Exploration of Faculty Community Experience to Consolidate the Digital Competence of Preservice Early Childhood Education Teachers

Abstract

This study explores faculty community experience to consolidate the digital competence of S University students in G City. The participants were six professors of the Department of Early Childhood Education, who formed a program to strengthen digital capabilities and conducted qualitative research on program learning and application processes to reinforce digital competence. As a result of learning process exploration of the professors for digital competence consolidation, they tried to get out of fear deriving from the lack of digital-friendliness, implemented digital devices handling methods, made creative ideas each other, and felt joy of learning. As a community with a goal of reinforcing digital competence, they demonstrated teamwork and built up knowledge. According to the professors’ onsite application exploration results to reinforce digital competence, they had child-like curiosities as they encountered digital education and tried to make good use of digital education’s positive function so that digital education can become practical knowledge in connection with early childhood education. They decided to apply digital education to the curriculum of each subject in order to enhance the preservice early childhood education teachers’ competence. Based on the study results, various communities and training for teachers are expected to be invigorated for consolidation of digital competence of the preservice early childhood education teachers.