Empowering Future Generations: Harnessing Technology in Early Childhood Education

Introduction

In today’s information society, with the widespread use of technology, the changes that are taking place in the adult community have changed the social status of society as a whole, and the attitude of adults towards the child and its education, which is why the procedures of pedagogical and social action, based on a certain system of pedagogical ideas, methods and techniques, are becoming particularly important today. Today’s children are special and self-confident. They want to seek out interesting information, see, hear, act, create, discover, explore, solve problems, find out the reasons for them, believing in themselves and their solutions.

Today’s children have been born and live in a world of technology that they cannot imagine, so our ambition as educators is to grow with the new generation, to educate them in a way that they understand and accept.

Research shows that early childhood education experiences have positive short- and long-term effects on children’s learning and development. Digital technologies and the development of computational thinking in younger children create learning environments in which children can “play to learn by playing”. Therefore, we use tablets with different applications (Scratch Quier, Anima, 4d, Ocean 4d, etc.) in the children’s education.

Photography, animation, digital drawing, combining photography and drawing, augmented reality – these are all realities that modern digital technologies enable children to “play”: to create, combine and represent objects and images from the real and virtual world. The play of realities is presented in activities that encourage learning how to use digital technologies and how they work – to learn the basics of programming, to acquire the fundamentals of computational thinking and to develop imagination. The activities allow children to learn about the environment, artistic expression, spoken language, attention, imagination, etc.

For children with special needs, the apps on the tablets add variety to their activities, help them to be interested, keep their attention and consolidate their knowledge. The variety of apps allows every child to experience the joy of discovery and success. Good emotions and the freedom to act and create are key to successful learning and discovery.

Teachers, assistant teachers and educational support professionals who implement the content must be able to respond to children’s needs and thus arouse their curiosity, inquisitiveness and motivation through digital and experiential education. Smart technologies are an excellent tool for individualising and differentiating education. In meeting the challenges of modern education, it is essential for the teacher to be innovative, free, playful, motivated, creative, visionary, and not only to unleash the child’s emotional intelligence, but also to help them learn to control their emotions.