Using Tangible Objects in Early Childhood Classrooms: A Study of Macau Pre-Service Teachers

Tangible objects are devices that connect physical objects and digital worlds through tangible user interfaces. With the availability of tangible objects in the market, teacher education courses should be updated to provide opportunities for pre-service teachers to engage in digital environments; by these means, they can make more informed decisions about their teaching. This paper explores the views of pre-service teachers regarding the use of tangible objects to facilitate early childhood learning, from within the framework of the theory of planned behaviour. The participants were teacher candidates specialising in early childhood education in a teacher-education programme in Macau. Various tangible objects in the market were presented to them and they were invited to design a lesson with them. After their implementation in a real classroom, the candidates' views on the value of and problems attending the use of tangible objects; these data were collected through open-ended questions. Content analysis was conducted to elucidate their views. The teacher candidates seemed to appreciate this modality but, at the same time, expressed concern regarding the new challenges of using tangible objects in their classroom.