Developing and Exploring an Evaluation Tool for Educational Apps (E.T.E.A.) Targeting Kindergarten Children

Stamatios Papadakis, Julie Vaiopoulou, Michail Kalogiannakis and Dimitrios Stamovlasis
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Stamatios Papadakis: Department of Preschool Education, Faculty of Education, University of Crete, 74100 Rethymno, Greece
Julie Vaiopoulou: Department of Primary Education, Faculty of Education, Democritus University of Thrace, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
Michail Kalogiannakis: Department of Preschool Education, Faculty of Education, University of Crete, 74100 Rethymno, Greece
Dimitrios Stamovlasis: Department of Philosophy and Education, Faculty of Philosophy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-10

Abstract: During the last decade, there has been an explosive increase in the number of mobile apps that are called educational and target children aged three to six. Research has shown that only a few of them have been created taking into consideration young children’s development and learning processes. The key question that emerges is how parents, custodians, or teachers can choose appropriate, high-quality educational apps. Literature has presented limited assessment tools based on advanced statistical procedures, which allow one to address validity and reliability issues. This study investigates the dimensions of using and operating educational apps for kids and presents a thirteen-item assessment instrument along with its psychometric properties. Data ( N = 218) were collected via an electronic questionnaire from pre-service teachers of preschool education. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation was used to investigate the underlying dimensions. The resulting structure included four factors, namely: Usability, Efficiency, Parental Control, and Security. PCA supported the factorial validity of the instrument, while the reliability measures of Cronbach’s alpha for the four dimensions were satisfactory. Finally, a lucid discussion on the findings is provided.

Keywords: mobile educational applications (apps); smart mobile devices; kindergarten children; parents; evaluation tool (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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