Browsing by Author "Kaartokallio, Satu"

Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract Children grow among digital media and its importance needs to be notified also in early education (Chaudron 2015). When young children engage with digital media, adult support and mediation in crucial to adequately balance positive and negative effects of media use (Kardefelt-Winther 2017).The motivation of this study is to research views of parents and early education professionals on children’s digital media use, its mediation and support and co-operation between home and early education environments. The three research questions were: (1) What are the views of parents and early education professionals on (1) children’s digital media use? (2) on mediation and support of children’s digital media use? (3) on collaboration between home and early year education setting? The study was conducted as an online survey in three out of ten early education districts in Helsinki, Finland in November 2019. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected in separate surveys for parents and early education professionals. Surveys were distributed through daycare unit managers to professionals and parents. The research data consists of 189 parents’ and 40 early education professionals’ answers. The quantitative analysis was conducted mainly non-parametric statistical tests. Qualitative analysis proceeded using data-oriented content analysis. The results show parents have diverse views on and attitudes towards children digital media use and that children’s media use is variable. Most children use digital media in moderation, some in considerable amount and a fraction not at all. Early education professionals see digital media use as natural part of children’s world and that parents balance well the media use of their children. Both see potential effects of digital media use on children’s self-regulation and emotional skills. Parent attitude towards digital media use by their children significantly differed by child gender, and parents of the boys had more concerns. Digital media use by adults and concern on adequate personal interaction were discerned from the results. Amount of time used on digital media and transitions from digital media use to other activities were identified as primary causes of conflict at home. Parents would like to receive more information on child-appropriate content, suitable time limits and research-based knowledge on positive and negative effects of digital media use. Early education professionals would need research-based recommendations and information on effects of media use on child development. Furthermore, they wish for clear guidelines and agreed practices for digital media use in daycare and preschool setting, as well as for digital media use -related collaboration with families. Parents had a positive view on collaboration, although experience on it was limited. Early education and preschool professionals, together with parents, would have a unique position to build moderate and many-voiced discourse on children digital media use during early years - a possibility not yet materialized to a full extent.