만 5세 유아들의 놀이 속 3D 프린터 탐색 및 활용 경험에 대한 질적 연구

A Qualitative Study on 5-Year-Old Children’s Experiences with Exploration and Utilization of 3D Printers in Their Play Context

This study aimed to investigate experiences of 5-year-old children in exploring and utilizing 3D printers to make play materials they needed in the context of their play. The participants were a total of eight children, aged 5, from a child care center and the data collection period of this qualitative research using participant observations was from May to September of 2016. The results of this study indicated possibilities that children could actively utilize new technology with a sense of agency. The young children explored 3D printers by meeting an expert in a visit to a local center related to 3D printing technology and then making designs for 3D play materials based on their understandings and representation of the 3-dimensional ‘solid’ expression. The participating children were capable of recognizing the functions of 3D printers and software programs, scaffolded by their teacher and researchers. The findings of this study suggest that the new technology should be meaningfully experienced via activities in which young children can actively participate and take initiatives. Furthermore, it is suggested that activities involving 3D printing in the field of early childhood education would open to a wide variety of possibilities for a broad range of technologies.