Project management: Prof. Dr. Helen Knauf
Funded by: Research for Practice(http://www.forschung-fuer-die-praxis.de)
Duration: 2013-2014
Cooperation partner: Von Laer Foundation(http://www.von-laer-stiftung.de)

Project description:
The first years of life are a particularly formative phase for people, in which the course is set for future life development and educational career. For almost all children today, day care centres make a central contribution to their development and education. An important element of education-oriented and professional work in day care centres is the systematic documentation of educational processes. It serves to anchor and reflect on individual developmental processes, enables the identification of support needs and significantly supports the educational partnership between educators and parents. In addition, the exchange of information is an important basis for a trusting and child-oriented cooperation between parents and educators. However, documentation and information procedures have been costly up to now. Despite the importance of systematic observation and documentation, they are difficult to implement in everyday life. The main reason for this is the high workload of educators, who are often unable to observe, document and inform appropriately in addition to their active work with the children and their preparation and follow-up. Misunderstandings, faulty planning and suboptimal support for the children can be the result. Another problem is that the previous forms of documentation often do not reach the addressees - be it due to lack of time or excessive demands (on the part of team colleagues and parents) or due to insufficient reading skills (on the part of children). The documentation can then only fulfil its function to a limited extent.

New mobile and flexible communication technologies can offer a way out of this dilemma. The aim of the project is therefore to explore the possibilities offered by new developments in information technology. Smartphones and tablet PCs, for example, combine various functions that have proven useful in documenting child development and are at the same time quicker to hand, thus lowering the barriers to use. Texts can be written and questionnaires filled out, and photos, videos and audio files can be integrated. Microblogging services (e.g. "Twitter") can also open up new perspectives. A systematic empirical survey of attitudes, expectations and needs of educators and parents, as well as an investigation of technical possibilities, should reveal initial development perspectives within the framework of the project.

Online-Resource:
Digital Citizenship starts in kindergarten: Tweeting and blogging with 5- and 6-year olds. 2014. http://www. helen-knauf.de/digital-citizenship/