Since digital media such as smartphones, tablets or laptops are available in almost every household in industrialised countries, parents are challenged to integrate them into their everyday family life. To gain more information on parents' mediation of digital media, the relationships between their educational intentions, objectives and their children's use of digital media were investigated in consideration of the children's age. Overall, 150 Austrian parents with children aged one year and a half to six years participated in the study (two groups were formed based on the age of the children: toddlers and preschool children). They filled in a questionnaire on their intentions and rules for their children's use of media. Moreover, the parents provided information concerning their objectives for digital media use and the kind of activities for which their children use interactive digital toys or passive digital media. Results show that parents' intentions of their children's media use is mainly to gain time for household chores or work. Whereas the age of the children does not seem to be of great importance to parents concerning the media regulation, the results for the objectives and activities parents want their children to do with digital media do indeed differ between the two age‐groups. Practitioner notes: What is already known about this topic Average households in industrialised countries are well equipped with digital media technologies. Digital media increasingly become a part of young children's living environment. Parents find it necessary to prevent their children from potential negative effects of digital media use and try to implement rules eg, concerning the time spent with media or content restrictions. What this paper adds Parents' intentions for their children's digital media use as well as the rules they apply for the use of digital media do not differ between toddlers and preschool children. Parents' objectives for their children's use of digital media as well as why and for which purpose their children should use interactive digital toys and passive digital media differs between toddlers and preschool children. Implications for practice and/or policy Support is needed for parents on digital media use with toddlers together. Awareness for digital media use in connection to the rules and objectives needs to be created.

Recent developments in noninvasive electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring with small, wearable sensors open the opportunity to record high-quality ECG over many hours in an easy and non-burdening way. However, while their recording has been tremendously simplified, the interpretation of heart rate variability (HRV) data is a more delicate matter. The aim of this paper is to supply detailed methodological discussion and new data material in order to provide a helpful notice of HRV monitoring issues depending on recording conditions and study populations. Special consideration is given to the monitoring over long periods, across periods with different levels of activity, and in adults versus children. Specifically, the paper aims at making users aware of neglected methodological limitations and at providing substantiated recommendations for the selection of appropriate HRV variables and their interpretation. To this end, 30-h HRV data of 48 healthy adults (18–40 years) and 47 healthy toddlers (16–37 months) were analyzed in detail. Time-domain, frequency-domain, and nonlinear HRV variables were calculated after strict signal preprocessing, using six different high-frequency band definitions including frequency bands dynamically adjusted for the individual respiration rate. The major conclusion of the in-depth analyses is that for most applications that implicate long-term monitoring across varying circumstances and activity levels in healthy individuals, the time-domain variables are adequate to gain an impression of an individual’s HRV and, thus, the dynamic adaptation of an organism’s behavior in response to the ever-changing demands of daily life. The sound selection and interpretation of frequency-domain variables requires considerably more consideration of physiological and mathematical principles. For those who prefer using frequency-domain variables, the paper provides detailed guidance and recommendations for the definition of appropriate frequency bands in compliance with their specific recording conditions and study populations.

Starting early in life, children, especially girls, experience obstacles when it comes to developing an interest in STEM. Although early childhood (EC) educators face an important task in promoting girls (and boys) in STEM, they often face challenges in doing so. Therefore, it is crucial for EC educators to cultivate positive attitudes, self-concepts, and STEM skills. To address these identified issues, a three-month professional development program was created for EC educators. This professional development program was evaluated using a pre–post design with a focus on the self-concept and gender stereotypes of EC educators. The program involved 30 female EC educators in evaluating these aspects. The statistical analyses show positive results in enhancing educators’ self-concepts and reducing gender stereotypes over the course of this professional development program. The results suggest the potential of the blended learning design in this professional development program and indicate that this program could serve as a promising model for future interventions.

Wearable biomedical sensor technology enables reliable monitoring of physiological data, even in very young children. The purpose of the present study was to develop algorithms for gaining valid physiological indicators of sleep quality in toddlers, using data from an undisturbing and easy-to-use wearable device. The study further reports the application of this technique to the investigation of potential impacts of early touchscreen media use. Toddlers’ touchscreen media use is of strong interest for parents, educators, and researchers. Mostly, negative effects of media use are assumed, among them, disturbances of sleep and impairments of learning and development. In 55 toddlers (32 girls, 23 boys; 27.4 ± 4.9 months; range: 16–37 months), ECG monitoring was conducted for a period of 30 (±3) h. Parents were asked about their children’s touchscreen media use and they rated their children’s sleep quality. The use of touchscreen media predicted the physiologically determined quality of sleep but not parent-reported sleep quality (such as sleep onset latency). Greater heart rate differences between restless sleep phases and restful sleep indicated poorer nighttime recovery in children with more frequent use of touchscreen media. The study demonstrates that the expert analysis of the ECG during sleep is a potent tool for the estimation of sleep quality in toddlers.

Zusammenfassung. Die einjährige Fortbildung EmMa – Erzieherinnen und Erzieher machen Mathematik verfolgt das Ziel, frühpädagogische Fachpersonen in der Weiterentwicklung ihrer (fach-) didaktischen Kompetenzen im Bereich Mathematik zu unterstützen. Für den Forschungsaufbau der begleitenden Wirkungsforschung konnte ein quasi-experimentelles Prä-Post-Design mit Kontrollgruppe abgeleitet werden. Mithilfe des KomMa-Fragebogens ( Blömeke et al., 2015 ) wurden die mathematikbezogenen Einstellungen von n = 51 Fachpersonen in der Interventionsgruppe, n = 48 in der Kontrollgruppe erhoben. Die Ergebnisse der t-Tests zeigen, dass die Intervention in einem Teilbereich der Einstellungen einen erwünschten Effekt erzielt.

Starting early in life, children, especially girls, experience obstacles when it comes to developing interest in STEM. Although teachers face an important task in promoting girls (and boys) in STEM, they often encounter hurdles in doing so. A three-month-long training for pre- and in-service teachers in elementary education was developed to counter this phenomenon. An important training feature was teaching ideas for STEM classrooms. Teachers’ evaluation of the training and teaching ideas, changes in their self-concept, and elementary students’ assessment of the teaching ideas were investigated. Students rated the teaching ideas favorably, with no gender differences. Even though each idea incorporated relevant didactic features for gender-sensitive STEM instruction, the teachers rated certain ideas and contents more critically than others. Nevertheless, their assessments speak in favor of the training intervention, while also indicating gaps in teachers’ professional knowledge regarding gender-sensitive didactics. Implications for the design of STEM teacher education are outlined.