Do screens have a place in childcare?

Digital media such as smartphones and tablets have crept into nearly every aspect of our lives. Even very young children know their way around apps and videos from an early age. But many parents and educational professionals worry about the effect and have questions about this. So what works? And how should you approach this? What is too much? There are lots of interesting tips and tricks on media literacy websites. Unfortunately, they sometimes also clash with practical constraints in a household or nursery. The Pedagogy in Practice research centre conducted research into this.

A nursery, in the evening. Most of the children have already been picked up by their parents. The child carer who has stayed behind is neatening up and cleaning. The remaining children are watching an episode of Bumba (ed: a Flemish TV programme).
Observation of a support worker

Digital media as a welcome distraction

Many parents keep an eye on their children when they use digital media. They set screen time, stay with their children, configure security settings, or check apps and videos. The devices also sometimes provide a welcome distraction at difficult times, while waiting, for example, not just at home but also in care settings. Sometimes you have the time and space to focus on media education, and sometimes you don’t.  

We were on holiday and the children had their tablets with them. Obviously, they spent a lot more time on their tablet than I would have wanted. But we were on holiday. I just didn't feel like arguing about it all the time.
Testimony of a researcher

Research into digitalisation in care

These were sufficient reasons to launch a study. As part of the DIGIPED study, we started by mapping the place of digital media in the care of children aged 0 to 6. We used a photo journal in eight nurseries and a questionnaire for this. We are currently also investigating with childcare workers what would be a viable digital pedagogy in early childhood care in a research lab.

Digital media are widespread in childcare

Initial research findings indicate that childcare workers think poorly of digital media for young children. In fact, the majority believe digital media have no place in childcare. The journals tell us, however, that there are a lot of digital media in childcare settings.

As researchers, we don’t really know what to make of it. Digital media have crept into our lives and those of our children. We deal with them as best we can. We often grumble about our own children's screen time. But the more we read about it and see real-life examples, the more fascinating we find our line of research. To be continued.

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