Comments to Amanda's Blogs...
http://amandag702.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/computer-fun.html?showComment=1345165283755
http://amandag702.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/learning-with-outdoor-xylophone.html?showComment=1345536193762
http://amandag702.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/pulley-in-sandpit.html?showComment=1345927104311
Comments to Chanelle's Blogs...
http://chanellelaker.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/using-digital-cameras.html?showComment=1345630949255
http://chanellelaker.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/ipads.html?showComment=1345866569941
Comments to Jessica's Blogs...
http://technology-for-children.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/reflection-one-computers-in-my-centre.html?showComment=1345163680203
http://technology-for-children.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/reflection-2.html?showComment=1345532297372
http://technology-for-children.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/reflection-3-230812-cameras-today-at.html?showComment=1345864697815
Comments to Chloe's Blogs...
http://chloe-fryed-rice.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/the-mimio-board.html?showComment=1345612641616
http://chloe-fryed-rice.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/digital-microscope.html?showComment=1345865599313
Comments to Natalie's Blogs...
http://ict-and-children.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/ipads-in-centre.html?showComment=1345862682092
http://ict-and-children.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/blog-2-typewriter-interest.html?showComment=1345925585781
Thursday, 30 August 2012
My discovers about technology - Final Post
While I was reading my comments from my group members I began
noticing common themes in their comments, such as creativity, social skills,
processes and problem solving. All of these themes portray the significant
influence that technology can have on young children’s learning and development
and I am able to see that a lot more clearly now that my understanding of what
technology is has grown. As Smorti (1999) suggests throughout his reading that
technology helps people and solves problems, it is also creative, solves
questions, by using knowledge, skills and materials and often involves two or
more people to find a solution.
My first post talked about an experience that I had observed
of a group of children taking part in construction play. I discussed how the
children were so used to only using the materials in the specific areas, that
when a boy wanted to use an object from another area, he hesitated bringing it
back to the area he was playing in. While I was observing this boy, I actually
felt sad for him that he had associated taking an object from one area to
another with a sense of guilt. This experience is a prime example of Erikson’s
Psychosocial Theory, initiative versus guilt stage, as this age of children (3
to 5years old) are still discovering the world around them, they are exploring possibilities
and facing challenges. Teachers should be encouraging the children to try
things out, rather than setting boundaries and making the children feel guilty
about trying new ways to solve problems (Santrock, 2010).
One of my group members suggested that perhaps I could
discuss this issue with the other teachers in my room and advocate for the
children’s learning. This could be done by letting the teachers know what
happened, then informing them that children should be encouraged to use different
technologies in a range of areas and that not all materials need to stay in a
specific place or setting (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.95). So after I read
her comment, I talked to the teachers about it and we are all going to work
together by supporting each other to support children’s ideas and findings.
I really appreciate the honesty of one of my group members who
mentioned in one of her comments that spell check does not pick up on
everything, especially words such as boarder and border. I feel that as a
professional we document so much of the children’s learning in forms of
learning stories, planning books, project books and wall displays that it is so
important to get into the habit of double checking your spelling and grammar.
Even though they are sometimes just tiny mistakes which are bound to happen, it
just shows your level of professionalism to parents and families and the amount
of respect that you have for the children’s learning and work.
Overall I am very happy with my discoveries of technology. Throughout
this process I have been exposing the teachers to the significance that
technology can have on children’s learning and development by talking to them
about my observations and by including literature during those discusses to
show them that it is not just me who supports technology in the classroom, but
that there are a range of people who do.
I strongly believe that during these years of a young child’s
life, they are continually developing ideas and a sense of creativity. It is no
surprise that they are naturally curious and are eager to learn about the world
around them. They are continually exploring different ways to be creative,
solve problems and communicate using a range of different pieces of non digital
technology such as pencils, paper and blocks. However, digital technology also
provides them with opportunities for them to explore their creativity and
learning (NAEYC, 2012). This is why I believe that it is up to us as teachers to
provide them with a range of experiences with a variety of different technologies,
and not limit them to what they can do with it all.
Reference
National Association for the Education of Young Children.
(2012). Technology and Young children. Effective
Classroom Practice: Preschoolers and kindergartens. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/content/technology-and-young-children/preschoolers-and-kindergartners
Ministry
of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He
whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa : Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning
Media.
Santrock,
J.W. (2010). Lifespan development:
International student edition (12th ed.). Boston, Ma.,
United
States of America: McGraw Hill.
Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early
Childhood. Early Education, 19, 5-10.
Saturday, 25 August 2012
Reference List
Post
1
Google Images. (2012). Wooden building blocks. Retrieved from
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o
Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning
Media.
Google Images. (2012). Wooden building blocks. Retrieved from
Google Images. (2012). Scissor stand. Retrieved from
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā
mokopuna o
Aotearoa:
Early childhood curriculum.
Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early
Childhood. Early Education, 19, 5-10.
Post
2
Google Images. (2012 ). Letter in an envelope
with stamp. Retrieved from
Google Images. (N.D.). Computer. Retrieved
from
MacNaughton, G.,
& Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for
teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice (3rd ed.). Frenchs
Forrest, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o
Aotearoa:
Early childhood curriculum.
Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Post
3
Isenberg, J. & Jalongo, M. (2009). Creative thinking and arts-based learning:
Preschool
through fourth grade (5th ed.). Columbus Ohio, United States
of America: Pearson.
MacNaughton, G.,
& Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for
teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice (3rd ed.). Frenchs
Forrest, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning
Media.
The first time using the Data Projector!
On Thursday, myself and the head teacher set
up the Data Projector that the centre only uses when we have parent evenings. We
both felt like it was a waste of a perfectly good piece of technology if it was
just sitting in the storage room, so we decided that we could use it as a
teaching and learning tool with the children. The head teacher is new in the
centre and wants to incorporate a lot more use of this type of technology
within the room as she has come from being a deputy principle at a primary
school that had a very strong focus on ICT.
Since she has had the experience of using ICT
with children, she downloaded a couple of educational song videos onto the
computer prior to us using it with the children. Together we went through the
list of songs making sure that the songs we were going to use were age
appropriate and fitted in with our classroom project which is focusing on the children’s
interest of “Living Creatures.” This process that we went through fits in with what
Isenberg and
Jalongo (2009) suggest when they say that you should “choose songs that
encourage active involvement; relate to children’s interests; engage the whole
child; have repetitive, easy-to-learn phrases; and emphasize rhyme, rhythm, and
alliteration” (p.186).
While we were setting everything up, we had a
lot of children that were very curious about what all this equipment was. Every
step of the way they were watching us plug everything in, setting up the
speakers and making sure that the data projector was at the right height to
project onto the white screen. The children quickly discovered that if they stood
in front of the light they would not be able to see anything on the screen
because their body was creating a shadow. So before we even used this piece of
technology with them, they were already forming their own ideas and building knowledge
about this piece of equipment.
When we called the children to come for Hui Time
(mat-time), there was a lot of chatter between them about what was set up. We
asked them many open-ended questions about what they saw and noticed that was
different, how they thought it might work, what it is used for and why we would
use it. By using this type of questioning, we were not waiting for the correct
answer as we just curious to know what they were thinking and we wanted them to
express what they might have already known (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).
A lot of children were a bit confused as to
how the big white screen was going to work as it did not have any wires coming
out of it; so after the discussion about the date projector that we had with
the children was over, we turned it on to show them how it worked. We felt that
as teachers it was important for the students
to develop knowledge and gain an understanding of how and why things work
(Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 32). We did some singing and dancing and the
children who figured out that their body made a shadow on the screen if the
blocked out the light while we were testing it out let their friends know what
they had discovered. This experience links to the New Zealand Curriculum when
it suggests that "graphics and other forms of visual representation offer
important tools for exploration and communication" (Ministry of Education,
2007, p. 32).
At the end of the day, we used the data projector
as a way of showing the parents what their child got up to as we downloaded all
the photographs onto a slide show and just let it play until all of the
children got picked up. The children were very excited to show their parents
what they got up to during the day and I felt it was nice for the parents to
see what their child got up to rather than just listening and trying to picture
what they did.
Monday, 20 August 2012
Using Technology as a form of Communication...
During mat-time we discussed who was in the photograph, what
he was wearing, where he could be and the children noticed that he had a
haircut. This led to a discussion about the children wanting their friend to
come back to their room and play with the toys; the discussion carried on
further about how they could let him know that they wanted him to come and
visit. A few children said they could call him at home, some said they will see
him in the weekend and others said we could send a letter.
Later that afternoon, a group of children who wanted to write
the letter sat with me and I wrote word for word what they wanted to tell their
friend on a piece of paper. Once the letter was finished, we discussed how
their friend was going to get it. One of the girls said we could post it
through e-mail and that was followed by someone else saying we could take it to
the post office. I thought it would be a good idea to ask the children to type
the letter on the computer so we could send it via email as well as posting it.
The next morning all the children who wanted to took turns
typing the letter on the computer. Once the letter was finished they wanted to
make it pretty, so I showed them how to change the colour of the words and they
chose a boarder to put around it. We printed it off and they all wrote their
name at the bottom of it using a coloured pencil of their choice. We then sent
it via e-mail and since the centre is in a shopping mall we all took a walk
down to the post office to put in it in the post box.
During this whole process the teachers and myself were asking
the children open-ended questions as they usually provoke and invite the children
to share their thought processes, theories and understandings of the social
world around them (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).
This process took a long time as a lot of the children had
never typed on the keyboard before, but it was totally worth it for the
children’s learning and development, as their knowledge and understanding of very
common ways to communicate grew. In addition to that they developed their social skills with their friends in the class as they were encouraged to learn with and work
alongside each other as well as take turns and help their friends if they
needed to (Ministry of Education, 1996).
This learning experience links to the Communication strand in
Te Whāriki when it suggests that children should
have experience while using communication technologies such as pencils and
computers (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 97). When they were using the
computers they were practicing their letter recognition which was a bit tricky
as the letters on the key board were all uppercase. They learnt about and when
to use the space bar key, the enter key and the backspace key; as well as how
to send an email and how to print their work. The children also learnt about
stamps and putting a home address on the envelope of the letter so that the
post man knows who to send it to.
Thursday, 16 August 2012
Construction play...technology...really?
At the beginning of this month, I
noticed and observed 3 children playing in the construction corner that we have
in our 3 ½ - 5 year old room. They were building towers with the different
shaped and sized blocks that are always on the shelf. Once they had a clear
understanding of what they wanted their tower to look like, they decided that
they needed different materials as the different shapes and sizes of the wooden
blocks on the shelf were not going to be enough to make the type of tower that
they had in mind.
They needed a “strong tunnel”
according to one of the boys so that the dinosaurs could hide inside. The
tunnel that they made with the blocks kept collapsing so he went looking around
the room for something that could be the strong tunnel; he went to the art
table and found the spare/empty scissor holder which was not being used anymore
because the room got a new set. He looked a bit hesitant when he took it off
the art trolley as some teachers in the room like the resources to stay in the
right areas, so I think he could have been waiting for someone to tell him that
it needed to stay where it was. I encouraged him to bring it over to his
friends to show them what he had found; this made him very confident and proud
of what he found as his friends became very excited to make space for it to fit
in the tower.
This is a photograph from Google images; which is similar to the scissor holder the children used but the one in the centre is wooden. I found this photo just to give you idea about what it looked like.
During this experience the 3 children
were working together to implement a vision that they wanted to create by using
the blocks. Through trial and error they found out that their wooden materials
were not making the type of tunnel that they needed to hide their dinosaurs;
which led them to search for a different type of material to help construct a
stable tunnel which solved their problem. This experience links to the
Exploration strand in Te Whāriki (Ministry
of education, 1996, p. 98) as it suggests that “children use a variety of
technologies for different purposes as they explore their world.” I believe
that the children did learn to use a mixture of technologies especially seen as
they have never been encouraged to use different materials from other areas of
the room before, unless a teacher sets it up.
During this observation my
understanding of technology was very basic, but now looking back on what I
observed after building my personal understanding I am very excited that the
little boy brought back the scissor holder. The children were able to
“recognise that different technologies may be used in various places and
settings” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 95), I believe that this
understanding of materials and the confidence to use them will increase their
learning and development.
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
First post....!
Hey everyone!
I created this blog to write a couple of reflections based on what I have noticed and recognised about the children's learning and development in response to the use of technology within the early childhood centre that I work in. The age group that I will be observing is the 3 - 5 year olds.
Looking forward to sharing my discoveries with you... please feel free to leave any feedback on my posts :)
I created this blog to write a couple of reflections based on what I have noticed and recognised about the children's learning and development in response to the use of technology within the early childhood centre that I work in. The age group that I will be observing is the 3 - 5 year olds.
Looking forward to sharing my discoveries with you... please feel free to leave any feedback on my posts :)
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