School and Family Partnerships Around One-to-One Device Programs

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Topic - Technology, Media & Child Development

Abstract

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts in the U.S. had been quickly adopting one-to-one technology programs, often without much notice or training for teachers or parents. There is still much to learn about how best to support the integration of these new devices into the classroom. One important area to consider is the home-school connection and the role of parent-teacher communication in supporting children’s school-based technology use. Parents’ and teachers’ attitudes towards technology are highly predictive of child outcomes (Blackwell et. al., 2013; Lauricella et. al., 2015), but the interplay between them has thus far been overlooked in most studies that investigate the effects of one-to-one classroom technology for young children. This two-part, mixed-methods study sought to explore caregiver and teacher attitudes towards children's use of mobile devices for early learning, with an eye towards Epstein’s (1987) model of overlapping family and school spheres. The first study utilized a survey methodology to establish a baseline understanding of caregiver attitudes towards mobile device use at school and at home. We sampled 258 parents of kindergartners in a district that had recently initiated a program where every kindergarten student would receive an educational tablet to use in school, and eventually at home. The survey asked parents about their children’s access to technology at home, with special attention to mobile devices, as well as their own attitudes towards children using mobile devices in general as well as for educational purposes. Findings demonstrated that caregivers largely supported the new program and children’s mobile device use, yet left us wanting a more nuanced understanding of this increasingly common phenomenon. Thus, the purpose of the second study was to gain a rich understanding of parents’ and teachers’ attitudes towards their school district’s adoption of the one-to-one tablet program for kindergartners. We conducted six focus groups, three with parents of kindergartners (n=10) and three with kindergarten teachers (n=14), in order to understand how the tablets were being used at school and at home and how parents and teachers felt about this new tool. Preliminary analyses using a grounded theory approach reveal that overall, parents and teachers perceive the tablets as useful learning tools, yet overwhelmingly are concerned with a lack of communication and training for how to best support their use. The complex phenomenon of mobile device use for early learning leaves caregivers and teachers uncertain about how to best support children. Findings from this study inform recommendations for how both schools and families might foster partnerships around children’s mobile device use for early learning.

Authors

• Tracy Donohue, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author

• Fashina Alade, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author