REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1540169
This article is part of the Research TopicCoding, Computational Thinking, Robotics, and ICT in Early Childhood: Education, Planning, Implementation and EvaluationView all articles
The Impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on Learning Outcomes in Early Childhood and Primary Education: A Meta-Analysis of Moderating Factors
Provisionally accepted
- 1Xihua University, School of music and dance, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
- 2School of Education Science, GuangXi Minzu Normal University, Chongzuo, China
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The role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in fostering the learning and development of young children and primary school students has become a pivotal focus in contemporary education. This study adopts a meta-analytic approach to systematically synthesize and evaluate findings from 30 recently published studies on the use of ICT in early childhood and primary education. The analysis reveals that ICT has a significant positive effect on student learning, particularly in enhancing language skills (effect size = 0.24) and subject knowledge acquisition (effect size = 0.59). Additionally, the analysis highlights the moderating effects of variables such as intervention duration and application type, emphasizing the need for context-specific implementation strategies. A random-effects model was employed to account for between-study variability, providing robust empirical evidence to inform the design and application of ICT in basic education. The study further recommends that future research prioritize the development of tailored digital resources, the evaluation of long-term impacts, and the exploration of contextual adaptability to fully realize the potential of ICT in enhancing the learning and development of young children and primary school students.
Keywords: Information and Communication Technology1, early childhood education2, primary education3, Student Learning and Development4, Meta-analysis5
Received: 13 Dec 2024; Accepted: 02 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ruijia, Li and Xuemei. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zuo Ruijia, Xihua University, School of music and dance, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
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