Digital technology and the subjects of literacy and mathematics in the preschool atelier.

The study explores how digital technology and art activities can support children’s mathematics, reading and writing skills in Swedish kindergartens. The researchers investigate how these skills become visible in art activities where digital tools (projectors, tablets, computers, webcams, digital microscopes and digital sound recorders) and ordinary materials and objects (shells, pens, paper, wood, bubble wrap and light) are used. The research question is: How does the interaction between ordinary objects, digital technology and art activities in the studio help support children's reading and writing skills and mathematical thinking?

The results show that children who participate in aesthetic activities in the studio develop mathematical thinking, reading, and writing skills by using both digital tools and ordinary materials. The researcher behind the study believes digital technology can be a useful tool that helps children develop these skills. She claims that the aesthetic activities in the studio stimulated learning in several areas, not just in aesthetics.

The researcher followed and observed different groups of children in a kindergarten for 18 months. She also visited four other kindergartens once or twice. All five kindergartens had studios organised and led by a specialised educator (studio artist) who was an artist or a kindergarten teacher with expertise in art and aesthetic expression. The study involved approximately 50 children and five studio artists. The observation focused on and followed events that included both digital technology and non-digital artifacts in various ways.

Magnusson, L. O. (2021). "Digital technology and the subjects of literacy and mathematics in the preschool atelier". Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 24(3):333-345.