Curriculum in kindergarten? : Literacy learning and use of ICT with small children

Research aims: Mapping of (i) the status of the “kindergarten curriculum” in the participating countries in terms of policies, attitudes and practice in the area of early literacy learning, and the use of ICT to this end; (ii) the job competence of the pedagogical staff in kindergartens in the above regards.Relationship to previous research works: Relevant research from all five participating countries has contributed to building of the survey. For example studies on children’s play with and exploration of digital tools (digital photos, tablet PC) (Bølgan, 2009b; Jernes, Alvestad, &amp; Sinnerud, 2010; Knudsen &amp; Eriksen Ødegaard, 2011), on use of and access to digital tools (Bølgan, 2009), on children’s activity with a PC (DIGOB - Engelsen, Jernes, Kvinge, Vangsnes,&amp; Økland, 2012), and on how to integrate digital tools in a play-based curriculum in kindergartens (Siraj-Blatchford, 2006) and on how children use social media and tablet pc (Kamp, 2013).Theoretical and conceptual framework: The work builds on a social-constructivist and socio-cultural theories on learning.Paradigm, methodology and methods: The study is based on an electronic survey, carried out in April 2013 in all countries participating in CHILDICT. A convenience sample was used.Ethical considerations: None.Main finding or discussion: The findings from the survey are not yet available. They will be compared across the participating countries. The discussion will be based on reflections from each country.Implications, practice or policy: To Teacher Training Institutions, local authorities, kindergartens, and further research.</p