EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS PERCEPTION OF THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING YOUNG CHILDREN IN OREDO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BENIN, EDO STATE.

 ABSTRACT

This study was carried out to investigate early childhood teachers' perception of the use of technology in teaching young children in Oredo Local Government Area, Edo State. The descriptive research method was adopted in this research work. The population consists of all public primary school teachers in Oredo local Government Area. The sample size is 80 respondents from 10 primary schools in Oredo Local Government Area, 8 respondents each were gathered from each of the 10 selected primary schools. The instrument of data collection was a sixteen(16) items questionnaire. Four research questions guided this study. The survey research design was used. A simple random sampling technique was used to gather information in Oredo Local Government Area. The instrument used was a questionnaire. Frequency counts and simple percentage statistics were used for the analysis of research data. The findings showed that Early childhood teachers in Oredo Local Government have a positive perception toward the use of technology in teaching young children which includes enhancing young children's learning experiences, promoting engagement and active participation among young children, and a lot more. Early childhood teachers in Oredo Local Government agree that the benefit of using technology in teaching young children outweighs the challenges, although there were outlined challenges as perceived by the teachers. The study recommended professional opportunities development for teachers and access to high quality technology, balanced Screen time approach,  foster collaboration and best practice sharing, alignment with developmentally appropriate methods, institutional advocacy and policies, informed decision-making through research and engage parents and caregivers.