Interactive technology for creativity in early childhood education

Abstract

Although Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is dramatically expanding in Taiwan, its educational implications are lacking in early childhood education. The purpose of this study is to apply ICT in developing digital learning materials to enhance young children’s creativity. To achieve this goal, the study incorporated a focus group, observations and experimental research. The researchers designed nine sets of interactive devices using an interactive desktop, Kinect and iPad. Through an intentional sampling method, four kindergarten classes, consisting of 149 children aged 4-6, were involved in the study, with gender, public/private and city/suburban factors taken into consideration. Findings showed that the experimental group’s flexibility and originality was significantly better than those in the control group. These findings demonstrated that the interactive devices designed by the study were effective in enhancing the children’s creativity. The findings also revealed that: suburban children are significantly more fluent than city children, boys possessed significantly more originality than girls, and private kindergarten children were significantly more fluent and flexible than those from the public schools.