Investigating children's interactions in preschool classrooms: An overview of research using automated sensing technologies

New technologies that combine digital sensors with automated processing algorithms are now being deployed to study preschool classrooms. This article provides an overview of these new sensing technologies, focusing on automated speaker classification, the analysis of children's and teachers' speech, and the detection and analysis of their movements over the course of the school day. Findings from recent studies utilizing these technologies are presented to illustrate the contribution of these sensing technologies to our understanding of classroom processes that predict children's language and social development. In particular, the potential to collect extended real-time data on the speech and movement of all children and teachers in a classroom provides a broader window on the variability of individual children's interactions with peers and teachers and their integration into classroom social networks. The article describes current challenges related to the use of sensing technologies in preschool settings, as well as advances that may overcome these challenges and allow for more in-depth investigations of children's early classroom experiences.

Automated summary

This article provides an overview of new technologies that combine digital sensors with automated processing algorithms to study preschool classrooms. It focuses on automated speaker classification, the analysis of children's and teachers' speech, and the detection and analysis of their movements. These sensing technologies contribute to our understanding of classroom processes that predict children's language and social development by collecting extended real-time data. However, there are current challenges related to the use of sensing technologies in preschool settings that need to be overcome for more in-depth investigations of children's early classroom experiences.