Perceptions of Families on ICT Use of Pre-School Children in Turkey

Abstract

The present qualitative study was conducted to investigate the perceptions of families regarding the use of ICT by preschool children in Turkey. The study group was created by snowball sampling method and consisted of 40 parents. An interview form which included semi-structured interview questions was used for data collection. Content analysis, which is one of the qualitative research data analysis methods, was used for data analysis. The results showed that tablets were the electronic device owned by most children, children mostly used television, children used ICT more when they are with their parents, children used ICT for 193 minutes per day, children used tablets the most on a daily basis, and children used ICT to watch cartoons, and to play games. The observed prominent positive effect of ICT was that it contributed to children's learning processes. Regarding the negative effects of ICT, parents stated that children acquire negative behaviors from ICT use. Parents used and suggested the strategies of establishing more parental control on ICT use, as well as limiting the time for ICT use for the purpose of protecting their children from the negative effects of ICT.