Digital Media and Children

Today, digital media occupies an important place in human life and children live in this technological environment. Exposure to excessive and inappropriate digital media content, especially in early childhood, when brain development is important, has negative effects both in childhood and adulthood. Excessive and poor quality digital media use has been found to be associated with early effects such as sleep problems, negative self-regulation skills, cyberbullying, psychological disorders, and adult diseases such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. In the light of these data, the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend screen use for children before 18 months, except for video chat. It is important for parents to choose quality content in the use of digital media, to be a role model for their children, to guide them and to keep in touch with their children while using the screen

Investigating Stakeholders’ Views on Technology Integration: The Role of Educational Leadership for Sustainable Inclusive Education

This study aims to determine the views of teachers, school administrative staff having educational leadership roles, and faculty members on integration of technology and the role of educational leadership for sustainable inclusive education. The study group included 38 teachers working in Mersin province, Turkey, 11 school administrative staff, and 11 faculty members working at the Education Faculty. This study was structured employing a “basic interpretive qualitative study model”. In the study, a semi-structured interview form consisting of open-ended questions was used as a data collection tool. According to the findings, the faculty members do not consider that inclusive education practices reach an adequate level of sustainability. Therefore, the participants also suggest adding a sustainable inclusive education course in teacher education programs. School administrative staff and teachers have emphasized that technological infrastructures of schools are inadequate for sustainable inclusive education practices. A majority of teachers have used technology in sustainable inclusive education practices. Overall, the participants believe that the integration of technology into sustainable inclusive education has positive effects on students such as ensuring permanent, quick, and easy learning. This study proves that different stakeholders that have a key role in providing sustainable inclusive education handle this issue from different perspectives and they have both positive and negative opinions on the sustainable inclusive education practices