Diffusion of IT in Childhood Pedagogy -- extending the RIPPLES model to kindergartens
Hung-Pheng Tan, Yushan Tien · Journal of the Association for Information Systems · 2004
The trend of utilizing computers in pre-school education will stay regardless of the controversy surrounding childhood pedagogy. This is particularly so for Singapore, a tiny country ranked only second to the United States in information technology (IT) penetration and usage in the latest ranking by the World Economic Forum. How the various stakeholders (government, kindergarten operators, teachers and parents/guardians) shape the styles and methods of IT used should be of utmost concern. This project seeks to understand how computers are being used and how e-learning activities are conducted in Singapore kindergartens. We examine the diffusion and impact in these educational centers through a combination of theory and practice. Surry’s RIPPLES model for overcoming the barriers to integrating instructional technology into higher education is particularly useful. We extend it to kindergartens with the additional “economy” element. The extended model provides valuable feedback to the various stakeholders as well as software vendors.