Parent and family engagement has long been a significant element in early childhood (EC) education. Lack of family involvement can lead to a number of consequences in children’s physical and emotional development. However, attempts and strategies used by early learning centres and childcare centres to resolve this issue are often unsuccessful. Face-to-face interactions as the traditional way of communication are becoming inadequate due to parents and families’ busy schedules. Through interviews with 17 participants, including EC professionals and parents, from three childcare centres in Northern Tasmania, Australia, the project being reported in this paper explored the readiness of the two stakeholder groups to use social media tools to facilitate better communication, collaboration and family involvement. Findings of the research revealed an interest in adopting social media tools by both EC professionals and parents. Concerns were also expressed from a number of aspects, such as confidentiality and time constraints.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	early childhood education, social media, communication, collaboration
Research Division:	Education
Research Group:	Education Systems
Research Field:	Early Childhood Education (excl. Maori)
Objective Division:	Education and Training
Objective Group:	Other Education and Training
Objective Field:	Education and Training not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Fan, S (Dr Frances Fan)
UTAS Author:	Yost, H (Mrs Helen Yost)
ID Code:	125551
Year Published:	2018
Web of Science® Times Cited:	1
Deposited By:	Education
Deposited On:	2018-04-23
Last Modified:	2019-01-10
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