Digital risks and the safety of preschool children: educators' readiness for new challenges

Context and relevance. Being involved in the digital environment from an early age, modern children, using all its possibilities, are simultaneously exposed to digital risks. In preschool age, digital risks come to the fore, which can cause psychological trauma and/or negatively affect various aspects of a child's mental development, as well as risks that can harm physical condition and/or development. The theoretical basis of the research was the position on digital devices and technologies as new cultural means (O.V. Rubtsova) and research on the digitalization of childhood (G.U. Soldatova, A.N. Veraksa, E.E. Klopotova, etc.).Objective. To identify the level of digital competence (knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for the effective use of digital technologies in professional activities) of preschool education teachers, as well as their readiness to foster digital literacy in children. Hypothesis. Modern educators are aware of the importance of developing digital literacy among preschoolers, and consider it possible to implement this task at the preschool education level, but they have difficulty implementing it in practice. Methods and materials. 295 educators participated in the study. For the research, a questionnaire was developed to identify the digital competence of teachers, the conditions for the formation of digital literacy of children in preschool institutions and the attitude of educators to the formation of digital literacy of preschoolers. Methods of descriptive statistics, qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data obtained were used. Results. The results showed that teachers' sense of readiness to develop digital literacy in children is directly related to their own digital competence (digital device skills and attitude to digital technologies in general), access to digital devices and support from the administration, and advanced training in this topic with methodological support. Conclusions. It is shown that at this stage preschool teachers are not ready for the formation of children's digital literacy. Among the identified deficits, the lack of advanced training in this area and the provision of methodological materials come to the fore.

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