This research aimed to examine the effect of the "Matific" platform on preschool students' academic performance in Mathematics in Al Dhafra Region, United Arab Emirates. It also examined the difference between boys' and girls' academic performance after using the "Matific" platform during mathematics learning. An experimental…

Although the acceptance of educational apps and their contributions to learning have been widely researched, none of these studies have examined links between teachers' acceptance of apps and their students' skills. The present study investigated this issue with respect to a new, French-language educational app for helping preschool children…

Play is an essential skill for children in early intervention settings and contributes to social and emotional development. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show significant delays in action-on-object play skills, vocalizations during play, and novel responding. By assessing and targeting play, children with autism can acquire…

Language in touchscreen apps could be useful as an additional source of children's language input, alongside child directed speech (CDS) and books. Here we performed the first analysis of language in apps, as compared with books and CDS. We analysed language in 18 of the most popular educational apps targeting pre-schoolers and compared their…

There is scant empirical work on associations between current and past cannabis use in parents of young children. As recreational cannabis use is now legal in nearly half of states in the U.S., cannabis use is becoming more ubiquitous. In the current study, parents of toddler and pre-school age children were randomly assigned to participate in an…

When school closure was mandated due to COVID-19, staff at a university lab preschool in Trinidad rapidly switched to remote teaching. Although the six teachers were experienced early childhood educators, they were unfamiliar with teaching remotely using video conferencing tools and websites. Guided by a consultant and an educational technologist,…

The use of apps in preschool has increased considerably during the last few years. Studies have shown that digital technologies are sometimes used to replace analogue artefacts in educational settings. This calls for studies on how the use of apps transforms preschool activities. This study empirically investigates how preschool children play…

While mobile devices are becoming increasingly ubiquitous (even in low-income families in the United States) and are being used for educational purposes, it is unclear how these technological tools may benefit letter learning (a foundational precursor to early literacy achievement) in preschool children. To contribute clarity, this study tested…

Computational Thinking (CT) is essential for developing creativity, problem-solving, and digital competence in the 21st century. Coding tools like robotic toys and tablet apps have become popular in early childhood education to support CT development, but there is a debate on which tool is more effective. Little evidence exists on the effect of…

Emergent literacy abilities of young children are strong predictors of future academic success, however, biological and environmental risks can impact their progress. Parental interventions that promote home-based stimulation of preschoolers can enhance literacy development and ensure school readiness. mHealth technology may be a viable approach…

Research has highlighted the potential of digital technology to support the development of children's number sense abilities. However, the main focus of such research has been on apps affording directed interactions, where only one solution strategy is available, and it has targeted mostly cardinality. Little is known, in these terms, about task…

We present research that explored digital coding in an Australian early years learning centre and how it impacted on a focus group of 3 and 4-year-old children's creativity. The questions that guided the design experimental method were: (1) how do young children develop and demonstrate creativity when learning through play with digital coding…

Exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has critical health implications for developing fetuses and subsequently for infants and young children. Research has suggested that this ambient air pollutant can be found indoors in quantities that may be hazardous to human health. In low-income neighborhoods in New York City such as northern…

Interactivity is an important indicator of an educational app's reception. Since most educational apps are multimodal, it justifies a methodological initiative to understand meaningful involvement of multimodality in enacting and even amplifying interactivity in an educational app. Yet research so far has largely concentrated on algorithm…

Young children living in technology-based communities are using touch-screen tablets (e.g. iPads) to engage with the digital world at an early age. The intuitive touch-screen interface, easily downloadable apps (applications) and mobility of tablets drive their increasing popularity with pre-schoolers. This review examines research to date on…