Teachers' and parents' perceptions of the role of technology and digital media in developing child culture in the early years

The main purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of preschool teachers and parents on the extent to which technology and digital media (TDM) contribute toward developing child culture in Jordanian early years education. A random sample of (170) preschool teachers and (310) parents of preschoolers participated in the study; 10 teachers and 15 parents were later interviewed. In order to achieve the aims of the study, the researchers developed a 26-item questionnaire covering seven aspects that measure the goals of child culture. Results revealed that teachers and parents considered the contribution of TDM to child culture as relatively high. However, there was a disagreement on the level of child culture aspects among study participants. Moreover, results of the independent t-test showed statistical differences between teachers' and parents' perceptions of the role that TDM play in developing child culture as parents responded more positively to the contributions of TDM than teachers. Within the context of the findings of the study, implications are outlined for expanding the use of TDM in early years education.