Multimedia in preschool: an additional opportunity towards equal opportunities in education

The objectives of this practice-based project are threefold. Firstly, it investigates how multimedia literacy of preschool children (3 to 5 year olds) can be stimulated. Secondly, it aims at understanding the influence of multimedia literacy on their world exploration. Do children exhibit a higher level of wellbeing, involvement, active language skills, social competence, self-regulation, creativity and artistic expression while exploring the world? Thirdly, the potential of multimedia to support the children’s personal development is assessed, with particular emphasis on young children with extra needs. The results show that the creativity of children on average is growing when they have the possibility to explore the world using audio-visual materials. Furthermore, the research shows that children with externalizing behaviour benefit from audio-visual input. They demonstrate a higher wellbeing and involvement. On the other hand the wellbeing of children with internalizing behaviour will benefit from additional teacher support.