Swedish preschool science practice is confined to a unique educational setting where upbringing, care, and education are intertwined. This allows teachers to develop innovative cross-curricular and multidimensional science teaching. At the same time, society demands the digitalization of preschool practice, which has caused concern not only about…

This study explores practitioners' beliefs and experiences of education, socialisation and care and their impact on the introduction of a software application for quality work in early childhood education. Based on field notes, audio recordings and follow-up semi-structured interviews in four Swedish preschools, it explores how teachers' beliefs…

Background: Although science and technology are viewed as closely related subjects, they are rarely combined in preschools. Purpose: This article investigates preschool teachers' perspectives on integrating digital tools when teaching science, asking how and why they use digital tools, and examining the affordances they experience and obstacles…

Communicating technical concepts in preschool is of vital importance for developing the quality of the technology teaching practice and the development of the children's language skills within the content area. The aim of this study is to investigate how preschool teachers discern technology in relation to everyday situations in preschool. The…

Digital devices such as iPads are prevalent in children's play from an early age. How this shapes young children's play is an area of considerable debate without any clear consensus on how different forms of play are brought into the iPad interaction. In this study, we examined 98 play activities of children in two preschool settings, featuring 2…

The aim of this article is to examine the ways in which curriculum goals on digitalisation are viewed in relation to the overarching democratic mission of Swedish preschools. Groups of preschool staff from three preschools located in different areas were interviewed with the focus on how they discuss democracy and the democratic aspects of…

Developing children's abilities to act safely, respectfully, and responsibly in digital environments has been an essential component of educational systems for all ages. This study aims to explore what adequate digital competence is in early childhood education and how preschool teachers characterise young children's adequate digital competence.…

This article takes a practice perspective on professional learning to contribute through an empirical example of how professional learning can be arranged to enable change in and for professional practice, as well as for nurturing praxis. The theory of practice architectures is used to analyse the process of an action research (AR) in which…

This study investigates preschool teachers' perceptions about the pedagogical use of digital play and, by using the Learning in Working Life framework as a theoretical point of departure, it also investigates how these perceptions are connected to the teachers' professional learning environment. Participants wrote a self-report essay about digital…

This study aims to investigate the ways in which a particular digital technology, the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB), mediates preschool teachers' teaching. Over five months in 2017 and early spring 2018, five preschool teachers and 22 children aged 4--6 were video observed. By identifying aspects of IWB as a mediational means, the findings of the…

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…

This article explores and displays some of the literacy events taking place in the context of early childhood education in Sweden. More specifically, the literacy events are part of the educational practices in the atelier of Reggio Emilia inspired preschools in Sweden. As parts of an ethnographic study of aesthetic activities, including digital…

The availability of digital tablets in preschools has increased significantly in recent years. Literature suggests that these tools can enhance students' literacy and collaborative skills. As society becomes increasingly digitized, preschool curriculum reform also emphasises the subjects of technology and science as priority areas of learning.…

Even though construction tasks have a long history as an activity in the Swedish preschool, technology as a content matter (e.g., construction) is relatively new. Hence, preschool teachers are generally unsure of the content of technology and how to handle it from a teaching perspective. Thus, there is need for deeper understanding of how…

Preparing the next generation of preschool teachers who can integrate and make use of ICT to capitalise on and develop young children's digital competences remains a challenging goal for teacher education programmes (TEP). Given the current gaps in the literature, this study aims to expand and deepen our understanding of the extent to which early…