Electronic media in preschool education

Od najranije dobi djeca su izložena medijima, oni oblikuju dječje razmišljanje, ponašanje i način komuniciranja te samim time oni imaju veliki utjecaj na djetetov odgoj i obrazovanje od najranije dobi. Upravo se djeca i adolescenti smatraju posebno osjetljivom vrstom medijske publike jer nemaju dovoljno razvijene emocionalne, kognitivne i moralne sposobnosti te su u fazi izgradnje stavova, usvajanja i stalnoga prilagođavanja socijalizacijskim okvirima i normama ponašanja. Iako se vrlo često ističu tri glavne zadaće medija – informirati, formirati i zabaviti – isto se tako često spominju i njihove negativne strane. Pozitivne strane medija uključuju razvijanje vještine pisanja, djeca mogu učiti pisati slova abecede uz pomoć raznih edukacijskih videoigara i aplikacija. Mediji također potiču razvoj kreativnosti, učenje brojenja, a igranje videoigara s prijateljima i članovima obitelji može im pomoći u svladavanju i poštivanju igranja uloga i u razvijanju suradničkih vještina. Uz sve te pozitivne strane djeca također preko ekrana mogu vidjeti nasilje, gledati emisije neprimjerenih sadržaja za njihovu dob, raditi razne izazove koji se nude preko YouTube-a. Elektronički mediji za vrijeme pandemije COVID-19 postali su neizostavan dio dječjega života. U radu se prikazuje analiza rezultata prikupljenih anketom kojom su ispitana djeca predškolske dobi u dobi od pet do sedam godina. Istraživanje se temelji na utvrđivanju korištenja medija prije i za vrijeme pandemije COVID-19 te vrijeme korištenja medija sada. Analiza je pokazala kako je najveći broj djece prije pandemije provodio ispred ekrana do dva sata, a u vrijeme pandemije i sada ta količina se povećala na više od dva sata dnevno. Kao najzastupljeniji medij djeca su navela televizor, zatim slijedi tablet, mobitel, igraće konzole i računalo. Od ukupnog broja ispitanika, 87% izjasnilo se kako su najčešće gledali animirane crtiće. Zabrinjavajuće situacije osim provođenja previše vremena uz elektroničke medije su i te da pojedina djeca gledaju sadržaje ispred malih ekrana sama te da ne razgovaraju o odgledanom sadržaju sa starijima, što je veoma bitno zbog neprimjerenih sadržaja s kojima se mogu susresti. Usprkos toga što mediji nude veliki izbor sadržaja, djeca svoje slobodno vrijeme provode uz igru sa svojim igračkama.From an early age, children are exposed to the media, and they shape children's thinking, behavior and way of communicating, and thus they have a great influence on the child's upbringing and education from an early age. It is children and adolescents who are considered a particularly sensitive type of media audience because they do not have sufficiently developed emotional, cognitive and moral abilities and are in the phase of building attitudes, adopting and constantly adapting to socialization frameworks and behavioral norms. Although the three main tasks of the media are very often emphasized - to inform, to form and to entertain - their negative aspects are also often mentioned. The positive sides of media include developing writing skills, children can learn to write the letters of the alphabet with the help of various educational video games and applications. Media also encourages the development of creativity, learning to count, and playing video games with friends and family members can help them master and respect role-playing and develop cooperative skills. In addition to all these positive aspects, children can also see violence on the screen, watch programs with inappropriate content for their age, and do various challenges that are offered on YouTube. During the COVID-19 pandemic, electronic media have become an indispensable part of children's lives. The paper presents an analysis of the results collected by a survey that examined preschool children aged five to seven. The research is based on the determination of media use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the time of media use now. The analysis showed that before the pandemic, the largest number of children spent up to two hours in front of the screen, and during the pandemic, even now, this amount has increased to more than two hours a day. Children cited television as the most represented medium, followed by tablets, mobile phones, game consoles and a computer. Out of the total number of respondents, 87% declared that they most often watched animated cartoons. Worrying situations besides spending too much time with electronic media are also that some children watch content in front of small screens alone, and that they do not discuss the viewed content with their elders, which is very important because of the inappropriate content they may encounter. Even though the media offers a wide variety of content, children spend their free time playing with their toys