Digital technology in the early years: A reflection
Keywords:
early learning, digital literacy, multimodality, digital childhoods, screen timeAbstract
This paper reflects on the tensions that exist for early years practitioners who are unsure of how to navigate digital childhoods while being confronted with contradictory information. Provincial curriculums and early learning frameworks recognize the need for children to develop digital literacy skills while the Canadian Paediatric Society recommends limiting screen time. Thus, early learning practitioners are left without best practice guidelines that would help them embed digital technology into early learning environments through pedagogies that align with play-based learning. We describe age-appropriate and playful uses of digital technology that could naturally fit in early years classrooms
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