Abstract:

The use of digital technologies and the acquisition of digital skills through education, formal or non-formal learning, is a way for each individual to find the necessary information, to evaluate and use it for their own progress and personal development. For the purposes of this paper, a survey was conducted on the opinion and satisfaction of parents on the online organization of educational work for children of early and preschool age during the coronavirus pandemic and on children's habits of using a mobile device in everyday life situations such as feeding, sleeping, hygiene and the like. The research was conducted with parents of preschool children (N = 407) in 2021, ie one year from the first experience of the educational process in the online environment. The results of the research show that parents think that children should not have more online content (60.4%) and that they should not use computers and tablets in kindergarten (73.7%). However, 82.3% of them say that they regulate their child’s time spent playing games on a mobile device. The majority of respondents to this survey, 60.4% of them, answered that they did not follow the online kindergarten activities. According to the results of this research, some parents (35.9%) think that children do not progress enough through educational work in the online kindergarten. Another part of parents (35.1%) think that children make good progress in the online environment, which shows the existence of a group of parents who understand the importance of using digital technologies in the early childhood education. The application of technology is inevitable and its presence is an integral part of children's lives in the 21st century. For this reason, the online organization of early childhood education with good preparation of content for children and in partnership with parents has advantages, but it can never and will not replace the living word of the educator.

Keywords:

Application of technology in early childhood education, pandemic, preschool children.