By Michael Hilkemeijer

 

 

 

 

Scaffolding In ECE

 

What Is Scaffolding in Early Childhood Education and Why Does It Matter for Technology Use?

When Talia first discovered this article, she was a new early childhood educator who felt uneasy about using digital technology in her preschool classroom. She’d heard of scaffolding in early childhood education, but wasn’t sure how it worked when applied to tablets, Bee Bots, or coding activities.

 

Her breakthrough didn’t come from a workshop—it began right here. Through a growing understanding of scaffolding, and with ongoing support from the ICT in Education Teacher Academy, Talia moved from offering hesitant help to confidently guiding her children through rich, meaningful ICT learning. This is her journey—and yours too, if you're asking how to better support children’s learning through technology today.

 

 

Let’s start with clarity. The definition of scaffolding in early childhood education is the thoughtful, intentional support educators give to children as they learn new skills or navigate new concepts—especially when they can’t complete a task alone yet. This support is gradually withdrawn as competence builds.

 

When integrating ICT, scaffolding in ECE helps young learners:

• Gain confidence with unfamiliar tools

• Stay motivated through trial-and-error

• Understand digital tools as purposeful learning resources

• Connect play with problem-solving and curiosity

 

In digital learning, scaffolding in preschool and scaffolding in childcare settings means showing children how, supporting their thinking, and then stepping back just enough to watch them apply their learning.

 

 

 

What Do Scaffolded ICT Teaching Strategies Actually Look Like?

As Talia learned, there are many types of scaffolding in education that apply directly to early childhood settings. These include:

• Show and Tell – Demonstrate how to use a digital tool or software.

• Tapping into Prior Knowledge – “Have you used something like this before?”

• Pre-teaching Vocabulary – Teach terms like keyboard, cursor, icon.

• Visual Aids – Use images, symbols, or icons alongside verbal instructions.

• Open-Ended Questions – “What do you think will happen when…?”

 

These are not just abstract ideas—they’re scaffolding examples in the classroom that Talia used daily, especially when introducing programmable toys, drawing apps, or digital storytelling tools.

 

 

 

How Did Talia Move from Guided to Independent Technology Teaching?

Talia’s transformation in understanding scaffolding in early childhood education didn’t come from a one-off training. It was built step-by-step—just like the very scaffolding she was learning to provide to her children.

 

Through her membership in the ICT in Education Teacher Academy, Talia gradually moved from uncertainty to confidence. She didn’t just implement ICT activities—she learned how to differentiate her support, monitor progress, and promote children’s independence with technology.

 

Here’s how that journey unfolded:

🟢 Step 1: Recognising the Role of the Educator in Digital Play

In the beginning, Talia saw technology as something children needed to figure out or be shown. She often hovered—unsure if she was doing too much or too little.

Through the Adoption stage resources in the membership workbook, she reflected on:

• How much support she was offering

• When to model versus when to prompt

• What learning outcomes she wanted the children to achieve beyond just “using a device”

This reflection helped her shift her thinking: Scaffolding was not about control—it was about connection. Her role was not to lead or follow but to guide with intention.

 

 

 

🟢 Step 2: Where She Started – Building a Foundation Through Modelling

Talia chose to begin with a simple ICT tool: a digital drawing program. She wanted to help children develop basic ICT capability while fostering creative expression.

Her initial scaffolding strategy included:

• Modelling step-by-step how to open the program, choose a brush, and draw

• Narrating her actions aloud to build digital vocabulary (“I’m clicking the blue brush because I want to draw the sky”)

• Giving each child a turn while remaining close to guide their hand or mouse if needed

She noticed some children became reliant on her presence. That’s when she turned to the Critical Reflection section of the workbook and asked: Am I giving too much support? How can I encourage them to try independently?

 

 

 

🟢 Step 3: How She Strengthened Her Practice – Introducing Scaffolded Choice and Language

With support from the TPK section of the membership workbook, Talia began to adjust her scaffolding. Instead of showing everything, she shifted to guided questioning and intentional prompts.

She moved from:

• “Click here to change colour”
  To:

• “What do you think this button might do? Try it and see.”

She also:

• Introduced peer support by pairing confident users with new learners

• Created visual cue cards with icons for key functions (e.g., save, undo, new)

• Used encouraging language like “Tell me what you’re planning to draw” to encourage verbal reasoning and planning before action

This supported both digital literacy and language development, all while fostering greater autonomy.

 

 

 

🟢 Step 4: How She Knew When to Step Back – Observing for Independence

Talia began recognising moments when children no longer needed her close presence. She had scaffolded their confidence.

She used the “Reflection Field” in the workbook’s lesson planning template to ask:

• Did children attempt tasks before seeking help?

• Were they explaining or demonstrating to peers?

• Could they transfer skills to a different app or tool?

She documented examples like:

• A child switching from drawing to typing their name—without asking for help

• Another child teaching their peer how to use the colour selector tool

At this point, her scaffolding shifted from active to observational. She was building independence by stepping back, not out.

 

 

 

🟢 Step 5: How She Advanced Her Understanding – Strategic Scaffolding for Higher Order Thinking

With the foundation in place, Talia used more complex activities like problem-solving with Bee Bots and outdoor digital storytelling to extend children’s thinking.

She scaffolded children’s higher order thinking by:

• Prompting prediction: “What will happen if we program the Bee Bot to go two steps forward?”

• Encouraging speculation: “What could this sound remind us of in our story?”

• Introducing reflection: “What did you learn about using the recording tool?”

At this point, her scaffolding wasn’t about task completion—it was about developing processes, reasoning, and autonomy.

This shift reflected true growth in her TPACK framework—balancing content, pedagogy, and technology with confidence.

 

 

 

🟢 Step 6: Sharing and Reflecting with Peers – Reinforcing Her Own Scaffolding Growth

By the time Talia reached this point, she wasn’t just implementing technology—she was modelling best practice for colleagues.

She shared her lesson reflections in the membership community, posted her scaffolded planning templates, and asked for feedback.

Her contributions helped others see that scaffolding in education isn’t a one-size-fits-all technique—it’s a responsive, thoughtful strategy that shifts depending on the learner, the activity, and the goal.

 

 

 

What Are Some Effective Scaffolding Activities for Preschoolers Using Technology?

One of the most common questions early childhood educators ask is: How can I find age-appropriate ICT activities for early years that support scaffolding?

 

Inside the ICT in Education Teacher Academy, members like Talia gain access to a growing library of scaffolding activities for preschoolers that are aligned with the EYLF, designed for practical classroom use, and enhanced by community discussion and feedback.

 

Here are just a few ICT activities for early years that include built-in opportunities for scaffolding:

• Digital Nature Walk and Photography – Children capture images of nature, then reflect on patterns, shapes, and textures using drawing and slideshow tools.

• Outdoor Digital Storytelling – Children record nature sounds and narrate original stories using apps like Book Creator.

• Drawing with Bee Bots – Children code programmable toys to draw abstract patterns, combining creativity with sequencing.

• Turning the Bee Bot into a Butterfly – A themed coding adventure where children navigate the Bee Bot to visit “flowers” created by peers.

• Learning About Computers – Children explore computer parts and practice using a mouse and keyboard through guided hands-on play.

• Sorting Animals with Word Processors – Children use digital tools to sort photos of pets, practicing classification and digital literacy.

 

All of these are not only hands-on and engaging—they are rich with scaffolding potential when implemented with intentional support and reflection.

 

 

 

 

How Did Talia Scaffold Children’s Learning With Two Key Activities?

🌿 Example 1: Outdoor Digital Storytelling with Nature Sounds

At first, Talia wasn’t sure how to scaffold storytelling without doing too much of the work for her learners. But after consulting the TPK section of the membership workbook, she realized that effective scaffolding could be woven into each stage of the activity—from setup to reflection.

Here’s how she did it:

Before the activity:

• Talia used a group discussion to tap into prior knowledge, asking: “What sounds do we hear when we go outside?”

• She showed a video tutorial from the membership playlist on how another educator used Book Creator for similar storytelling.

During the activity:

• She modelled how to use the audio app, showing children how to press ‘record’ and listen to playback.

• As they gathered sounds, she scaffolded with encouragement and prompting:
  “What do you think this sound reminds you of?”
  “How could you turn that into a story?”

• Children began adding narration to their recordings. For those unsure, Talia used positive questioning and reciprocation:
  “You said that sounded like the wind blowing in a cave. What could happen in that cave?”

After the activity:

• Using the Critical Reflection prompts in the workbook, she assessed how scaffolding impacted children’s engagement.

• She posted her experience in the member community and received feedback from another educator who suggested adding images to support visual learners next time.

Result: Children developed both language and digital expression, and Talia learned how to scaffold oral storytelling through open-ended dialogue and gradual release of responsibility.

🧩 Example 2: Sorting Animals Using a Word Processor

This digital classification activity supported ICT capability and early science skills—but what made it transformative was how Talia scaffolded children’s learning throughout.

Before the activity:

• Talia invited children to bring photos of their pets or find images with adult help.

• She demonstrated how to insert a table in a word processor, narrating her thinking aloud as she went:
  “I’m going to make a space for ‘dogs’ and another for ‘cats’. Now where should I place this picture?”

During the activity:

• Some children struggled to click and drag photos. Instead of jumping in, Talia provided visual prompts, slowed her pace, and said:
  “Try again—watch where your mouse is. Can you line it up with the corner of the picture?”

• For advanced learners, she suggested adding a label using the keyboard, scaffolding literacy by asking children to type the first letter of the pet's name and helping them sound it out.

After the activity:

• Children presented their sorted animals to the group. Talia used open-ended reflection questions:
  “How did the computer help us learn about animals today?”
  “What else could we use a table for?”

• She logged her observations in the membership workbook, noting how each child responded to different levels of support.

Result: Talia provided differentiated scaffolding, supporting emerging motor skills and digital literacy while encouraging deeper conceptual understanding of classification.

 

 

 

 

How Does the Membership Workbook Scaffold Educators Just Like We Scaffold Children?

As Talia progressed, she realised something powerful: the same way she scaffolded learning for children using ICT tools, the ICT in Education Teacher Academy membership was scaffolding her as an educator.

 

That support came to life through the membership workbook—a structured, step-by-step tool that gave her the guidance, reflection opportunities, and confidence she needed to transform her practice.

If you’ve ever asked:

• *What is scaffolding in teaching—*for educators?

• How can I build my confidence to scaffold children’s digital learning?

• What support is available for implementing ICT activities for early years in meaningful ways?

Then the workbook is the answer.

 

What Makes the Workbook a Scaffold for Educators?

The membership workbook doesn’t just offer information—it mirrors the best scaffolding strategies in early childhood education by providing:

• Clear direction and expectations – It helps educators plan lessons aligned with EYLF outcomes, using ICT thoughtfully and intentionally.

• Gradual release of responsibility – It builds members’ ICT confidence in stages, guiding them from basic implementation to transformative practice.

• Motivation and momentum – Through self-assessments, TPACK reflections, and progress tracking, members can see their growth and stay motivated.

• Responsive support – Just like Talia responded to children’s needs in real-time, the workbook includes reflection prompts and planning adjustments to help educators adapt as they go.

It’s more than a document. It’s a professional scaffold.

 

 

 

How Talia Used the Workbook to Support Her Scaffolding in the Classroom

Talia didn’t just read the workbook—she used it to reflect, apply, and intentionally scaffold learning through every ICT activity she planned.

For example:

• When designing her sorting animals activity, she used the custom lesson planning template to align the task with EYLF outcome 5.5 and identify what scaffolding strategies she would use for different ability levels.

• After her outdoor digital storytelling session, she completed the Critical Reflection pages, asking: How did the ICT tool support content learning? What scaffolding strategies were most effective?

 

Each time Talia used the workbook, she was scaffolded to scaffold others—growing not only her TPACK knowledge but also her ability to support children's learning meaningfully.

 

 

 

What Should You Do Now to Scaffold Children’s Learning with ICT?

Ask yourself: Where are my children in their digital learning journey? What kind of support do they need from me today?

Use these steps as your starting point:

• Choose one activity from our Preschool Technology Activities in the membership.

• Use the planning templates to map out your scaffolding strategies.

• Track children’s responses with observation tools.

• Reflect using the workbook prompts.

• Share and adapt with peers in the membership community.

 

 

 

How Did This Impact Talia’s Professional Growth and Teaching Knowledge?

Through these activities, Talia developed more than classroom confidence—she experienced TPACK growth through reflective practice.

Using the membership workbook as her guide, she built:

• Technological Knowledge (TK): She confidently selected and used apps and digital tools for age-appropriate learning outcomes.

• Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK): She refined her scaffolding approach to balance support and independence, using strategies like prompting, modelling, and questioning.

• Technological Content Knowledge (TCK): She aligned technology with learning outcomes—using Book Creator to support storytelling, and word processors to explore scientific classification.

• TPCK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge): She orchestrated all three elements—content, pedagogy, and technology—into seamless, effective teaching experiences.

 

Her journey was mapped through the reflection templates, Wisdom Tool, and shared feedback in the community discussions, all built into the ICT in Education Teacher Academy membership.

What Should You Do Now to Scaffold Children’s Learning with ICT?

Ask yourself: Where are my children in their digital learning journey? What kind of support do they need from me today?

Use these steps as your starting point:

• Choose one activity from our Preschool Technology Activities in the membership.

• Use the planning templates to map out your scaffolding strategies.

• Track children’s responses with observation tools.

• Reflect using the workbook prompts.

• Share and adapt with peers in the membership community.

So, What Is the Best Way to Scaffold Learning in Digital Play?

It’s not just about knowing the scaffolding meaning in education. It’s about using the right strategy, at the right moment, with the right tool. It’s about responding, not rescuing. Guiding, not giving answers.

And like Talia, you’ll soon see that children not only become capable with ICT—they become confident thinkers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scaffolding in the Primary Classroom

 

The Best Way to Scaffold in the Primary Classroom

There are many challenges and benefits to scaffolding in primary education. It can be time-consuming, there may even be inappropriate modelling and also lack of personnel. However, scaffolding learning still remains beneficial in the 21^st century classroom especially when it comes to developing student ICT capability in primary education with ICT.

 

So what is educational scaffolding? It is to do with how you adjust the route of learning for an individual student. You aim when scaffolding learning is to help that child to be able to solve a problem, carry out a task, or achieve a goal.

 

When ICT is involved, the level of complexity can be different if not challenging at times. The same principles still apply and in the following sections, I will explain how this can be achieved when integrating ICT in meaningful context-driven activities and in such a way that it will develop student ICT capability.

 

I will also explain how scaffolding in primary education can be achieved through the affordances of the learning environment in relation to the development of ICT capability.

 

Affordances take into account the whole learning environment. It includes you as the teacher, the other resources, the other students, the cultural context, student prior knowledge, the opportunities offered by the technology, and the structural and constraining features of the problem to solve.

 

When scaffolding in primary education in relation to ICT integration, it is important then that you understand the role of ICT in the activity and you set clear goals for its use.

 

Additionally, you need to remember that the teacher as a scaffolder in primary education has an impact on student ICT learning. Scaffolded learning is directed linked to the level of ICT capability that you have as a teacher. The higher the level of ICT capability you may have the more natural it will be for you to scaffold instruction for children that will develop their ICT capability.

 

This is why when you plan to use ICT in the lesson activities that you take into account the children’s ICT capabilities. Not all will have sufficient skills. You will need to identify what they should be expecting in terms of routines, ICT techniques, concepts, processes, and higher order thinking skills.

 

The development of ICT capability is super important in primary education as there are four levels of progression in the ICT Capability Learning Continuum placed within the charge of teachers. Here are my tips when scaffolding in teaching ICT capability today.

 

 

 

4 Ways to Scaffold Learning in ICT Capability

 

Adult support

Sometimes you may be lucky to have additional adult support when teaching ICT-based activities. When you do, you need to consider how to best use this support.

It is a good idea to brief the adult helper on the technical aspects of the hardware or software to be used. Then, if you know the level of ICT capability of the children well enough, you should be able to determine who will need additional challenges. It will also involve the teacher as a scaffolder differentiating your support according to grouping the children.

 

 

Using your record to plan, target and focus

After you have applied formative assessment strategies to determine the level of capabilities in ICT, it is important that you use these records to re-focus your teaching in the subsequent activities. For example, if you find that you have overestimated the capabilities of the children, in their next project or activity you can scaffold learning more carefully to provide more opportunities to build the children’s skills and develop their routines and ICT techniques.

 

Leave a gap for learning to occur

The Zone of Proximal Development suggests that there must be a gap to bridge between the child’s abilities and the requirements of the problem situation if learning is to occur. You must reduce the gap by adding affordances of the environment where learning occurs such as:

• Providing information sheet to assist in the use of the software.
• Demonstrating clearly on a big screen of the actions to be followed.
• Asking a series of structured leading questions.
• Organising a class discussion of results.

 

If you leave little or no gap, then only learning in the subject will occur and therefore, insufficient development of ICT capability will result. A manageable gap between affordances and abilities in areas of ICT techniques and processes is needed.

 

Additionally, to encourage the development of higher order thinking skills, the affordances for planning, monitoring and evaluating activities must not be too great.

 

 

Adjust your support for each component of ICT capability

ICT capability comprises of 5 components. For each is the recommended scaffolding of learning:

Routines – if students do not meet these important ICT techniques sufficiently frequently, provide them with focused practice tasks for homework.

ICT techniques – help students associate the actions involved with an ICT technique to the effect it achieves. It is important that you provide the minimum amount of support. They can often remember ICT techniques or work things out themselves with little prompting concerning where to look for options. Withdraw this support as soon as possible.

Processes – this is where the teacher as a scaffolder really counts. The minimum amount of support should be given and you should scaffold learning by asking questions, prompting and demonstrating when needed, and then withdraw as much support as possible to see what they can do unaided.

Higher order thinking skills – at this stage, you determine the support needed after the scaffold has been withdrawn. Support can be given by modelling strategic planning by thinking out aloud to show them the questions you might ask.

Concepts – challenge naïve ideas about using ICT techniques and software both in whole class teaching and individually or in groups. For example, if a student uses spaces to spread out text on a line or page, you can show them the effect of adding extra text so that the spaces move to a different position in the line etc.

 

 

The role of the teacher as a scaffolder will always remain vital even if technology continues to provide scaffold in some way for students. In this context, your role as a teacher becomes more important and not less. Your ability to manipulate the affordances of the environment will always remain central to your role in teaching ICT capability in meaningful context-driven activities

 

 

 

 

 

The Importance of Scaffolding in the Classroom

Just as builders use scaffolding for support to achieve their goals, so too does the teacher as a scaffolder in the classroom. The teacher as a scaffolder ensures that there is an instructional safety net for students that will enable them to become problem solvers.

The need for instructional scaffolding is important if the students are to develop skills that will help them lead to their own learning. As a teacher, you will also need to differentiate assignments and activities.

 

 

Scaffolding Strategies to use with your Students

Scaffolding a lesson is about dividing the learning into separate pieces and providing a tool to overcome each piece. That is, what is usually done first with children. For students who have some kind of learning difficulty, they may have to make differentiations to modify the task or make the corresponding adaptations.

To do all this, the teacher is a fundamental part, they know the students and their learning problems, so the teacher as a scaffolder is a good option. The teacher should be the tool that leads the student to learn the content, that is, not just a content provider.

 

 

Scaffolding strategies.

The teacher as a scaffolder must have some strategies so that regardless of the course you are studying in the best possible way, the students are the following:

• Show and say: an important part of the scaffolding is in what we see, that is, inexperience. Every opportunity we have to teach or show students is what they expect us to do. You can try an activity, it is about dividing the class into two groups, the first one is in the centre surrounded by the second group. The group that is in the centre is going to carry out a specific activity, so it will be taught to the group that surrounds it. It is important that as a teacher we show students the result before doing this activity. To do this, you can guide students through a step-by-step process indicated as a model of the finished product.

It is important to keep in mind that the skills that children have been developing, this means that each thought they release is very important.

• Previous knowledge: you can propose to the students that they tell their experiences or the ideas that you have on any subject of study, this is done so that they can relate it to their lives. They can even offer suggestions, leading us to find different connections and understand the content.

It is important that learning in the classroom can be started through some price knowledge that the students have, so we can use it as a basis for future lessons. It is a scaffolding technique.

• Have time to talk: Students will need some time to make ideas clear. Also to understand learning. So if a more or less structured discussion is held, it will be very important for the children and their level of maturity.
• Pre-teaching vocabulary: You can also call it front-loading vocabulary. It is an important strategy and that teachers do not usually use normally. We may be guilty that the students do not have a concrete basis so that the activity is not so complicated. They are usually prepared and this may be one of the options for which students lose interest, misbehave or even fall asleep.

The previous vocabulary means that teachers can present different words to their students through photos and in a specific context.

• Use visual strategies: we can work with images, charts or graphs as scaffolding tools. These organizers will help us to represent the most important ideas in a very visual way, along with the organization and understanding of the concepts so that the students do not have problems.

- Pauses, questions, and reviews: it is a very good way to see whether or not you have fully understood each concept. This strategy works like this, you must first share an idea, then pause, ask a strategic question, and pause again to answer what we have understood.

 

 

Conclusion.

In conclusion, scaffolding strategies are a good way for our students to have a better understanding of the concepts and content we are working on. For this, the teacher plays a very important role. This is because the teacher as a scaffolder has to use these strategies so that their students learn the information in the best possible way.

The teacher must give him the necessary means to be able to meet the proposed challenge, for this reason, it is so important that the teacher is that mediator.

 

 

 

 

 

Ready to scaffold your way to confident digital teaching?

The ICT in Education Teacher Academy is your next step. Inside, you’ll find:

• Ready-to-use scaffolding activities for preschoolers

• Real member examples showing how to adjust support meaningfully

• Lesson templates, case studies, and planning tools that support your growth

👉 What’s one ICT learning activity where you could reduce support and let children lead today? Share it with us inside the membership.

Just $20 per month or $200 per year with 2 months FREE!