Roles and Effect of Digital Technology on Young Children’s STEM Education: A Scoping Review of Empirical Studies

Digital technology is increasingly used in STEM education for young children aged 0–8 years. An extensive literature search was conducted using seven databases to systematically investigate the effect of digital technology on young children’s STEM education. Twenty-two eligible articles published fr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Education sciences 2024-04, Vol.14 (4), p.357
Main Authors: Hu, Xinyun, Fang, Yuan, Liang, Yutong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Australia
Behavior
Boolean
Career Planning
Children
Cognition & reasoning
Cooperative learning
Curricula
Curriculum Design
Digital technology
Early childhood education
Education
Educational Environment
effectiveness
Engineering
Gender
Grade 5
Interdisciplinary aspects
Kindergarten
Kindergarten students
Knowledge
learning engagement
Mathematics education
Mathematics Skills
Preschool education
Robotics
Schools
Science education
Self-efficacy
STEM
STEM education
Teachers
Teaching Methods
Technology education
Thinking Skills
United Kingdom
Young Children
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Summary:Digital technology is increasingly used in STEM education for young children aged 0–8 years. An extensive literature search was conducted using seven databases to systematically investigate the effect of digital technology on young children’s STEM education. Twenty-two eligible articles published from 2010 to 2021 were identified. Results showed that robotics, programming, and multimedia were used to support young children’s STEM education. Digital technology plays different roles in the process of STEM education. Outcomes also showed that digital technology positively affected young children’s STEM education in terms of STEM knowledge or skill acquisition and learning engagement. This was regardless of gender but relevant to age and the learning condition. Participating children and teachers reported high acceptance and satisfaction with the included programs. However, many difficulties, challenges and criticisms were revealed by the extracted data, including how digital technology is used in young children’s STEM education, the nature of young children, the requirements placed upon educators, and different types of adult–child interactions. We also look at the limitations of the study design within included studies and provide recommendations accordingly.
ISSN:2227-7102
2227-7102
DOI:10.3390/educsci14040357