| Literature DB >> 36193446 |
Maria Pogiatzi1, Iro Bardoutsou1, Konstantinos Lavidas1, Vassilis Komis1.
Abstract
The time children spend with mobile devices has increased in recent years. Preschoolers' home usage of mobile devices has mainly been investigated through parents' perceptions. Listening to the children's voices can help us understand this matter more directly. Therefore, in this study, a convergent mixed methods approach was employed to help us investigate the home usage of mobile devices by young children, focusing on children's comments. The participants were 55 Greek children aged 4-6, attending two public kindergartens in Patras. Children described in detail their activities on mobile devices, through semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that the most popular activity for the children was playing digital games. The children were able to demonstrate and describe activities for educational purposes (letters, numbers, digital puzzles, documentaries, etc.) during the home usage of mobile devices. The circumstances in which they are allowed to use their mobile devices is when their parents want to keep them calm during quiet hours or in public places. Implications for introducing mobile learning activities in Greek education are discussed. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43545-022-00522-5.Entities:
Keywords: Children’s voices; Home usage of technology; Mobile devices; Mobile learning; Preschool children
Year: 2022 PMID: 36193446 PMCID: PMC9520108 DOI: 10.1007/s43545-022-00522-5
Source DB: PubMed Journal: SN Soc Sci ISSN: 2662-9283
Activities on mobile devices (N = 55)
| Frequency | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Play digital games | 46 | 83.63% |
| Watch cartoons | 41 | 74.54% |
| Draw | 10 | 18.18% |
| Take/look at pictures | 9 | 16.36% |
| Watch videos | 8 | 14.54% |
| Listen to music | 4 | 7.27% |
| Communication (message-phone calls) | 3 | 5.45% |
Digital games on mobile devices
| Digital games | Frequency | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Simulation games | 10 | 18.2% |
| Action games | 9 | 16.4% |
| Action games (platform) | 6 | 10.9% |
| Racing games | 5 | 9.1% |
| Strategy games | 5 | 9.1% |
| Racing games/action games | 1 | 1.8% |
| No digital games | 19 | 34.5% |
| Total | 55 | 100.0% |
Types of Educational use on mobile devices at home
| Frequency | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Letters/numbers | 7 | 12.7% |
| Only letters | 10 | 18.2% |
| Only numbers | 4 | 7.3% |
| Educative videos/puzzle/letters | 3 | 5.4% |
| Only puzzle | 2 | 3.6% |
| Foreign languages/create melodies | 1 | 1.8% |
| None | 28 | 50.9% |
| Total | 55 | 100.0% |
Use of mobile devices at home throughout the day
| Frequency | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Public peace hours/afternoon/night | 38 | 69.1% |
| Whenever I want | 5 | 9.1% |
| No permission | 3 | 5.5% |
| The weekends | 2 | 3.6% |
| Public places | 2 | 3.6% |
| Before school | 2 | 3.6% |
| Reward/punishment system | 2 | 3.6% |
| Restrictive use | 1 | 1.8% |
| Total | 55 | 100.0% |