Abstract:

The diffusion of technology in our daily lives has changed our ways of communication, socialization, play, etc. as well as the way we learn. The reflections of this transformation can also be seen in both formal and informal educational settings. A brief review of the literature reveals both successful implementations and probable problems of technology use within education. However, there is still lack of research studies regarding the use of technology in early childhood education. The literature provides two sides of a current debate on technology use. There is a multitude of researchers who strongly oppose even the idea of technology use in early childhood. They state how technology is speeding up things that a child should experience himself in due time. On the other hand, the advocates argue back that not only adults or pupils but preschoolers should also benefit from the advantages that new technologies have to offer. The current study aims to explore the effects of technology on the reading experiences of preschoolers. It is designed as a qualitative study to further explicate both the advantages and disadvantages of technology utilization. For this purpose, a group of five-year old preschoolers will be observed during their reading sessions followed by short interviews. For their reading sessions, they will be provided with multi-touch tablets and will be observed while reading an e-book by using it. The results of the study will shed light on technology’s effect on children’s reading experience and will bring new insight to the debate of technology use in early childhood education.

Keywords:

Preschoolers, early childhood education, e-book.