ePLATFORMS

Digital tools in early childhood education

I work as an early childhood education teacher in a daycare center. Currently, I am in a preschool group where the children are 6–7 years old. My core tasks include taking care of the pedagogical activities of the child group, with the goal of promoting children’s learning, growth and well-being. In my work, I collaborate closely with special education teachers and the children’s parents. Children’s matters are also handled in a multidisciplinary way according to the individual needs of the child and the family’s situation. Cooperation is carried out, for example, with the maternity clinic, family counseling center, child protection services, disability services, speech and occupational therapists, nutrition therapists, and psychologists. When children transition to school, we also work together with the school to ensure the transition from preschool to school is as smooth as possible.

We use a few applications daily in our work. First among these is Edlevo, which I also wrote about in the DIGI SOCIETY assignment. We use this app to collect the children’s care times, because parents report the care times and sudden absences through it. The application also contains parents’ contact information and named substitute guardians. The application is actively used throughout the day. We mark the child as present when they come to preschool and record when they leave. The application saves the realized care times and the number of adults at the end of the day. The application itself is easy to use but unfortunately it is often out of order. Sometimes for a few days at a time.

Secondly, I mention the Muksunetti application. As early childhood education teachers, we use it to record an individual early childhood education plan for each child. These plans are prepared together with the child’s guardians and sometimes with the special education teacher. Parents can review and approve the plan by logging into Muksunetti using bank credentials.

Other important applications are Teams and Zoom. In Teams, each group has its own platform, which includes the group’s own early childhood education plan and other important files. Multidisciplinary meetings are also attended through Teams or Zoom. Through Outlook email, we receive notifications from supervisors as well as encrypted emails if they contain sensitive matters such as children’s names. However, sensitive information is not generally sent by email.

Employees of the city of Kuopio use the ESS application. In used this app for examples recording absences such as sick leave and extra days off for early childhood education teachers, applying for holidays or various leaves such as study leave and reporting teaching meals each month. This application is not needed daily but is used monthly. We use the Signal application to send messages within daycare teams and with the daycare manager.

Applications I could use in my work

DeepL application. I could use this app in my work, for example, to translate various bulletins or instructions for parents of children with a foreign background. Usually, texts in Finnish and English are sufficient. DeepL can save time, as I wouldn’t need to do the translations myself. It is easy to use and can be accessed on a work computer. The application translates very quickly and the quality of the translations is high. A major advantage is that it can also translate entire documents. For data security reasons, I would not use it to translate any sensitive information.

Pinterest is a useful application in early childhood education. Pinterest offers plenty of ideas, for example, related to crafts. You can search for craft ideas based on different themes using keywords. A teacher can search and save interesting ideas related to crafts, play, physical activities, or learning environments. Ideas are also easy to share with others. Even though Pinterest is full of fun ideas, the teacher must consider which crafts or activities are suitable for preschool-aged children. Sometimes the crafts are more appropriate for school-aged children or adults. I think I could also share my own ideas on Pinterest, as long as no children appear in the photos.

The Dall-E tool was completely new to me! As I understand it, it works as part of ChatGPT. I am amazed at how good pictures you can create with this! I would say this is even better than the pictures made with Canva’s AI. I could see myself using this also in my work for example in supporting Finnish language learning. The tool creates fun and diverse pictures, which help children practice storytelling skills. It would also be possible in my work to print and make picture cards from the images. With children, we could try making images on topics they invent or, for example, illustrate a story they have created. Using the tool purposefully and pedagogically can be seen as very good digital education. Through Dall-E, children learn the basics of artificial intelligence and see how digital tools can be used creatively.

YouTube itself is good, varied and there are also videos suitable for children. I probably wouldn’t start making videos with children on YouTube, because security and filming permissions are so strict in early childhood education. But if I wanted to make videos, I would make singing videos with a colleague that I could use to support my own work. As a pre-school teacher, I could use other people’s videos on YouTube, for example, when we are learning about different animals or new songs. I could also use YouTube to learn about different cultures.

Canva is a handy digital tool that allows you to create all sorts of things. In this creative tool, only imagination limits you! I got acquainted with Canva during my Master’s studies, for example for making infographics. At work in daycare, I could use Canva to create various visual bulletins or create suitable materials for preschool activity moments. The free version of Canva is already good, but the paid version would be even more comprehensive. A convenient feature in Canva is that old plans remain stored there. Considering data protection, I would not use children’s data or pictures in Canva either.

What makes a successful digital application?

Working in early childhood education, I see data security as extremely important, which can not be overlooked when using digital applications or even when considering their use. In our work, we must protect children’s and families’ information. Besides security, I also consider ease of use important. In early childhood education, families come from diverse backgrounds, so it is important that both they and daycare staff can use applications easily and reflecting a user-friendly design. If any problems arise, there should be a clear point of contact to help resolve the issue.

The employer has specified which applications are to be primarily used. These applications should be easily accessible on various devices, such as computers and phones. If new applications are introduced for employees, they should support the work rather than create a significant additional workload. In other words, using the applications should bring usefulness in work- related tasks, offering clear benefits for example in daily tasks or communication. It is also important to invest in training related to the use of digital tools.

Self-Assessment

During this assignment, I had the opportunity to reflect broadly on the various digital applications I use in my work. The applications I mentioned are clearly more work tools and administrative systems than social media, as they lack typical features of social media, such as public visibility and user-generated content. I conclude that not all forms of social media are suitable for use in a daycare setting, even though they could be used for communication between the daycare and home. Social media should be used with caution, considering especially data protection, safety and professionalism.

Through this task I also became familiar with new applications that I could potentially use in my work in the future. When used correctly, these tools do not compromise safety. Digital tools are an integral part of my daily work and their smooth functioning is essential for both user experience and work efficiency. This assignment also made me think more deeply about the factors that influence the success and functionality of digital applications. Five things stood out: security, ease of use, user-friendly design, usability across devices and usefulness in work-related tasks.