Tablets and apps for promoting robotics, mathematics, STEM education and literacy in early childhood education

Abstract

New interactive technologies in terms of smart mobile devices and accompanied applications (apps) attract an increasing attention in the field of preschool and early-primary education. This has risen a great amount of academic literature, and numerous implementation initiatives. Despite this widespread interest, successful integration of interactive technologies in preschool and early-primary education still faces unresolved issues and challenges. This paper refers mostly to smart mobile devices and their accompanied mobile applications (apps) at the device/platform level. Robotics, Mathematics, STEM and Literacy are discussed below, since these are the fields found to provide most opportunities in early childhood, especially promising to cultivate interests early in computing. The ultimate objective is to present a greater comprehension of the influence of new technologies on young children's learning procedure and its potential for early childhood education. The study ends up with a general analysis of the research findings and a short proposal for the extension of the under-study subject as well.