A Study on the Pre-service Early Childhood Teachers' Perceptions of Digital Media Literacy: with a focus on metaphor analysis and FGI

Objectives This study explored pre-service early childhood teachers' perceptions of digital media literacy through metaphor analysis and sought to gain implications for preservice teacher education. Methods For this purpose, D and K also conducted a survey of 157 students in the Department of Childhood and Early Childhood Education. The metaphor analysis questionnaire consisted of the following sentences: ‘Digital media literacy of early childhood teachers is . Because .’ The questionnaire consisted of the following statements. To ensure the validity of the metaphor analysis results, FGIs were conducted with eight participants, and the survey and interview data were categorized according to Moser's (2000) methodological procedures. Results Pre-service early childhood teachers most often perceive digital media literacy as an important and essential skill for teachers because it enables them to guide children and young people in the appropriate use of digital media. On the other hand, they are concerned that the increased importance of digital media literacy competencies will increase their responsibilities and burdens as teachers. Conclusions This study suggests that pre-service early childhood teacher education programs should be supplemented to ensure that pre-service early childhood teachers have a sound understanding of digital media literacy and to address their fears about building digital media literacy competencies.