The children in Trollongane nursery place mats on the floor. The mats tell a small robot shaped like a car what to do. The goal is to get the car from start to finish through a suitably complicated route. – They get experience talking to robots. Which will be helpful when they later encounter coding at school, says kindergarten teacher Kristian Konstali. There will be a lot of trial and error when children learn to code. Kindergarten teacher Kristian Konstali must therefore be patient. Photo: Kristoffer Apall The children and the staff at the kindergarten in Time municipality on Jæren have over the past two years tested various digital teaching aids in connection with the PUST project (professional professional development project in Stavanger and Tromsø). The University of Tromsø (UiT) and the University of Stavanger (UiS) are behind it. One of the researchers behind the project is Professor Natalia Kucirkova at UiS. She sees that it can be difficult for nursery staff to search through the jungle of applications aimed at children. It is easy to think that an application with a high score is a safe choice. According to Natalia Kucirkova, it is not so easy. – There are thousands of so-called educational apps that do not actually have an educational design or learning-based benefits based on research, she says. Believes apps can be harmful Kucirkova sees that there are still big differences between the municipalities. She therefore believes that a national framework plan with recommendations based on research must be in place. Professor Natalia Kucirkova, from the University of Stavanger, has long researched the use of digital teaching aids in kindergartens. Photo: Kristoffer Apall – Some municipalities have developed action plans and have been using digital teaching aids for quite some time. Competence development takes place jointly, so it is important that we work together in this field, she says. For Kucirkova, it is important not to single out individual apps as good or bad. If traditional books are to be replaced with digital ones, she believes it is important that the digital book does not have distracting elements. In the worst case, it can contribute negatively to children’s learning, she believes. New for many kindergarten employees There was little talk of digital teaching aids when Kristian Konstali trained as a kindergarten teacher. Out of his own interest, he has looked at various digital solutions, including e-books. There he discovered that not everything was educational. – A few years ago I came across an app that told the story of The three goats roaring. You could make the goats fart if you pressed them. It can be fun, but then the children don’t do anything else, says Konstali. In Trollongane nursery school, they have also tested out digital teaching aids on screens. It has then been important to them that the children should not use them passively. Among other things, they have used digital microscopes when they have been outside, to learn more about plants and insects. Want to be at the forefront In the framework plan for kindergartens, it is stated that all children must gain experience with the use of technological tools in the kindergarten. In 2019, the adviser for upbringing in Time municipality was offered to participate in the development project PUST. Siri Kverneland, advisor for upbringing in Time municipality, believes it was important to test out various digital teaching aids in the kindergartens. Photo: Kristoffer Apall – When we mapped our digital practice in 2018, we saw that there were large differences in use and competence between the kindergartens. Fortunately, both Trollongane and Vestly sports kindergarten wanted to join the project, says Siri Kverneland. The municipality has now drawn up a plan for digital practice for all the kindergartens in the municipality, which will initially apply until 2025. The plan contains targets for children, awareness around the purchase of equipment, infrastructure and staff competence. Amund Junge is employed as a digital advisor in Time municipality, he does not say no thanks to more research in this field. Photo: Kristoffer Apall Time municipality wanted to be at the forefront and therefore employed several digital advisors in various fields. Amund Junge is one of those who will advise schools and kindergartens in the municipality. – The schools and kindergartens must reflect what society has adopted, and we are part of society, so we cannot sit on the sidelines and watch, says Junge. – So it is the case that once the children have finished school, they will anyway encounter something digital and it is then important that they know what is involved, he adds.
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Researcher warns against uncritical introduction of coding and apps in kindergartens – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
