Rate My Professor Maria Hatzigianni

Maria Hatzigianni served as a Lecturer in Digital Technologies and early years of education, as well as in History and Philosophy of Early Childhood Education, at the Macquarie School of Education, Macquarie University from April 2015 to October 2018. She earned her PhD in Early Childhood Education from the University of Melbourne in 2008, with a thesis on computer use and young children's self-esteem; a Master’s degree in Information Technology in Education from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2001; and a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the same institution in 1996. Scholarships supported her studies at both universities. Prior to Macquarie, she was a Lecturer at Charles Sturt University from February 2013 to April 2015 and a kindergarten teacher for the Hellenic Ministry of Education in Greece from 1999 to 2012. At Macquarie, she taught and convened courses including History and Philosophy of Early Childhood Education (ECHE120), Mathematics, Science and Technology for young children (ECH232), and the postgraduate Internship (ECED829) focused on professional identity and digital portfolios. She secured funding for projects such as Early childhood educators' attitudes and beliefs around touchscreen technologies (New Staff Grant, $15,000, 2017), Using Virtual Reality in History and Philosophy of Education ($11,000, 2018), and Exploring e-folios for reflective practice ($3,500, 2017).

Her research specializations center on the use of digital technologies by very young children (0-3 years), including touchscreen devices, makerspaces, design thinking, STEM integration, and associations with social-emotional development, creativity, and quality improvement in early childhood settings. She received a research fellowship from the Collaborative Research Network and Professor J. Sumsion in 2014, and her paper 'Early childhood educators' attitudes and beliefs around the use of touchscreen technologies by children under three years of age' (British Journal of Educational Technology, 2018) was a top downloaded article for 2018/19. Key publications include the co-edited volume 'Digital Childhoods: Technologies and Children's Everyday Lives' (Springer, 2018), her monograph 'Growing up with Technology: Young Children’s Computer Use and Their Self-Esteem' (Lambert Academic Publishing, 2013), 'Young children’s design thinking skills in makerspaces' (International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 2021), 'Makerspaces and young children’s design thinking skills' (2021), and 'The role of digital technologies in supporting quality improvement in Australian early childhood education and care settings' (2023). Hatzigianni reviews for early childhood and technology journals, serves on the OMEP NSW committee, and engages with Early Childhood Australia and EECERA.