Research Article

Early Childhood in the Digital Era: A Systematic Review

Volume: 11 Number: 1 March 15, 2026
EN TR

Early Childhood in the Digital Era: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The fact that children are using technology at an earlier age has changed the type of people expected in the modern age and revealed 21st-century skills. Ease of access to digital tools, such as tablets, computers, phones, and smartboards, as well as technological developments, such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and coding, raise important questions about the effects of digital technologies on children's development and educational processes. This study aims to synthesize existing literature and identify knowledge gaps by systematically examining the use and impact of digital technologies in early childhood in Türkiye. The YÖK National Thesis Center and DergiPark national databases were searched for studies on the use of digital technologies in early childhood in Türkiye between 2019 and 2024, and 110 studies were included in the analysis. The results showed that most of the studies were conducted in 2021 and were part of master's theses. The most frequently used method was the quantitative method, and the most frequently used design was the correlational survey. Teachers and parents were the most frequently studied group. Topics addressed in this study include "Digital Technology and Education," "Digital Technology and Children," "Digital Technology and Parents," and "Digital Technology and Teachers/Pre-Service Teachers." The most frequently studied topics are parents' and teachers' attitudes toward technology, teachers' technology self-efficacy, technology use in the classroom, technopedagogical content knowledge, children's technology addiction, and children's social-emotional development.

Keywords

Ethical Statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest in this study. RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION ETHICS STATEMENT The authors declare that research and publication ethics are followed in this study. AUTHOR LIABILITY STATEMENT The authors declare that the “Conceptual Framework, Method Design, Research, Data Analysis and Software, Gathering Sources, Post Draft, Review and Editing, Visualization, Project Management” parts of this work were done by Res. Asst. Semanur SANCILI, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gülçin GÜVEN, Res. Asst. Tunahan KARAARSLAN. GENERATIVE AI USE DECLARATION The author declares that GenAI tools (ChatGPT) were used in this study for “Language editing/checking” purposes.

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Early Childhood Education

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

March 15, 2026

Submission Date

July 28, 2025

Acceptance Date

February 5, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 11 Number: 1

APA
Sancılı, S., Güven, G., & Karaarslan, T. (2026). Early Childhood in the Digital Era: A Systematic Review. The Journal of Limitless Education and Research, 11(1), 58-90. https://doi.org/10.29250/sead.1752524
AMA
1.Sancılı S, Güven G, Karaarslan T. Early Childhood in the Digital Era: A Systematic Review. J-LER. 2026;11(1):58-90. doi:10.29250/sead.1752524
Chicago
Sancılı, Semanur, Gülçin Güven, and Tunahan Karaarslan. 2026. “Early Childhood in the Digital Era: A Systematic Review”. The Journal of Limitless Education and Research 11 (1): 58-90. https://doi.org/10.29250/sead.1752524.
EndNote
Sancılı S, Güven G, Karaarslan T (March 1, 2026) Early Childhood in the Digital Era: A Systematic Review. The Journal of Limitless Education and Research 11 1 58–90.
IEEE
[1]S. Sancılı, G. Güven, and T. Karaarslan, “Early Childhood in the Digital Era: A Systematic Review”, J-LER, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 58–90, Mar. 2026, doi: 10.29250/sead.1752524.
ISNAD
Sancılı, Semanur - Güven, Gülçin - Karaarslan, Tunahan. “Early Childhood in the Digital Era: A Systematic Review”. The Journal of Limitless Education and Research 11/1 (March 1, 2026): 58-90. https://doi.org/10.29250/sead.1752524.
JAMA
1.Sancılı S, Güven G, Karaarslan T. Early Childhood in the Digital Era: A Systematic Review. J-LER. 2026;11:58–90.
MLA
Sancılı, Semanur, et al. “Early Childhood in the Digital Era: A Systematic Review”. The Journal of Limitless Education and Research, vol. 11, no. 1, Mar. 2026, pp. 58-90, doi:10.29250/sead.1752524.
Vancouver
1.Semanur Sancılı, Gülçin Güven, Tunahan Karaarslan. Early Childhood in the Digital Era: A Systematic Review. J-LER. 2026 Mar. 1;11(1):58-90. doi:10.29250/sead.1752524

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