DigiLEP | Research | National College of Ireland

DigiLEP is a national research project being carried out by the Centre for Education and Lifelong Learning (CELL) Research team at NCI.

DigiLEP at NCI

Learn more about the DigiLEP research project at NCI.

What is DigiLEP?

Digital Literacy in Early childhood education and Care Practice (DigiLEP) is a national research project exploring the Digital competencies of Irish early childhood educators and their attitudes and engagement with digital technologies in their everyday practice. It focuses on the practical, pedagogical, and professional use of digital tools in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings.

The outcomes of this research is to support Irish policy development in this area.

Objectives

To describe the current use of digital technology in everyday ECEC practice.
To identify gaps in digital competencies and capacities using the Digital Competence Framework.
To explore educators’ attitudes and perceived challenges in using digital technology in ECEC settings.

Why research Digital literacy of Early childhood Educators?

Children are growing up in digital worlds. Digital technology plays a significant role in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) practice. International research shows that digital tools come with benefits and risks. The benefits include improving young children's learning STEM skills, creativity, and inclusion, where as the risks include excessive exposure to screen time and unsupervised access to the internet. A child-centred and reflective pedagogical approach is essential for meaningful integration of digital technology in ECEC practice. Research in Ireland shows similar findings.

National strategies increasingly emphasise digital literacy from an early age. Young Ireland (Government of Ireland, 2023), Digital Learning 2020 (Department of Education and Skills, 2020), and the Aistear update (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, 2022) all recognise digital competence as a foundation for children’s learning and participation. Feerick et al. (2022) also highlights the need for stronger digital pedagogy and professional support across Irish ECEC settings.

DigiLEP uses this Irish and international research to explore how ECEC educators in Ireland use digital technology in their daily practice. The project outcomes include to indicate what support educators need to access and use digital tools effectively, and equitably for all children.

What is DigiLEP research project using to investigate?

DigiLEP uses a mixed-methods, pragmatic design combining quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative phase applies an adapted version of the SELFIE for Teachers tool (Economou, 2023a, 2023b) to assess educators’ digital competencies, capacities, and attitudes. Over 200 early childhood educators across Ireland will complete the online survey.

The qualitative phase includes four focus group discussions with a volunteer sample of educators to explore everyday experiences, challenges, and benefits of digital technologies in ECEC practice.

If you are an Early Childhood Educator – How can you participate in this research?

We invite you to take part in our Irish SELFIE survey (also available in ‘Irish’). Your insights will help shape future supports and policy in Ireland.

Takes approximately 25–35 minutes
Available in English and Irish (Gaeilge)
You can access the survey by scanning the following QR Code or by clicking on the link below.

Project Metanode at NCI

What are the expected outcomes from this research project?

Develop an evidence based framework for developing a National Level Policy on Digital technology for Early Childhood Practice
Provide Trends on the pedagogical use of Digital technology in early Childhood Practice
Identify Barriers and evidence based solutions to integrating safe use of digital tech in practice.

Funding

This project is funded by POBAL on behalf of the Department of Children, Equality and Disability (DCDE) under the 2025 Programme for Support Organisations to Early Learning and Care/School Age ChildCare and Childminding Sector.

Project Metanode at NCI

Meet the DigiLEP Team & Resources

Meet the members of the CELL team who are delivering this project. We have also highlighted some links and references that you might find useful.

Dr Meera Oke

Dr Meera Oke,
Principal Investigator, Centre for Education and Lifelong Learning (CELL), National College of Ireland

Dr Meera Oke is a widely experienced lecturer and researcher in Early Childhood Education and Care. Her work focuses on educator professional development, digital literacy, and the integration of research and policy in early learning contexts. Dr Oke leads the DigiLEP project, supporting national efforts to strengthen digital competence in the Irish ECEC sector.

Busra Gultekin

Busra Gultekin,
Research Assistant, Centre for Education and Lifelong Learning (CELL), National College of Ireland

Busra Gultekin is an experienced researcher with a background in early childhood education and mixed-methods research. Her work focuses on digital literacy, educator engagement, and data analysis to support evidence-based practice in the ECEC. She contributes to survey coordination, focus group facilitation, and stakeholder communication for the DigiLEP project.

Additional Resources

Websites

Professors at Play. (2024). Professors at Play. https://professorsatplay.org/
Play Story Press. (2024). Play Story Press. https://playstorypress.org/

Both websites and their content are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Journals and Papers

Bohnert, M., & Gracia, P. (2020). Emerging digital generations? Impacts of child digital use on mental and socioemotional well-being across two cohorts in Ireland, 2007–2018. Child Indicators Research, 13, 1107–1132. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-020-09767-z
Department of Education and Skills. (2020). Digital learning 2020: Reporting on practice in Early Learning and Care, primary and post-primary contexts. https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/digital-learning-2020-reporting-on-practice-in-early-learning-and-care-primary-and-pos.pdf
Department of Education and Youth (2023) Irelands’s Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy 2024-2033 – Every Learner from Birth to Young Adulthood https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/publications/literacy-numeracy-and-digital-literacy-strategy/#irelands-literacy-numeracy-and-digital-literacy-strategy-2024-2033-every-learner-from-birth-to-young-adulthood-and-5-year-implementation-plan
Economou, A. (2023a). SELFIEforTEACHERS: Designing and developing a self-reflection tool for teachers’ digital competence (EUR 31475 EN). Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2760/561258
Economou, A. (2023b). SELFIEforTEACHERS toolkit: Using SELFIEforTEACHERS (EUR 31151 EN). Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2760/626409
Feerick, E., Clerkin, A., & Cosgrove, J. (2022). Teachers’ understanding of the concept of ‘embedding’ digital technology in education. Irish Educational Studies, 41(1), 27–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/03323315.2021.2022521
Government of Ireland. (2023). Young Ireland: National policy framework for children and young people 2023–2028. Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. https://www.cypsc.ie/_fileupload/Documents/homepage/young-ireland-2023-2028.pdf
OECD. (2025). How’s life for children in the digital age? OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/0854b900-en
Redecker, C. (2017). European framework for the digital competence of educators: DigCompEdu (Y. Punie, Ed.; EUR 28775 EN). Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2760/159770