Student-initiated aspects as starting points for teaching digital competence in the early years of primary education

Abstract

The beginning of primary education is an important time to form a good basis for students to develop their digital competence. However, the use of digital technologies is seldom a part of everyday schoolwork during the first years of primary school education. Furthermore, instruction on digital competence is often loosely connected to the students’ own ideas. Since there is obviously a need to investigate student-initiated involvement, this case study examined six to seven-year-old children’s views and ideas of using digital technology in school lessons through drawings and interviews. The results show that some of the students did not share the idea of using digital technology in their school lessons but most of the students did. In particular, the students expected digital devices to be used for learning, not for entertainment. Furthermore, their ideas reflected teacher-centred and student-centred approaches to learning digital competence. The study demonstrates that young students’ drawings and interviews reflect a range of important aspects in respect to teaching and learning digital competence.