Using ICT gave children an opportunity to get information, via the internet, on others
peoples lives and cultures and the environment they live in.
Reference
Clements, D.H and Nastasi, B.K. 1993. Electronic Media and Early Childhood
Education. In Spodek B. (red.) Handbook of Research on the Education of
Young Children: 251-275. New York. Macmillan Publishing Company.
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