Coping with a virtual and abstract reality has become part of everyday life. Therefore, perceptions of what will constitute everyday life experiences for future generations are next to impossible to predict. One way of preparing young children for such a future is the implementation of teaching towards digital competence in curricula around the…

Design involves solving complex, ill-structured problems. Design tasks are consequently, appropriate contexts for children to exercise higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills. Although creating engaging and authentic design contexts for young children is difficult within the confines of traditional schooling, recently, game-design has…

Early childhood education in Australia is currently undergoing a period of change and renewal. Times of change offer opportunities to revisit the perspectives of the past, to respond to current choices and challenges, and explore future opportunities within the national provision of early childhood care and education. Such opportunities also exist…

Moses discusses research findings about television, young children, and literacy. She addresses research on a number of topics: How much and what kind of programming do children watch? What is the literacy content in popular children's programming? Does programming send positive or negative messages about literacy? What is television's impact on…

This article focuses on research findings concerning the relationship between young children's computer use in the classroom and constructivist education. Three ways of using computers emerged: computers as books or workbooks; computers for word processing; and computer programming of graphics. It was concluded that word processing was most…

For more than a quarter of century, researchers have been studying the effects of TV viewing on both children and adults. Although controversies still exist, the data presents a clear picture of increased aggression in all age groups following the viewing of ?violent? TV. In this article, the author discusses how to help a child who is negatively…

Outlines the effects of the deregulation of television advertising and marketing on children's play and behavior. Discusses what early childhood educators can do to counteract these effects. (HTH)

In this article, we present CTRL_SPACE: a design for a software environment with companion hardware, developed to introduce preliterate children to basic computational concepts by means of an animatronic face, whose individual features serve as an analogy for a programmable object. In addition to presenting the environment, this article briefly…

Television plays a dominant role in our society; however, television on its own is neither bad nor good. It offers children benefits such as education and entertainment, but television can impact negatively on young lives by detracting children from other activities such as physical and dramatic play. The effect of television on children's…

The notion of excellence in early childhood education is increasingly recognised as both subjective and problematic. The search for excellence can be, however, a motivating force for those committed to providing experiences that enrich and enhance the lives of young children within diverse Australian communities. This commitment is shared by the…