Digital practices in everyday lives of 4 to 6 years old Romanian children

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to present some findings of a broader research called Digital literacy and multimodal practices of young children from Romania. The mentioned research was part of the EU COST Action IS1410 involving similar endeavours from over 30 countries (COST 2014; Bakó, 2016: p. 146). In our research we used several sources for data collection such as children and their parents, as well as kindergarten educators. We collected qualitative data using three methods: the visual method of drawing, semi-structured interviews and observation. In this study we present digital practices of 4 to 6 years old Romanian children based on interviews made with the children’s parents. We found similar results to other Romanian (Velicu, Mitarcă, 2016) and European (Chaudron, 2015) research such as: the access and use of digital technology is present but not dominant in the daily routines of Romanian young children; Romanian young children’s favourite digital devices are tablets and smartphones; Romanian young children’s familiar digital activities are watching YouTube videos, playing games, making or watching photos and videos about themselves and their families; Romanian young children learn the use of digital devices by observation and imitation, and through testing; the level of Romanian young children’s digital skills is basic; the digitally unexperienced Romanian parents are not supportive with children’s digital endeavours