About the project

ViduKids – Video Education for Kindergarten Mathematics

Early childhood mathematics is in the international spotlight. The recent release of the PISA study has forced many countries to reconsider their curricula and pedagogical approaches as results have either stagnated or declined. This leads to an international systematisation in education a global standards movement with a shift in policy focus from educational inputs to learning outcomes, and an increase in educational measurement, which can result in the ‘schoolification’ of preschool education and moves away from play-based pedagogies. Early childhood professionals meet this tendency with scepticism. They prefer a play-based approach rooted in children’s everyday life experiences.

ViduKids is contributing to this discussion with innovative pedagogical methods that are taken from the ideas within the rich technology ecosystem that surrounds video production. Video is a very motivating tool and brings in many different facets compared to conventional tools. The moving images can help to illustrate mathematical concepts like space, numbers and shapes and can easily connect them with the real world. However, video production by kindergarten children is a very new approach and was never before tried in the field of mathematics.

The core idea of ViduKids is that children themselves become an active part of the video production process. In this process, using creative thinking, mathematical content will be reworked
and visualised. In this approach:

• Children will playfully discover mathematical concepts like space, numbers and shapes
• Children will document their ideas and discoveries themselves on video
• Other children will be engaged as viewers of the videos
• Children will be given ample opportunities for self-reflection
• Early childhood educators will support the children appropriately; in particular provide ideas and examples, and technical support
• The ideas will be developed further with early childhood educators from other EU countries
• Early childhood educators will be the interface to reach the learners and the project will take great care to address and include them appropriately.

Target groups

• Preschool children age 3-6 years
• Early childhood educators/teachers
• Preschool children’s parents
• The general public

Core objectives

1. Foster play-based pedagogy and a dynamic learning concept
2. Develop video-based methods for early mathematics education
3. Offer clear pedagogical frameworks
4. Work across Europe

Partners

The five project partners are experts in

1. early mathematics education and early arts education (Dronning Mauds Minne Høgskolen),
2. media education and video production (Kulturring in Berlin),
3. teacher education (Universidade de Coimbra),
4. project management (Eurek@), and
5. early childhood pedagogy and practice (Vrtec Mavrica Brežice).