National early childhood organizations have posited that technology tools might be used to expand young children's thinking and experiences if offered in playful ways, and organized with interactive activities that allow for individualization and social interaction (NAEYC & Fred Rogers Center, 2012). Furthermore, these organizations have argued for the need to study newer technologies such as touch-screen technologies (NAEYC & Fred Rogers Center, 2012). The purpose of this study is to examine young children's technology-related play choices and actions particularly as they occurred with touch-screen tablets in a classroom setting. The 10-week qualitative study, organized around a classic grounded theory methodology (Glaser, 1978, 1992, 1998) and conducted within a single classroom, reports the close observation and description of 14 public- school pre-kindergarten students' actions with open-ended, symbolic-play tablet apps and interactions with one another, toward building a grounded theory of children's socially situated, tablet-centered digital play. The findings of this study demonstrate how participants' play choices were situated within multiple nested social spheres, including layers of digital play, the iPad activity-center, and the classroom as organized by the teacher. Examination of children's changeable play actions and choices revealed students' use of reflexive tracking as they actively navigated between personal and social interests to engage in three types of play: sampling, experimenting, and engaging in pretense. The findings and theorized model of socially situated dual-tablet play inform the discourse on technology integration in early childhood classrooms as well as the discourse on play, particularly in regards to digital play. / text

Lek är för barn en meningsfull aktivitet och är därmed också en viktig del i det arbetsterapeutiska arbetet med barn och deras vårdnadshavare. Författarna anser att det finns kunskapsluckor som behöver fyllas gällande vårdnadshavares perspektiv på den digitala leken för att kunna hitta lämpliga familjecentrerade interventioner. Syfte: Syftet med studien var därmed att undersöka vårdnadshavares attityder kring barns digitala lek. Metod: Deltagarna i den här deskriptiva tvärsnittsstudien var femtiosex svenskboende vårdnadshavare till minst ett barn mellan nio och tolv år. Vårdnadshavarna deltog genom att besvara en enkät. Data från enkäten analyserades med hjälp av deskriptiv statistik och fritextsvar analyserades och sammanställdes av författarna. Resultat: Studien indikerar att vårdnadshavarnas attityder kring barns digitala lek är tudelad. Samtidigt som vårdnadshavarna anser att det är viktigt att engagera sig i sitt barns digitala lek antyder studiens resultat att den digitala leken kan underlätta aktivitetsbalansen i vardagen för vårdnadshavarna. Vidare visar studiens resultat att vårdnadshavarna har god förmåga att kommunicera med sina barn om den digitala leken, framför allt gällande potentiella faror och vem barnet interagerar med. Vårdnadshavarna i denna studie upplever det utmanande att få barnen att förstå de negativa konsekvenserna med överanvändning av digital utrustning och användning av speciell programvara visar sig vara en vanlig strategi för att begränsa sitt barns digitala lek. Dessutom framkommer det att exponering för olämpligt innehåll och risker för kränkningar/nätmobbning är de stora farhågor som vårdnadshavarna befarar med barnens digitala användning. Slutligen visar resultatet att det finns en viss generationsklyfta gällande hantering av digital utrustning. Slutsats: Studien indikerar att vårdnadshavare till barn mellan nio och tolv år i Sverige har en positiv attityd till den digitala leken, men att det behövs mer stöd gällande digital användning. / Play is a meaningful activity for children and is thus also an important part of the occupational therapy work with children and their parents. The authors believe that there are knowledge gaps that need to be filled regarding parents' perspectives on digital play in order to find suitable family-centered interventions. Aim: The purpose of the study was thus to investigate parents' attitudes towards children's digital play. Method: The participants in this descriptive cross-sectional study were fifty-six Swedish-resident parents of at least one child between the ages of nine and twelve. The parents participated by answering a survey. Data from the survey was analyzed using descriptive statistics and free text answers were analyzed and compiled by the authors. Results: Results from the study indicate that parents' attitudes towards children's digital play are twofold. While the parents consider it important to engage in their child's digital play, the study's results suggest that digital play can facilitate the activity balance in everyday life for the parents. Furthermore, the results of the study show that the parents have a good ability to communicate with their children about digital play, especially regarding potential dangers and who the child interacts with. Parents in this study find it challenging to get the children to understand the negative consequences of overuse of digital equipment and the use of special software turns out to be a common strategy to limit their child's digital play. In addition, it appears that exposure to inappropriate content and risks of abuse/cyberbullying are the major concerns that parents fear with children's digital use. Finally, the results show that there is a certain generation gap when it comes to handling digital equipment. Conclusion: This study indicates that parents of children between nine and twelve years in Sweden have a positive attitude towards digital play, but that more support is needed regarding digital use.

We live in a digital age . This means that information technology affects our lives in all its forms. Information technology has become an important cultural, intellectual and physical tool in our society and now form the interaction between people. The use of information technology is an everyday activity in children and young people's lives today. Children in the Digital Age play , read, write , learn and communicate with others using information technology . Childhood has , thanks to information technology and new media habits, become different in both form and meaning. This applies for children’s libraries aswell. The children's library has in its mission to promote language development, encourage reading and provide literature based on children’s and young people's needs and circumstances. This paper examines how children's development is influenced by information technology. How information technology can help children in their development and learning. If information technology has the potential to influence children's development positively and how children's libraries can use information technology to inaugurate children and adolescents in the literature and culture with greater account of children's new media habits . What can children's libraries provide children and young people through information technology ? Can children's libraries reach children and young people through the children's own media habits in order to fulfill its mission?

Teachers tend to use traditional teaching methods, even though young learners are more digitally oriented. The purpose of this study was to analyse teachers' understanding and practices in grade R classes to clarify their use of digital play for language acquisition. The participants consisted of eight grade R teachers at one selected primary school in an urban area that had access to digital technology. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory as a theoretical framework informed this study. This qualitative single case study generated data from teacher participants and their interaction with the learners. The data generation included semi-structured individual interviews, focus group interviews, and non-participant observations. Analyses to answer the research questions were conducted by means of thematic analysis. The main finding was that grade R teachers have some knowledge and understanding of digital play and they are willing to try new games, but they feel they need to know more about digital technology and the use of digital games for language acquisition. Recommendations include the need for the development of more digital games relevant to language acquisition and for teachers to adopt relevant pedagogies to benefit from available digital games. A similar study in a rural area and a comparison between this study and such a study will then be useful in determining teachers' understanding and use of digital play for language acquisition. / Onderwysers is geneig om tradisionele onderrigmetodes te gebruik, selfs al is jong leerders meer digitaal georiënteerd. Die doel van hierdie studie was om onderwysers se begrip en praktyke in graad R-klasse te ontleed, om hul gebruik van digitale spel vir taalverwerwing duidelik te maak. Die deelnemers het bestaan uit agt graad R-onderwysers by een uitgesoekte laerskool in ʼn stedelike gebied, met toegang tot digitale tegnologie. Hierdie studie is geïnspireer deur Bronfenbrenner se ekologiese stelselteorie as ʼn teoretiese raamwerk. Hierdie kwalitatiewe enkelgevallestudie het data van onderwyser-deelnemers en hul interaksie met die leerders gegenereer. Die datagenerering het halfgestruktureerde individuele onderhoude, fokusgroeponderhoude en niedeelnemer-waarnemings ingesluit. Die vernaamste gevolgtrekking was dat graad R-onderwysers oor ʼn mate van kennis en begrip van digitale spel beskik en dat hulle bereid is om nuwe speletjies te probeer, maar hulle voel hulle behoort meer te weet van digitale tegnologie en die gebruik van digitale speletjies vir taalverwerwing. Aanbevelings sluit in: die behoefte aan die ontwikkeling van meer digitale speletjies wat op taalverwerwing betrekking het; en dat onderwysers tersaaklike pedagogieë moet inspan om uit die beskikbare digitale speletjies voordeel te trek. ʼn Soortgelyke studie in ʼn landelike gebied en ʼn vergelyking tussen hierdie studie en so ʼn studie sal dan nuttig wees om onderwysers se begrip en gebruik van digitale spel vir taalverwerwing te bepaal. / Barutiši ba na le go šomiša mekgwa ya sekgale ya go ruta, le ge e le gore baithuti ba baswa ba na le tsebo ya theknolotši. Morero wa nyakišišo ye e be e le go sekaseka mašomelo le kwešišo ya barutiši ka diphapošing tša kreiti R go hlalosa tšhomišo ya bona ya papadi ya ditšitale ya go ithuta polelo. Bakgathatema ba bopilwe ke barutiši ba seswai ba kreiti R sekolong se se kgethilwego sa poraemari ka nagasetoropong seo se nago le theknolotši ya ditšitale. Teori ya mekgwa ya ekolotši ya Bronfenbrenner bjalo ka foreimiweke ya teori e thekgile nyakišišo ye. Kheisesetati ye e tee ya khwalithethifi e tšweleditše datha go tšwa go bakgathatema ba e lego barutiši le kopano ya bona le baithuti. Tšweletšo ya datha e akareditše dipoledišano tša motho o tee ka o tee tša go beakanywa seripa, dipoledišano tša go nepiša sehlopha, le ditlhokomelo tša ba go se kgathe tema. Ditshekatsheko go araba dipotšišo tša dinyakišišo di dirilwe ka go šomiša tshekatsheko ya thematiki. Kutullo ye kgolo e bile gore barutiši ba kreiti R ba na le tsebo le kwešišo ye nyane ya papadi ya ditšitale le gore ba rata go leka dipapadi tše diswa, eupša ba kwa ba nyaka go tseba tše ntši ka ga theknolotši ya ditšitale le tšhomišo ya dipapadi tša ditšitale tša go ithuta polelo. Ditšhišinyo di akaretša nyakego ya tlhabollo ya dipapadi tša ditšitale tše ntši tša maleba go ithuteng polelo le gore baithuti ba amogela serutiši sa maleba gore ba holege dipapading tša ditšitale. Nyakišišo ye bjalo nagamagaeng le papišo gare ga nyakišišo ye le nyakišišo ye bjalo gona e tla ba le mohola taetšong ya kwešišo ya barutiši le tšhomišo ya papadi ya ditšitale ya go ithuta polelo. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)