Early Childhood Educational Software: Specific Features and Issues of Localization.

EARLY childhood education; COMPUTERS & children; USER interfaces software; SOFTWARE localization; EDUCATIONAL technology research; DEVELOPMENTALLY appropriate education; EARLY childhood educators; COMPUTER software usability; EQUIPMENT & supplies

The computer has now become a recognized tool in the education of young children and when used appropriately can reinforce their learning experiences. This paper reviews specific features (relating to pedagogic design, software content and user-interface design) of early childhood educational software and discusses issues in favor of its localization. Specific features in favor of its localization include the dominance of pictures, animation and sound, the culture-independent content and the neutrality of graphical, interface and story-line features. Children’s software worth being adapted to fit another country’s curriculum needs to be developmentally appropriate. The quality of the software will need to be combined with other factors, such as the role of the teacher, in order to contribute to young children’s learning and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Early Childhood Education Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)