An Intervention with Technology for Parental Involvement in Kindergarten: Use of Design-based Research Methodology

Abstract

Parental involvement in preschool education has an impact on children's learning, development and adaptation to school, and can be promoted through digital technologies. This research aimed to develop and test a digital platform, with functionalities for communication and content sharing between parents and educators and, at the same time, to assess the impact of using the platform in three participating institutions. The methodology used was Design-Based Research. Parents and educators were involved in all phases: preliminary study, development and evaluation. The results allow us to conclude that the most important functionalities are the sharing of activities carried out with children in kindergarten and a private messaging service. In terms of local impact, the intervention had different results in each kindergarten, associated with previous practices of using technologies for parental involvement and the roles assumed by the users within the platform.