Top

Education and Information Technologies

Published in:

06-08-2021

Mobile technology usage in early childhood: Pre-COVID-19 and the national lockdown period in North Cyprus

Authors: Nihan Koran, Bengü Berkmen, Ahmet Adalıer

Published in: Education and Information Technologies | Issue 1/2022

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

COVID-19 has affected North Cyprus since the beginning of March 2020. On March 10^th 2020, the council of ministers in North Cyprus announced a lockdown and listed some restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus; schools and entertainment centres were closed, and children had to spend most of their day at home. This study aims to examine the use of mobile technology before and during the COVID-19 lockdown period by children aged three to six, based on parents' opinions. This is a descriptive study with a sample of 319 parents. Data and demographic information were collected with a questionnaire and analysed with SPSS (24.0). Comparing the duration of mobile technology device usage before the pandemic and during the lockdown period, an increase is evident, as expected. Of note, when compared to the pre-pandemic period, it is found that there is a decrease in the rate of mobile technology device usage for video viewing during the lockdown period. The findings also suggest that children mostly first experienced mobile technology devices in some way before 36 months of age. This study has determined that most children do not have their own mobile technology device.

previous article Transitioning to online learning in higher education: Influence of Awareness of COVID-19 and Self-Efficacy on Perceived Net Benefits and Intention

next article Remote learning during COVID-19: cognitive appraisals and perceptions of english medium of instruction (EMI) students

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Abdelmoula, M., Chakroun, W., & Akrout, F. (2015). The effect of sample size and the number of items on reliability coefficients: Alpha and rhô: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Numerical Methods and Applications, 13(1), 1–20.CrossRef

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2016). Council on communications and media. Media and Young Minds. Pediatrics., 138(5), e20162591. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2591CrossRef

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2019). Digital guidelines: Promoting healthy technology use for children. https://www.apa.org/topics/healthy-technology-use-children

Anderson, D. R., & Subrahmanyam, K. (2017). Digital screen media and cognitive development. Pediatrics, 140(Supplement 2), S57–S61.CrossRef

Ateş, M. & Durmuşoğlu Saltalı, N. (2019). KKTC’de Yaşayan 5-6 Yaş Çocukların Tablet ve Cep Telefonu Kullanımına İlişkin Ebeveyn Görüşlerinin İncelenmesi . Gazi Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi, 5(1), 62–90 . Retrieved from https://www.dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/gebd/issue/44078/502705

Benedetto, L., & Ingrassia, M. (2020). Digital parenting: Raising and protecting children in media world. In Parenting. IntechOpen.

Bentley, G. F., Turner, K. M., & Jago, R. (2016). Mothers’ views of their preschool child’s screen- viewing behavior: A qualitative study. BMC Public Health, 16(1), 1–11.CrossRef

Blackwell, C. K., Lauricella, A. R., & Wartella, E. (2014). Factors influencing digital technology use in early childhood education. Computers & Education, 77, 82–90.CrossRef

Blankson, A. N., O’Brien, M., Leerkes, E. M., Calkins, S. D., & Marcovitch, S. (2015). Do hours spent viewing television at ages 3 and 4 predict vocabulary and executive functioning at age 5? Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 61(2), 264–289.CrossRef

Bonett, D. G. (2002). Sample size requirements for testing and estimating coefficient alpha. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 27(4), 335–340. https://doi.org/10.3102/10769986027004335CrossRef

Bracken, C. J. (2015). Using technology as a social tool in preschool: Matching philosophy with application. Voices of Practitioners, 10(2), 7–23.

Bruce, B. C., & Casey, L. (2012). The practice of inquiry: A pedagogical ‘sweet spot ‘for digital literacy? Computers in the Schools, 29(1–2), 191–206.CrossRef

Burris, J. (2019). Syncing with families: Using technology in early childhood programs. American Journal of Education and Learning, 4(2), 302–313.CrossRef

Büyüköztürk, Ş., Kılıç Çakmak, E., Erkan Akgün, Ö., Karadeniz, Ş., & Demirel, F. (2017). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri. [Scientific Research Methods]. https://doi.org/10.14527/9789944919289

Charter, R. A. (2003). Study samples are too small to produce sufficiently precise reliability coefficients. The Journal of General Psychology, 130(2), 117–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221300309601280CrossRef

Common Sense Cencus (2017). Media Use by Kids Age Zero to Eight. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/research/csm_zerotoeight_fullreport_release_2.pdf

Conference on Technology and Innovation in Learning, Teaching and Education (pp. 444–457). Springer, Cham.

Courage, M. L., & Setliff, A. E. (2010). When babies watch television: Attention-getting, attention-holding, and the implications for learning from video material. Developmental Review, 30(2), 220–238.CrossRef

Cyprus Turkish Teachers Union (2020). 2020 Temel eğitim sistemine bakış: pandemi öncesi, sırası sonrasına ilişkin analiz [A look at the basic education system: pre-pandemic, post-pandemic analysis]. http://ktos.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/KT%C3%96S-Temel-E%C4%9Fitim-Sistemine Bak%C4%B1%C5%9F-2020.pdf

Danovitch, J. H. (2019). Growing up with Google: How children’s understanding and use of internet- based devices relates to cognitive development. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 1(2), 81–90.CrossRef

Davies, R. S. (2011). Understanding technology literacy: A framework for evaluating educational technology integration. TechTrends, 55(5), 45.CrossRef

Dong, C., Cao, S., & Li, H. (2020). Young children’s online learning during COVID-19 pandemic: Chinese parents’ beliefs and attitudes. Children and Youth Services Review, 118, 105440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105440CrossRef

Dore, R. A., & Zimmermann, L. (2020). Coviewing, scaffolding, and children’s media comprehension. The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119011071.iemp0233CrossRef

Duhachek, A., Coughlan, A., & Iacobucci, D. (2005). Results on the standard error of the coefficient alpha index of reliability. Marketing Science, 24(2), 294–301. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40056958

Epstein, A. S. (2015). Using technology appropriately in the preschool classroom. Exchange Focus, 28(1), 1–19.

Eser, B. (2016). Kuzey Kıbrıs’ta ailede çocuğun değerinin aile yapıları açısından İncelenmesi. [Examination of the value of the child in the context of family structures in North Cyprus] (Publication No. 151832069) [Master’s dissertation, Eastern Mediterranean University].

Eyimaya, A. O., & Irmak, A. Y. (2020). Relationship between parenting practices and children’s screen time during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Turkey. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 56, 24–29.CrossRef

Genç, Z. (2014). Parents perceptions about the mobile technology use of preschool aged children. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 146, 55–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.08.086CrossRef

Gralczyk, A. (2019). Smartphone and Tablet in the Everyday Life of Preschool Children. Impact and Educational Options in the Opinion of Parents and Teachers of Kindergarten. Social Communication. Online Journal, (2 (20)), 85–102.

Helms, J. E., Henze, T. K., Sass, T. L., & Mifsud, V. A. (2006). Treating Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients as data in counseling research. The Counseling Psychologist, 34(5), 630–660.CrossRef

Hingle, M., & Kunkel, D. (2012). Childhood obesity and the media. Pediatric Clinics, 59(3), 677–692.

Hosokawa, R., & Katsura, T. (2018). Association between mobile technology use and child adjustment in early elementary school age. PloS one, 13(7). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199959

IBM (2021). Mobile technology: Communicate, collaborate and create using mobile devices. https://www.ibm.com/topics/mobile-technology

International Technology Education Association [ITEA]) (2007). Standards for Technological Literacy. https://www.iteea.org/File.aspx?id=67767

James, C., Weinstein, E., & Mendoza, K. (2019). Teaching digital citizens in today’s world: Research and insights behind the Common Sense K–12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum. Common Sense Media.

Judge, S., Floyd, K., & Jeffs, T. (2015). Using mobile media devices and apps to promote young children’s learning. In Young children and families in the information age, 117–131.

Karasar, N. (2005). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri [Scientific research methods]. Nobel Publishing.

Kumar, B. A., & Mohite, P. (2018). Usability of mobile learning applications: A systematic literatüre review. Journal of Computers in Education, 5(1), 1–17.CrossRef

Lans, W., & Van Der Voordt, T. (2002). Ways to study descriptive research. DUP Science, 53–60.

Lee, S. J. (2013). Parental restrictive mediation of children’s internet use: Effective for what and for whom? New Media & Society, 15(4), 466–481.CrossRef

Lee, S. J., & Chae, Y. G. (2012). Balancing participation and risks in children’s internet use: The role of internet literacy and parental mediation. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(5), 257–262.CrossRef

Lerner, C., & Barr, R. (2014). Screen Sense: Setting the Record Straight; Research-Based Guidelines for Screen Use for Children Under 3 Years Old. Zero to Three, 35(4), 1–10.

Livingstone, S., & Helsper, E. J. (2008). Parental mediation of children’s internet use. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 52(4), 581–599.CrossRef

Livingstone, S., Mascheroni, G., Dreier, M., Chaudron, S., & Lagae, K. (2015). How parents of young children manage digital devices at home: The role of income, education and parental style. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/63378/1/__lse.ac.uk_storage_LIBRARY_Secondary_libfile_shared_repository_Content_EU%20Kids%20Online_EU_Kids_Online_How%20parents%20manage%20digital%20devices_2016.pdf

Livingstone, S., Ólafsson, K., Helsper, E. J., Lupiáñez-Villanueva, F., Veltri, G. A., & Folkvord, F. (2017). Maximizing opportunities and minimizing risks for children online: The role of digital skills in emerging strategies of parental mediation. Journal of Communication, 67(1), 82–105.CrossRef

Masataka, N. (2014). Development of reading ability is facilitated by intensive exposure to a digital children’s picture book. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 396.CrossRef

McCarthy, E., Tiu, M., & Li, L. (2018). Learning math with curious George and the odd squad: Transmedia in the classroom. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 23(2), 223–246.CrossRef

McManis, L. D., & Gunnewig, S. B. (2012). Finding the education in educational technology with early learners. Young Children, 67(3), 14–24.

Mendoza, J. A., Zimmerman, F. J., & Christakis, D. A. (2007). Television viewing, computer use, obesity, and adiposity in US preschool children. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 4(1), 44.CrossRef

Miller, T. (2018). Developing numeracy skills using interactive technology in a play-based learning environment. International Journal of STEM Education, 5(1), 1–11.CrossRef

Mustafaoğlu, R., Zirek, E., Yasacı, Z., & Özdinçler, A. R. (2018). The negative effects of digital technology usage on children’s development and health. Addicta: The Turkish Journal on Addictions, 5(2), 13–21.

NAEYC. (2017). Technology and Interactive Media in Early Childhood Programs: What We’ve Learned from Five Years of Research, Policy, and Practice.https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/sep2017/technology-and-interactive-media

Napier, C. (2014). How use of screen media affects the emotional development of infants. Primary Health Care, 24(2).

Neumann, M. M. (2014). An examination of touch screen tablets and emergent literacy in Australian pre-school children. Australian Journal of Education, 58(2), 109–122. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004944114523368CrossRef

Nikolopoulou, K. (2018). Mobile technologies and early childhood education. International

National Association for the Education of Young Children (2012). Technology and interactive media as tools in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Spotlight on young children and technology, 61-70. https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/position-statements/ps_technology.pdf

Nikolopoulou, K. (2021). Mobile devices in early childhood education: Teachers’ views on benefits and barriers. Educ Inf Technol, 26, 3279–3292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10400-3MathSciNetCrossRef

Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd Edt.), McGraw Hill.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2019). What Do We Know About Children and Technology? https://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/Booklet-21st-century-children.pdf

OECD (2017). PISA 2015 Results (Volume III): Students’ Well-being, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264273856-en

OFCOM (2019). Children and parents: Media use and attitudes report 2019. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/data/assets/pdf_file/0023/190616/children-media-use-attitudes-2019-report.pdf

Oliemat, E., Ihmeideh, F., & Alkhawaldeh, M. (2018). The use of touch-screen tablets in early childhood: Children’s knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards tablet technology. Children and Youth Services Review, 88, 591–597.CrossRef

Papadakis, S., Zaranis, N., & Kalogiannakis, M. (2019). Parental involvement and attitudes towards young Greek children’s mobile usage. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 22, 100144.

Plowman, L., & McPake, J. (2013). Seven myths about young children and technology. Childhood Education, 89(1), 27–33.CrossRef

Quesenberry, A. C., Mustian, A. L., & Clark-Bischke, C. (2016). Tuning in: Strategies for incorporating technology into social skills instruction in preschool and kindergarten. Young Children, 71(1), 74–80.

Radesky, J. S., Schumacher, J., & Zuckerman, B. (2015). Mobile and interactive media use by young children: The good, the bad, and the unknown. Pediatrics, 135(1), 1–3.CrossRef

Radesky, J. S., Weeks, H. M., Ball, R., Schaller, A., Yeo, S., Durnez, Tamayo-Rios, M., Epstein, M., Kirkorian, H., Coyne, S., & Barr, R. (2020). Young children’s use of smartphones and tablets. Pediatrics.146 (1). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-3518

Ralph, R. (2018). Media and technology in preschool classrooms: Manifesting prosocial sharing behaviors when using iPads. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 23(2), 199–221.CrossRef

Rashid, A., Zeb, M. A., Rashid, A., et al. (2020). Conceptualization of smartphone usage and feature preferences among various demographics. Cluster Computing, 23, 1855–1873. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10586-020-03061-xCrossRef

Silverstone, S., & Teatum, J. (2011). Technology: The Problem or the Solution to Childhood Obesity. American Journal of Business Education, 4(1), 37–60.

Smahelova, M., Juhová, D., Cermak, I., & Smahel, D. (2017). Mediation of young children’s digital technology use: The parents’ perspective. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 11(3).

Sönmez, V., & Alacapınar, F. G. (2014). [Scientific research methods] (3rd Ed.). Anı Yayıncılık. [In Turkish].

Strouse, G. A., O’Doherty, K., & Troseth, G. L. (2013). Effective coviewing: Pre-schoolers’ learning from video after a dialogic questioning intervention. Developmental Psychology, 49(12), 2368–2382. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032463CrossRef

Strouse, G. A., Troseth, G. L., O’Doherty, K. D., & Saylor, M. M. (2018). Co-viewing supports toddlers’ word learning from contingent and noncontingent video. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 166, 310–326.CrossRef

Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2012). Using multivariate statistics. Harper and Row. https://doi.org/10.1037/022267CrossRef

The American Academy of Pediatrics (2010). Policy Statement—Media Education. https://www.pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/early/2010/09/27/peds.2010-1636.full.pdf

Tran, P., & Subrahmanyam, K. (2013). Evidence-based guidelines for the informal use of computers by children to promote the development of academic, cognitive and social skills. Ergonomics, 56(9), 1349–1362.CrossRef

TRNC Ministry of National Education and Culture (n.d.). General structure of the national education system. http://www.mebnet.net/?q=node/35

TRNC Ministry of National Education and Culture (2020). 2019–2020 Statistical yearbook. http://eohd.mebnet.net/sites/default/files/2019-2020%20MEKB%20IstatistikYilligi.pdf

UK Council for Child Internet Safety. (2017). Children’s online activities, risks and safety: A literature review by the UKCCIS Evidence Group. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/759005/Literature_Review_Final_October_2017.pdf

Van den Heuvel, M., Ma, J., Borkhoff, C. M., Koroshegyi, C., Dai, D. W., Parkin, P. C., ... & Birken, C. S. (2019). Mobile media device use is associated with expressive language delay in 18-month-old children. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 40(2), 99

Yaratan, H. (2017). [Statistics for social sciences: SPSS applied] (1st Ed.). Anı Yayıncılık. [In Turkish].

Willoughby, D., Evans, M. A., & Nowak, S. (2015). Do ABC eBooks boost engagement and learning in preschoolers? An experimental study comparing eBooks with paper ABC and storybook controls. Computers & Education, 82, 107–117.CrossRef

World Health Organization. (2019). Guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep for children under 5 years of age. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/311664. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO

Zoomer, R. N., & Kay, H. R. (2016). Technology use in early childhood education: A review of literature. Journal of Educational Informatics., 1, 1–25.

Title: Mobile technology usage in early childhood: Pre-COVID-19 and the national lockdown period in North Cyprus
Authors: Nihan Koran
Bengü Berkmen
Ahmet Adalıer
Publication date: 06-08-2021
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Education and Information Technologies / Issue 1/2022
Print ISSN: 1360-2357
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7608
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10658-1

Springer Professional

Abstract

Please log in to get access to your license.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Springer Professional "Technik"

Other articles of this Issue 1/2022

Investigating students’ E-Learning attitudes in times of crisis (COVID-19 pandemic)

The strengths and weaknesses of user-generated microgames for assisting learning

Underlying the triple burden effects on women educationists due to COVID-19

The effect of the e-mentoring-based education program on professional development of preschool teachers

Evaluating the effects of responsive design on the usability of academic websites in the pandemic

Remote emergency learning during COVID-19 and its impact on university students perception of blended learning in KSA

Premium Partner