Are the Greek Preschool teachers able to use distance learning technologies? Jenny Pange(1) •, Alexandros Leontitsis(1)(2), Efi Siogka(1) (1)
(2)
Department of Education, University of Ioannina, 45110 – Dourouti, Ioannina Greece Center of Research and Applications of Non linear Systems, University of Patras, 26500 – Rio, Patras, Greece •
Contact author. E-mail:
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Abstract-This study shows the attitude of the Greek Preschool teachers towards the New Technologies and distance learning technologies, as they become more and more important to the Kindergartens. It shows that the teachers of our sample were partly informed and partly familiar with the New Technologies. In contrast, those who were involved in distance learning are not only very familiar, but also they are willing to use the New Technologies in their classrooms. Collaboration and communication through the internet is also boosted by the teachers who are familiar with the New Technologies. Our sample consisted of 100 subjects, all of them women between 26-50 years old, graduates of Preschool education Departments.
I. INTRODUCTION The Preschool teachers, along with their teaching role, transmit their experiences to the children, and they help the flow of the kindergartens’ life. They also need to be aware of their cultural environment. The today’s needs for training in the New Technologies (NT) are obvious. Therefore, the Preschool teachers should be adaptive and experienced about the advancements of the NT. Their aim should be twofold: first, they have to educate their selves, and second to pass this knowledge to the children. The way the teachers accept and teach technology is very important to young children. New Technologies provide new opportunities to the teaching and learning process. Researchers have stressed the gains and the obstacles of the use of technology in education. They all agree that technology is a useful tool in the teaching process when it is not misused [12,6]. As preschool educators become active participants in the technological world, they need training and support to find ways to incorporate technology both into their knowledge background and into their classrooms. So, education on NT to preschool teachers is an important factor of applying technology to children’s classroom. The aim of this study is to present our experiences about the Greek Preschool teachers and the use of the NT. More specifically, we investigate whether the preschool teachers are familiar with the NT and then whether they are offered to use the NT for their selves (e.g. distance learning), for their classrooms, and their attitude towards the NT.
II. MATERIALS, METHOD, AND RESULTS A recent research on 100 Preschool teachers about the NT is presented. We asked 100 subjects, all of them were women aged between 26 and 50 years. All teachers had completed (at least) a two-year course in Preschool education, and all worked as teachers in Greek kindergartens. Most of the teachers (68%) had already used a computer. Most of them used the computer for work (50%), while the rest of them used it for recreation (34%) and information gathering (16%) (Fig.1). It also turns out that most of them have not used a computer for more than a year (45%).
Work Recreation Information gathering No computer
Fig. 1. Use of New Technologies by the Greek Preschool teachers.
About half of the teachers (54%) were informed about the NT. The main sources of information seem to be the internet (34%), and the teaching activities concerning Video (30%) and CD-ROMs (28%). Finally, teachers who were partly or fully involved to distance learning (26%) were well informed about the NT (Fig.2). The rest of the teachers who were not informed about the NT (46%) were willing to learn about them. Distance learning can be considered as a new part of NT. Most subjects of our sample (64%) answer that they are partly or fully familiar with it, while for the rest of them (36%) was a completely new term. Although almost all of them (95%) wish
to have an experience related to the distance learning, their attitude towards the distance learning is not positive for all of them. More precisely positive attitude shows the 75%, neutral stance the 24% and negative stance only the 1%. Internet Video CD-ROMs No information
Fig. 2. Sources of information for the New Technologies of the Greek Preschool teachers.
The main source to retrieve information related to the distance learning is the University (49%). Other sources of information, with almost equal weight, are the seminars (29%), the magazines (25%), the TV (21%) and the books (17%) (Fig.3). University Seminars Magazines TV Books
III. DISCUSSION The main problem the Preschool teachers face is the familiarity with the computers and the NT. Most of them learn about computers only when they are University students, and no more. But reality shows that the technology evolves too fast and needs a life long interest for achieving a good level of familiarity. The home computers can help on this problem, but the teachers have to afford to buy a computer and to show the appropriate interest. Another problem they have with the computers is the linguistic one. Some teachers did not know English very well and others know other foreign languages rather than English. So, they have to learn at least the basic English terminology, before they learn to use the computers and the Internet. Hence, a great need of reforming the educational system emerges, stating by the change of the Preschool teacher’s beliefs and confidence regarding the NT [4-5]. According to Ref. [3], a well-formed education on NT to teachers, during their undergraduate studies, can be proved important for their later use of technology in their classrooms. Technology can be proved for these teachers a powerful tool for communication and collaboration among them and also a useful tool for teaching preschool children. Moreover telecommunications and Internet enable preschool teachers to obtain information about children in kindergartens from all over the world and interacted with distant experts and peers. In practice only few of them are eager to take advantage of those extended possibilities. We can conclude that technology is a powerful tool for professional development. The Preschool teachers are willing to follow having the appropriate guidance. They have a positive attitude, in general terms, and most of them are partly familiar with the NT. References [1] [2] [3]
[4] Fig. 3. Sources of information about distance learning by the Greek Preschool teachers.
Finally, the 97% of the sample agree that the knowledge of computer would support a Preschool teacher to a distance learning course.
[5] [6]
C. Aubrey, The role of subject knowledge in the early years of schooling. London: Palmer Press, 1994. R.J. Campbell et al., “The changing word of infant teachers”, British Journal of Education Studies, vol. 40, 1992, pp. 149-162. M. Goddard, “What do we do with these computers? Reflections on technology in the classroom”, Journal of Research on Technology in Education, vol. 35, 2002, pp. 19-26. J. Pange, Educational technology. University of Ioannina Eds., (in Greek), 2000. J. Pange, “What children know about computers”, Sigchroni Ekpaideusi, vol. 110, pp. 106-109. (in Greek), 2000. M. Shayer, and P. Adey, Towards a science of science teaching. London: Heinemann, 1981.
