Factors Influencing Early Childhood Educators’ Use of Digital Educational Aids: A Sequential Explanatory Study

Abstract

Kindergarten educators play a crucial role in promoting young children’s technological awareness and ensuring that they possess the necessary skills and knowledge to integrate technology effectively into their teaching practices. This study examines the factors that influence early childhood educators’ use of digital educational aids, that is, media and technology. The study employs a sequential explanatory design, which is a mixed-methods approach consisting of two phases. The first phase is quantitative, where data is collected through surveys, and the second phase is qualitative, where semi-structured interviews are conducted among a small subsample to gain a deeper understanding of the participants’ perspectives. The survey data collected from 369 early childhood educators revealed that attitudes toward the value of technology in aiding children’s learning had the strongest influence on technology use. Additionally, semi-structured interviews conducted with 62 educators found that teacher beliefs, knowledge, and attitudes, as well as access to technology and media resources, influenced the frequency and quality of technology and media use in preschool classrooms. These findings emphasize the importance of extrinsic factors including support, resources, and policies, while intrinsic factors include confidence and beliefs. Moreover, teacher attitudes toward the value of technology for learning and confidence using technology had the strongest positive effects on actual technology use.