https://www.mdu.se/

Children’s learning about artefacts as technological solutions is a central part of early childhood technology education. This study investigates what aspects of artefacts teachers address in their teaching as well as any relationships between teachers’ conceptions of technology and their teaching of artefacts. We investigated this using a questionnaire and conducting factor and cluster analyses. Results showed that most preschool teachers include artefacts in their technology teaching. Aspects addressed in this teaching are the artefact’s common use and name, the fact that the artefact solves a problem and has a (purposefully designed) physical nature, humans’ role in its development, and the temporal aspect of the development and that the artefact is a technological object. The most common aspects addressed are the name of the artefact and what it is normally used for. The least common aspects include the artefacts temporal development and the human’s role in their development. Only one cluster-group stated they teach this more often than “almost never”, this is the group that strongly agreed with statements referring to technology as both an artefact and a process. However, agreement with technology being both artefact and process was no guarantee for including this kind of content. This relation is further discussed.

Developing sustainable early childhood education (ECE) demands competent staff. For this, regular professional development (PD) is significant. This study aims to problematise choices about scientific basis for PD-programs for ECE teachers. A concept for PD that has drawn attention the last years is massive open online courses (MOOC). Although researched and found promising for PD (e.g Herranen et al. 2021), the concept is not entirely compatible with other research on effective PD (Desimone, 2009). We draw on Desimone’s (2009) program theory for effective PD which include five core features: content focus, coherence, active learning, duration and collective participation. This will be discussed in relation to the results and problematised in relation to MOOC. This ongoing study is conducted within a qualitative research paradigm. Through a qualitative content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005) of the 14 participants' written and oral evaluations of a PD-program designed with inspiration from the MOOC-concept, we study their perceptions of the form of the PD-program. In line with the guidelines of the Swedish research council (2017) consent was collected after the participants had been informed in writing about the aim of the research, valuntary participation and confidential treatment of personal data. Early results show the participants even before starting the PD-program recognized the lack of one core feature - collective participation - as they themselves organized meetings to discuss the course content. The results will contribute knowledge about whether the MOOC inspired PD-program is perceived to provide an effective learning environment for early childhood teachers.

Technology education is part of early childhood education. What technology teaching preschool teachers offer children have mainly been investigated qualitatively. Technology is an integrated part of both the preschool environment and children’s interest, and both international and Swedish studies show that concerning teaching of artefacts there is room for improvements. However, as most research has been small-scaled and offers contradictions regarding preschool teachers’ conceptions of technology and what they teach, this paper investigates what aspects of artefacts the staff in a Swedish municipality address in their teaching and how often. A digital questionnaire was conducted prior to professional development. The questionnaire was based on research results and was administered to all 324 employees in preschools within the municipality.

A total of 211 responded. However, a post analysis revealed that some respondents did not work with children, thus leaving 184 respondents, both preschool teachers (n=85) and childcare attendants (n=99). Their answers were analysed descriptively. On the question How often do you initiate an activity or use an opportunity to let children explore some technological object?, it varied; Every day 38 (21%), A few times a week 51 (28%), A few times a month 58 (32%), A few times a quarter 19 (10%), Less than a few times a quarter 10 (5%), Never 8 (4%). Hence, in the next step the answers of 176 (184-8) respondents were analysed. It comprised of 12 items concerning what they include in the teaching of artefacts and how frequently they do it (5-point Likert Scale, Never-Always). For instance, 112 respondents Always include item 12 The name of the object in their technology teaching. Then the data were reduced to three options; Never/Almost never became Typically not included (TnI) and Almost always/Always became Typically included (TI). Sometimes (S) remained the same. The reduction made it more obvious what the respondents Typically not include or Typically include. The next analytical step was to determine if an item was TnI or TI, which was done logically based on proportions. For instance; each item was analysed for qualified majority TI/(TnI+S) > 3 (i.e. at least 75 % of all respondents chose TI) or TnI/(TI+S) > 3 (i.e. at least 75 % of all respondents chose TnI). A complete description of the logic will be provided in the full paper.

The result shows that some items serve as fundaments in the artefact teaching, here denoted: The common artefact teaching practice. In this Swedish municipality the teaching of artefacts in preschools is mainly focused on Naming the artefacts; To address the intended use of that artefact; Other possible use of that artefacts and What problems the artefact solves.

Also, there are items that staff tend not to include, here denoted The missing artefact teaching practice. Both the development of artefacts and human’s use of different abilities in that development are not included in the artefact teaching practice. The different items were; The historical development of artefacts; The future development of artefacts and The abilities/knowledge used by humans. Finally, there are items related to the teaching of artefacts that may or may-not be considered as part of the artefact teaching, here denoted The may-be artefact teaching practice. In the full paper the implications concerning preschool artefact teaching is discussed.

There is a recognized need for research on how to teach computer programming in primary schools in Sweden grades 4–6 (10–12-year-old pupils). Studies of teaching show the importance of teachers’ knowledge of content and pedagogy and how these two parts affect each other (i.e. pedagogical content knowledge [PCK]). Most teachers in Sweden have little or no formal education in computer programming, the revised Swedish curriculum requires them to teach it. The aim of this study is to explore the pedagogical strategies teachers use when they teach computer programming. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 participants, comprising 12 teachers and 2 teacher trainers. The data were analysed deductively with themes from previous research. The results show that teachers use eight pedagogical strategies, including three new strategies that have been constructed inductively: do-it-yourself, gamification and progression. These eight pedagogical strategies are mostly general, and teachers may be considered regressed experts, as they lack formal training in computer programming. They facilitate learning in a general sense, but, compared to other subjects, their PCK in computer programming is problematized. In-service teacher training is needed to increase content knowledge, thus enabling to develop PCK in computer programming. It would also be fruitful to deepen our knowledge regarding pedagogical strategies in the PCK domain of computer programming.

There is a recognized need to understand the current state of programming implementation in the Swedish compulsory school system. This study focused specifically on the implementation of programming in the school subject of technology for grades 4–6. In Sweden, the responsibility for choosing teaching and learning material lies with individual teachers. Recent studies have indicated the prevalence of visual programming languages (VPLs) in classrooms. However, no empirical research has specifically investigated why teachers select particular programming learning environments (PLEs) and the challenges they have overcome in this process. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the PLEs used by teachers and the factors influencing their choices. In addition, this study explored the role of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and the influence of systemic and situational amplifiers and filters in shaping the programming education landscape, highlighting the importance of understanding these factors for effective implementation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 experienced programming teachers in grades 4–6 to gather insights. The results revealed that VPLs, particularly Scratch, have been widely adopted, but the study also identified three textual programming languages being utilized. Furthermore, the findings indicate that teachers’ previous education plays a significant role in shaping their PLE preferences. This suggests that programming education in both professional development and preservice teacher training is crucial for effective implementation. By investigating PLE choices and the factors influencing them, this study contributes to a better understanding of the current landscape of programming education in Sweden’s compulsory school system. 

This study investigates preschool children’s interactions with technology in a Swedish context. The purpose is to broaden our knowledge about children, technology and preschool activities—not only the meanings of technology that is present in everyday preschool activities, but also how children interact with it. Collier-Reed’s (Pupils’ experiences of technology: exploring dimensions of technological literacy, PhD thesis, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, 2006) category system has been used to analyse data generated in two research circles. The participating preschool teachers were asked to present teacher- and children-initiated activities from their daily practices. 54 cases were identified, of which 40 included children’s interactions with technology according to the definitions provided by Collier-Reed. Mapping the results in a matrix representation based on Collier-Reed’s two sets of categorisation systems shows two clusters. The first mainly includes teacher-initiated activities, in which children were instructed how to use different artefacts. The second also includes children-initiated activities requiring more engagement as part of Collier-Reed’s notion of the core. Also, labelling was added to the category system in order to adapt it to the Swedish preschool setting.

The competence and knowledge of the preschool teacher is the most important factor for how the teaching is organised, and what the children are given opportunities to learn. For teaching technology, technological literacy (TL) constitutes such a competence.   The TPI was created from a phenomenographic study on upper secondary students in South Africa and has thereafter been tested and validated for several groups of students in South Africa. We used the TPI to test the TL of 184 preschool teachers and childcare attendants. To test the validity and reliability of the instrument in this context, we performed an exploratory factor analysis followed by a test of internal consistency using Cronbach alpha. This resulted in five factors/categories, two for conceptions of technology and three for interaction with technology: Technology is conceived of as an artefact or a process, and interaction with technology is through direction, instruction or tinkering. This differs somewhat from the categories presented by Luckay and Collier-Reed. We discuss possible reasons for this.  The technological profile of the preschool staff was then explored for the group by calculating the mean score for each category. Regarding the conceptions of technology, the scores for artefact and process are similar, implying that the preschool staff view technology as both artefacts and a process. For the interaction with technology, the category instruction got the highest score, followed by tinkering, while the score for direction was considerably lower. This shows an unafraid and curious approach to technological objects, which can be considered valuable in the teaching of technology.