Learning through ICT in Swedish early childhood education from a pedagogical perspective of quality.

Information and communication technology (ICT) has swept into modern society and rapidly been brought to use in various areas. Sweden has enthusiastically adopted the technology and in the process has become a world leader, in terms of numbers of computers per capita and frequency of Internet use (Next Generation Forum, 1999, 2000). Today, ICT is an integrated part of the Swedish society; most of the adult population is using it in one way or another and we dare to predict that use will increase in the next generation. ICT is everywhere around us, both in society at large and in our homes, and it influences many aspects of most children's everyday lives.

The aim of this article is to discuss how teacher education and teacher competency affect children's capabilities to learn through ICT. Our focus here is limited to the uses of computers and the Internet, although ICT has a broader definition and includes a variety of technologies.

Sweden's political leaders have set out to make the country a leading IT nation, and to ensure that all of its citizens have access to information (Ministry for Industry, Employment, and Communications, 2000). To fulfill this ambition, the government has focused on the education system. A large-scale national government scheme, IT in School (ITiS), was implemented in 1999 to guarantee that every child and teacher in school would have his or her own E-mail address and access to the Internet (Ministry of Education and Science, 2000). Since then, more than half of the teachers in Sweden (75,000), from the preschool level to adult education, are occupied with ICT competency development, with the support of specially trained ICT consultants.

The ITiS government program excluded preschool children between the ages of 1 to 5, as well as their teachers, because many preschool teachers and decision-makers question the benefits and suitability of ICT for these youngest children. It is important to clarify that preschool is the first step in the Swedish education system, which continues up to age 19 (early childhood education extends until approximately age 10). Both preschools and grade schools adhere to nationally mandated curricula that are linked by shared goals (Ministry of Education and Science, 1994/98, 1998).

The dual aims of the curriculum are to promote a child's learning and development in accordance with the overall goals and to enhance quality throughout the education system. It is also important, however, to point out that no specific methods or tools to improve education and/or enhance quality, such as ICT, are mentioned in any of the Swedish curriculum (Pramling Samuelsson, in press). From one perspective, ICT is regarded as just one tool among many in the education system.

Nevertheless, in many ways ICT has become part of children's everyday lives, even in preschool. One reason for this is that Swedish preschools and schools are under the jurisdiction of the community, and most communities have decided to include preschools when they allocate funding for computers. It is estimated that many Swedish preschools have at least one or two computers to be shared among 3 to 4 units (akin to classrooms), with some kind of technical support. Grade schools have at least one computer for each classroom. Some preschool teachers also attend programs to develop their skills. Most pedagogical software programs for young children require high-capacity computers, but many preschools still need computers and an Internet connection.

Although ICT is strongly related to learning, there is no self-evident connection between access to technology, changes in working methods, and improved learning for the children (Alexandersson, Linderoth, & Lindo, 2001). Therefore, the following questions need to be raised: What are the conditions that would allow ICT to become a tool for the kind of learning that is the goal of preschool and school curricula? Can ICT be used in preschool and beyond to create alternative scenarios, thereby making it possible for a child to discern something he otherwise would not have? How do such factors as teachers' education, competency, and pedagogical beliefs concerning ICT and younger children affect the likelihood of children becoming skillful users of ICT? And why are these technological skills important for young children to acquire?

ICT As a Tool for Learning and Knowledge Formation

Despite action undertaken by the government, Sweden is facing difficulties in overturning the trend of too few high school students electing to take technical courses or those that focus on math and science. What is interesting in this context are the results of several studies focusing on children's computer game use, which show that boys and girls play in different ways and have different preferences (Linderoth & LantzAndersson, 2002). One conclusion from these studies is that introducing these games to children early on can refute myths about technology being more appropriate for men, and can highlight the importance of selecting computer games with elements that attract girls. Therefore, an early start with computers might create a new approach towards technology on both a general and a gender level, which, over time, will influence traditional and cultural patterns.

Just as it is every child's right to become literate, he or she should have the right to become a skillful user of ICT. Children should be able to operate a computer and its functions, and experience ICT as a tool with vast possibilities for communication and information retrieval/sharing.

When considering different modes of information dissemination, the printed word can be considered as limited. It represents a linear and sequential way of thinking, in which both information and narratives build up to a conclusion. While such linear thinking may stimulate children's ability to think in logical and deductive ways (Hundeide, 1991), their creativity also needs to be challenged. ICT (including the Internet) gives children a medium in which information can be presented in both a linear and a nonlinear and associative way. Children's spontaneous thinking uses associations; ICT challenges young children to associate one thing to another in creative ways (Alexandersson & Pramling Samuelsson, 1998, p. 6).

Many computer programs for young children are developed so that the natural flow is associative and not linear. Many programs, as well as the Internet, rest on a system of links. A child can go from one link to another, forward, backward, or in any direction the child finds interesting and can associate to. In this way, thinking could become more liberated and creative since the answer to a question can vary, depending on where and from what perspective the child finds the information. Swedish children's television programs have responded to this style of thinking, shifting the emphasis from a linear view of learning to one of associations.

Teachers' Education and Views of Children and Childhood

Preschool and school activities are the product of a complex combination of teachers' formal education, competence, theoretical knowledge, practical experience, and general view of children's behavior. Teachers' pedagogical beliefs about the importance and uses of ICT for children are embedded in their views about an appropriate childhood. Unfortunately, preschool teachers have a tendency to value their own childhood experiences as being the best (Sommer, 1997). ICT can be perceived as a threat to an idealized and romantic view of childhood (Sandberg & Pramling Samuelsson, in press). ICT has not been used as a general tool within education for more than a few years, and so it is still struggling for acceptance. Most preschool teachers, except the ones who are recent graduates, have very little experience with using computers, both in their private and professional lives. This could explain some resistance towards the technology itself and a reluctance to learn it.

ICT has its own particular discourse and is embedded in concepts that could be unfamiliar to the nonuser. At the same time, it is part of the everyday language for those who use computers and E-mail in their own education and work. The acceptance of ICT also raises questions related to knowledge and values. Whether or not teachers consider the use of ICT to be positive or negative, however, it is here to stay. Therefore, teachers might not only need help learning how to use ICT, but also need to experience its advantages and unique qualities, and understand the limitations they will face if they do not learn to use it.

What Does It Take To Develop a Technology-Literate Child?

Pramling Samuelsson and Asplund Carlsson (in press) claim that a pedagogical perspective of learning should be regarded as separate from a perspective of psychology and sociology. They argue that the main focus should not be on a description of how things are, but rather on what education should contribute to a child's learning process. Incorporating this idea into a perspective of ICT means that technology should be seen in the light of how it ought to be used as a tool to promote learning, in relation to the overall goals for preschools and schools.

From a pedagogical perspective of quality, we will discuss how the process of acquiring the technology, and helping children become confident users of that technology, depends on several aspects of quality education settings, as well as on the social and cultural values and traditions in the Swedish society. Aspects of educational practice and values for learning are inseparable, influencing and constantly interacting with one another; together, they shape children's potential to become skillful users of ICT. Therefore, a school's level of pedagogical quality is the result of how those aspects are made to interact with one another in promoting a child's learning and development in the area of ICT (for further definition of pedagogical quality, see Sheridan, 2001).

Those aspects of quality can be described from three perspectives (Karrby, Sheridan, Giota, Daversjo Ogefelt, & Bjorck, in press). The structural perspective concerns the physical and material resources related to ICT. The child's perspective concerns how children experience and handle ICT, and for what uses. Several studies show that children, both in preschool and school, experience ICT as play and treat it as such (Alexandersson, Linderoth, & Lindo, 2001; Klerfelt, 2002; Klerfelt, Gustafsson, Mellgren, & Pramling Samuelsson, 1999a, 1999b, 1999c; Linderoth, 2002; Linderoth & LantzAndersson, 2002; Nielsen & Nielsen, 1998; Papert, 1998). Finally, the didactic perspective focuses on how teachers interact with the children to promote learning. Children's ICT learning is significantly affected by teachers' pedagogical awareness, education, and ability to meet each child's interests and support, stimulate, and challenge their learning, through ICT, in the direction of the overall goals (Pramling Samuelsson & Sheridan, 1999; Sheridan, 2001).

Certain conditions characterize different levels of pedagogical quality in the area of ICT. First, we would like to emphasize that one cannot separate ICT as a tool and ICT as content. These aspects are very closely linked. As Nielsen and Nielsen (1998, p. 27) say:

Focus must be on "the content of learning" and not on "the technique as such," since we know that the choice of hard- and software determines what possible learning can take place, what content the learner gets, how it is organized, and not least what are the mediated messages about the "nature" of the technology and its possible usefulness in the teaching. (Authors' translation)

A Low Level of Quality. From a Swedish perspective, the lowest level of quality related to ICT in education settings is when only one computer is made available for children to use, either individually or together, at the teacher's discretion. The computer might be situated in a special room or corner that does not attract children's attention. Typically, only a few software programs are available, with limited access. The children seldom use the computer, nor do the teachers encourage its use. Observations and studies of quality in preschools, combined with interviews with children and the teachers, confirm that such classrooms exhibit a low level of quality, even if no research into its frequency of use has been conducted (Karrby, Sheridan, Giota, Daversjo Ogefelt, & Bjorck, in press).

The first step in becoming a skillful user of ICT requires that computers and software programs be available within each classroom, that the children are allowed to explore the functions of both the general technology and specific programs, and that the teachers show them how to use and handle them. Several studies show that many teachers feel uncomfortable handling information and communication technology (Klerfelt, Gustafsson, Mellgren, & Pramling Samuelsson, 1999c), and they must dedicate significant time and effort learning basic functions when computers first are installed (Rosen, 2002). At the lower level of quality, teachers often take a controlling and instructing role--partly to ensure that all of the children have equal opportunities to use the computer (Alexandersson, Linderoth, & Lindo, 2001; Linderoth & LantzAndersson, 2002).

Many Swedish education settings have achieved only this lower level of pedagogical quality. Some teachers stop engaging themselves once the children are self-sufficient and have learned the basic ICT skills.

A Good Level of Quality. In Sweden, the market is flooded with software programs directed toward specific educational use, and designed to challenge children's creativity. Digital cameras are also being used more and more frequently for advanced digital documentation of children's learning and activities in preschools and schools (for digital documentation, see Forskolan Persgard, 2002). The most-used programs in Swedish preschools and schools are so-called prefabricated pedagogical programs, in which children are supposed to learn specific knowledge or develop certain skills and abilities, such as a mathematical understanding or the function of different ecosystems. Multimedia programs, which allow children to express and create their own experiences in text, sound, and pictures, are mostly used in combination with various research and/or development projects such as IT in School (ITiS) (Ministry of Education and Science, 2000) and Creative Computing (Klerfelt, 2002; Klerfelt, Gustafsson, Mellgren, & Pramling Samuelsson, 1998, 1999a, 1999b).

Many educators are reluctant to include computer games in the classroom, regarding them with skepticism (Klerfelt, Gustafsson, Mellgren, & Pramling Samuelsson, 1998,1999a, 1999b). We, however, strongly recommend using computer games as part of education. While playing these games, a child cannot help but learn different skills and knowledge within a broad area, even if learning becomes secondary to the aim of completing the task (Linderoth, 2002). In their modern fashion, games represent the old activity of play; as an educational tool, they heighten children's motivation while enhancing their capacity to understand and critically analyze systems, cause and effect, ecosystems, scientific and economic phenomena, human needs, and various models of society. They also provide training in skills such as driving a car, making decisions, and learning to cooperate, while offering insight into the unknown, the past, and the future through virtual worlds (Linderoth, 2001).

At a good level of quality, children communicate, discuss strategies, solve problems, and have fun together while they use both games and educational programs. The children's behavior demonstrates that they find their computer use to be meaningful. Children at these ages are concerned about fairness and so take turns using the computer, following the clock very carefully to make sure that each child gets his or her time at the keyboard. They often stand in line to use the computer, and many of the children ask the teacher if they can play with it, What is significant and interesting is that they talk about the content as if it were games. The children know that one either cooperates or competes, depending on what kind of game it is. Sitting together in front of a computer, children behave as they do in play--they help each other, negotiate, support, plan together, etc. Children as young as 5 and 6 years old (sometimes even younger) cooperate, collaborate, and tutor each other while using the computer. Such patterns of behavior seem natural with the computer, although they are much more limited when children solve problems with paper and pencil (Alexandersson et al., 2001). Children also develop different strategies while learning to handle the computer and/or different programs. They ask friends, experiment, guess, move the mouse aimlessly, use help functions, and explore by themselves or together with friends (Alexandersson et al., 2001).

Studies show that different factors steer children's own creative production of games, such as their experience with the technology, literature, media, actual conditions, and available resources, including the program's possibilities and limitations for producing the game. In the process of producing the game, very young children learn to handle various computer programs and even programs that are designed for grownups, like Photoshop. Children's previous experiences also are influential if the child's attention is drawn to the task or towards the structure of the game, which means that children can be using a program without reaching an understanding of its content (Alexandersson et al., 2001). To learn specific content by using games requires different aspects of the game be experienced as representations of phenomenon and not as objects of their own; here, the role of the teacher becomes crucial. The teachers' interaction and guidance is critical if a child is to transfer gained knowledge to real problems, systems, and phenomena.

Most Swedish preschool teachers have an academic education, which focuses on children's development and learning from theoretical and practical perspectives. During their education and in their practical work, most teachers develop a deep knowledge of how children learn, but have little experience of how the ICT technology is or can be related to children's learning. ICT fits into established theory, however. For example, according to education theories, it is better for the child to use more senses while learning. ICT makes it possible to communicate with the written word by itself and/or combined with sounds and illustrations.

At this level, the teacher encourages children to send E-mail, to use the Internet for information searches, and to write and illustrate their own stories on the computer. Several studies show that interaction and guidance from the teacher is critical for helping young children create technically advanced stories that are animated and incorporate sound (Klerfelt, 2002; Klerfelt et al., 1999b). However, experience from the ITiS project and other studies show that instead of recording the voices of children while documenting their pictures or drawings, teachers more often write what the child says and scan the text (Klerfelt et al., 1999b).

It is also the teacher's responsibility to create possibilities for children to use computers, both by themselves and together with peers. Children have a need to express their experiences and must be able to do so, using computers to communicate with both adults and their peers. Cooperation and learning together with peers stimulate both dialogue and reflection, and collaboration between children stimulates exploration and experimentation (Damon & Phelps, 1989). It is also important for a child to be able to make his or her own reflections, interpretations, and judgments. During all of these activities, teachers must engage themselves to make sure that children put words to their own learning processes and develop an ability to express what they see, hear, and feel (Alexandersson & Pramling Samuelsson, 1998).

Many Swedish preschools have reached this good level of quality. Still, at this level the computer is not an integrated part of other activities in preschool, and its uses can be described as learning by doing various activities with the computer, compared to learning through the computer (Alexandersson et al., 2001).

A High Level of Quality. To be truly skillful users of ICT, children must develop a critical attitude and an ability to evaluate programs and the information presented through them. From a Swedish perspective, a very high level of quality would represent children using computers and ICT equipment throughout the day as a multifunctional tool that is integrated with other activities and themes.

At a high level of quality, the children learn through the computer and from each other while using a variety of programs or creating their own. They explore new topics, are creative in their search for information on Web sites, ask questions, and express their reflections and feelings. With help from the teachers, they learn to discern between what is realistic and what is impossible in the real world, yet possible in the virtual world (Alexandersson et al., 2001). The children focus on understanding various phenomena as well as controlling and mastering functions of different programs.

At this high level of quality, teachers interact with and guide the children. They create possibilities in which ICT can be used to support children in developing new experiences and to expand their understanding of the world. The teacher starts by reviewing what is known to the children; he or she moves on to the unknown by directing the children's attention towards a variety of images and relating them to real situations and phenomena, and then encouraging them to reflect about unique characteristics, patterns, similarities, etc.

The most important goal for the teacher is to help children experience the technology as a communication and information tool with vast possibilities--to give children the motivation to explore and create to the edge of their and the technology's limits, thereby helping children become good communicators, information seekers, and evaluators of content. To make ICT part of children's daily life in such ways is a complex process that requires teachers to have a positive attitude towards ICT. Teachers must have knowledge of the technology and of how children learn, as well as an understanding of how ICT can be used in a child's learning process. Teachers also must be able to integrate ICT creatively with all those activities and contents traditionally found in preschool and school.

At this time, such a level of pedagogical quality related to ICT is seldom reached within Swedish preschools and schools for younger children.

Conclusions

From a Swedish pedagogical perspective of quality, ICT should be regarded primarily as a tool--one that can be used in many ways and for different purposes. A computer should extend children's understanding of various phenomena and experiences, as well as provide enjoyment in itself. What is significant from a Swedish perspective is that ICT should constitute one aspect of a rich and diverse early childhood educational program, no more and no less than all other existing activities. It is also critical that ICT be integrated in everyday activities and not be considered something separate. ICT already is part of most children's daily worlds, and will continue to be so in the future. To be able to master ICT early in life is not only a question of necessity, but also of democracy, rights, and equality; that is, there must be equal access for all children, irrespective of backgrounds and gender.

How the context and culture of educational settings relate to ICT will determine children's potential to learn through ICT. Several studies show that in preschool, computers are used in the same way as other, already existing equipment and activities (Klerfelt et al., 1999c). In a preschool or school of high quality, a computer becomes yet another resource, while in low-quality educational settings it is seldom used. Therefore, the influence of a computer does not incite change, but rather confirms prevalent structures in current activities (Klerfelt, p. 13). For changes to occur, professional development that focuses on teachers' general views of knowledge and learning, as well as on the functions and benefits of ICT, is critical.

For children to become skillful users of ICT, several aspects and conditions also are required. The availability and location of computers greatly influence how they are used and how well they are integrated with other activities. Each preschool and school must have its own computers and a diversity of software programs, including educational, informational, open-scale programs, and game programs. Children must be able to use both games and teaching programs in a playful and informal way. Games should be regarded as teaching programs, as they foster many skills, including hand-eye coordination, decision-making, reading, writing, comprehension, and discerning differences and similarities. The staff-child ratio is another important aspect of quality, as it affects how teachers participate and engage with the computer and interact with the children.

The most important aspects from a pedagogical perspective of ICT quality are teachers' competence in guiding children's learning through ICT and their attitudes toward it in preschool and school. Learning through ICT requires knowledge of its unique qualities in combination with an ability to direct children's attention towards both content and form. Developmentally Appropriate Technology for Early Childhood (DATEC, 2002), partly funded by the European Union under the DGXXII CONNECT program, can be of assistance in this process for teachers (www.ioe.ac.uk/cdl/DATEC). DATEC is a European network that identifies good practices and gives curriculum guidance as well as guidance for practitioners on appropriate technology education in early childhood.

If early childhood educators can develop an interest in technology, the skills to use it, and an attitude for seeing the possibilities in it (i.e., to use their imagination and creativity), then preschool and school will come a long way towards encouraging technology-literate children--children who can use ICT for making sense of the world around them.

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Sonja Sheridan is Ph.D., and Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson is Professor, Department of Education, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.