Ethics and Integrity in Early Childhood Education Research: A Case Study of Digital Media Use in Inclusive Schools

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-567-6_24How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Ethics; Integrity; Early Childhood

Abstract

This research investigates the ethical problems and integrity obstacles which scientists face during their studies about digital media use in inclusive early childhood education settings for protecting vulnerable children who possess different abilities. The researchers employed a qualitative case study method which included semi-structured interviews with primary stakeholders and direct classroom observations at specific inclusive preschool institutions. The research team performed thematic analysis to detect ethical issues and establish optimal practices. The analysis revealed four main themes as its outcome. First, the process of obtaining informed consent through complex methods created obstacles which obstructed genuine child participation because it needed specialized consent procedures and continuous confirmation of their agreement. Second, privacy protection challenges in digital learning environments revealed problems with data management because digital platforms track and record children’s educational activities. Third, researchers needed to understand and respect different family values and religious beliefs and cultural practices about technology use and child research participation for diverse learning environments. Fourth, the process of evaluating research benefits against participant risks showed how scientific progress competes with the necessity to defend vulnerable groups from harm and exploitation and social discrimination. Additional findings revealed significant gaps in current institutional review board guidelines when applied to technology-integrated inclusive education research, particularly regarding long-term data retention and the use of assistive technologies that generate sensitive behavioral data. The research shows that digital inclusive environments need special ethical rules which focus on studying young children in their early learning years. The recommendations suggest creating consent procedures which match different age groups together with strong data protection systems and research approaches that respect participant dignity and rights to expand scientific knowledge.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Ratu Linda Martina Andrayani
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/23
TI  - Ethics and Integrity in Early Childhood Education Research: A Case Study of Digital Media Use in Inclusive Schools
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Environmental Learning and Educational Technologies (3rd ICELET 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 206
EP  - 216
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-567-6_24
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-567-6_24
ID  - Andrayani2026
ER  -