Personal Reflection

There are many different types of learning opportunities that we educators can provide for children in the early childhood centres relating to technology and that can be both digital and non digital. Technology can be defined as intervention by design through the use of practical and intellectual resources to develop products and systems that expand human possibilities by addressing needs and realising opportunities (Ministry of Education, 2007, p.32).

I personally wasn’t brought with all these new technologies that are around for the children in this new generation. I think that children are very lucky and in future they will be super talented with all these new technologies they are promoted with. I would like to share this because I feel that it is just wonderful how children use these new digital technologies which I personally don’t feel comfortable in using. I went to babysit this 4 year old boy and I was amazed to see him using an I pad and it was really astonishing to see that he wasn’t playing games on it but he was on YouTube watching videos of how Lego’s were invented.  I was really impressed to see that he didn’t get bored he was on it watching several videos for hours. It is just great to see children so young using I pads, I pods and I phones. Te Whāriki states “New Zealand is part of a world revolution in communication, technology, work and leisure. Change in these and other spheres is a feature of everyday life” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.18). 

Through working in groups and getting feedbacks from my group members on my reflections I have developed more knowledge from their positive responses. Through group effort I also got an opportunity to share my views on their personal reflections and offer them few ideas. I was suggested to read few articles from my colleagues which I read and found it interesting how there are several beneficial of technology and how it supports in children’s learning. I was also recommended to read an article by Yang by one of my colleagues which I found very supporting and it helps us educators to critically reflect on our practices. “The process of reflection includes reflective thinking and self examination during or after teaching” (Yang, 2006, p.11). As teachers when we reflect on our practice it helps us to improve and make changes to our teaching. O’Connor and Diggins (2002), suggests “as a reflective practitioner, you commit to learn continuously about your teaching, by teaching and them thinking about what you’ve done, what others did and what happened during the process” (p.9). I discovered that we should let children explore for themselves rather than directing them and I believe that we all are learners and as early childhood educators we are learning alongside children every day in the setting. 

Technology plays an important role in children’s learning and development and most of all children develop their creativity and imagination skills. Through technology children also get to develop their independence and confidence. By working with their peers they also gain social skills. When we as educators ask them open ended question while they are taking part in some activities this helps enhance their thinking and reasoning. Children also expand on their problem solving skills. Technology is about helping people and solving problems (Smorti, 1999). To conclude, through the use of various types of technologies children extend significantly on their knowledge and skills. 

References

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, He whāriki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Āotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. New Zealand: Learning Media.

O’Connor, A., & Diggins, C. (2002). On reflection: Reflective practice for early childhood educators. Lower Hutt, New Zealand: Open Mind Publishing.

Smorti, S. (1999, Autumn) Technology in early childhood. Early Education, 19.

Yang, S-H. (2009). Using blogs to enhance critical reflection and community of practice. Educational technology & society, 12 (2), 11-21.

My Comments - Hyperlinks

Monita

http://moni-tech.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/computer.html?showComment=1331944754200#c2397994331505910227

http://moni-tech.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/calculators.html?showComment=1332655217456#c8780423530912562942

http://moni-tech.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/crayons.html?showComment=1332918912882

Gloria

http://glorialandsberg.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/blog-post_15.html?showComment=1331943164255#c3239410092724280511

http://glorialandsberg.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/digital-cameras.html?showComment=1332799976300#c3951500903514770414

Sharon

http://sharonchand08.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/proactive-board_14.html?showComment=1331940167343#c7263449216215171950

http://sharonchand08.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/coloured-pop-sticks-non-digital.html?showComment=1332653919451#c2547823539386300939

http://sharonchand08.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/drawing-with-crayons-non-digital.html?showComment=1333079472124

Sarbjit

http://sarbjitsblog.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/blog-1st.html?showComment=1331946684490#c3887558207702009080

http://sarbjitsblog.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/technologyin-family-corner-children-can.html?showComment=1332659813121#c4036616067306647350

Karamjit

http://karamjitsblog.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/reflection-2-magnifying-glass-all.html?showComment=1332651784531#c5463856846625319172

http://karamjitsblog.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/reflection-3-usingdigital-cameras-this.html?showComment=1332917740742

Chalk Art - Non-Digital Technology

At early childhood centres children explore through various types of non-digital technologies. One of the technologies that children get to experience at the practice frequently is chalks. Te Whāriki states “children gain experience in using communication technologies such as crayons, paint brushes, chalks, pencils, books and computer” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.97). Chalks can be used to construct different kinds of art works and children of all age group engage in chalk activities.

When I set up the outside environment in the mornings I usually leave the chalk container by the deck area so children can explore through this non-digital technology. I assume that children enjoy drawing, writing and scribbling with chalks. I have observed that a group of three preschool girls were writing numbers on the concrete with chalks and adding it up. I also noticed that this two and half year old girl was drawing a smiley face. I approached her and said “that’s a lovely picture of a smiley face ‘I’”, she looked around with a big smile on her face and said “that’s my daddy’s smiley face”. Through this experience of chalk art children develop several skills as well as they get to express their ideas. Children should experience an environment where they develop verbal and non-verbal communication skills. They also develop an ability to express their feelings and emotions in a range of purposes (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.74).

When children explore through chalk they develop and gain a variety of skills. Children develop their fine motor skills and they also express their thinking, knowledge and imaginations. When children draw or write with chalks they develop on their concentration. Through this experience children can be creative in many ways and experiment with colours, lines, forms, shapes, texture and designs. Children also get to express their feelings and emotions. The New Zealand Curriculum (2007) advocates that “technology makes enterprising use of its own particular knowledge and skills, together with those of other disciplines. Graphics and other forms of visual representation offer important tools for exploration and communication” (p.32). As educators there are numerous art ideas that we can do with chalk such as grating chalk and gluing it on paper, drawing on a piece of paper with chalk then wetting it over with different coloured dye and crushed chalk with string designs. I feel that children find it really interesting drawing with wet chalk and I personally enjoy writing with wet chalk as well.

As an educator I feel that we don’t have to guide and direct children all the time. We should provide learning opportunities for them and stand back and see what they come up with. MacNaughton and Williams (2009), suggests that “facilitation can be understood as a very non-directive and low-intervention teaching technique through which the adult establishes a learning environment and then intervenes and interacts with children only when it is seen as absolutely necessary” (p.81). As early childhood teachers we should think about our practice and see how we can improve our ways of doing various things. Reflective practice allows you to search deeper within yourself on how you can extend and encourage social and emotional development using conversation and real life connections for children (Yang, 2009).

References

Images: Retrieved 21/03/12 from Google Images www.google.co.nz

McNaughton, G., & Williams, G.  (2009). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice (3^rd ed.). Melbourne,Vic.: Addison Wesley Longman.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, He whāriki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Āotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. New Zealand: Learning Media.

Yang, S-H. (2009). Using blogs to enhance critical reflection and community of practice. Educational technology & society, 12 (2), 11-21.

Computer - Digital Technology

Technologies are getting advanced in this generation so as early childhood educators we should encourage and provide opportunities for them to use and explore digital technologies in the setting. Through the use of technology children expand knowledge particular to scientific schemes and natural world. They gain understanding of how and why things work (The New Zealand Curriculum, 2007).

One morning while we were outside one of the boys saw a butterfly. He came to me and asked if I can catch it for him but it flew away. I asked and offered him if he wants to find some pictures of butterflies on the internet and then we can print it off. He said ‘yes’ and then we went inside so he gets an opportunity to use the computer and find pictures of butterflies as per his interest. ‘N’ went and sat at the computer table and I guided him through the process of turning the computer on and going on internet explorer, when Google search came up he typed up the word ‘butterfly’ himself but I told him the correct spelling. He confidently explored through the images and I printed one picture and showed him the process of how we can print images from the computer. He then chose two more butterfly images and printed it by himself. Te Whāriki suggests children develop the ability to represent their discoveries, using creative and expressive media and the technology associated with them (Ministry of Education, 1996). I only showed him once but he got the idea of it so quickly, I believe that children are like sponges whatever we tell or show them they copy it very fast. 

As an educator, I feel that I provided opportunity for this child to explore the computer and through this technology he got a chance to find pictures of his interest. Ministry of Education (1996, cited in Smorti, 1999) states that “in order to participate in this world, our children will need the confidence to develop their own perspectives as well as the capacity of continue acquiring new knowledge and skills” (p.5). I consider that I should have asked this child if he knew how to turn on and use the computer and I should have had a conversation with the child about this technology and see if he had knowledge about it. I feel that at the beginning I was directing the child where to go and which links to click. When I realised that I was giving him too much information at once I allowed the child to explore for himself because I became aware that I was rushing him. 

Information and communication technology helps in children’s learning dispositions. Children develop self-esteem and confidence. Through this process the child was developing on his fine motor skills and hand and eye co-ordinations. I believe that this learning experience allowed the child to explore and broaden his knowledge about the simple of using a computer. “Research has confirmed that for many children the computer is a catalyst for information sharing, language development and decision making” (Tsantis, Bewick & Thouvenelle, 2003, p.7). By the use of this technology children gain many benefits such as exploration skills, problem solving, manipulation and symbolic representation.

References

Images: Retrieved 17/03/12 from Google Images http://www.google.co.nz/

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, He whāriki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Āotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. New Zealand: Learning Media.

Smorti, S. (1999, Autumn) Technology in early childhood. Early Education, 19.

Tsantis, L. A., Bewick, C. J., & Thouvenelle, S. (2003). Examining some common myths about computer use in the early years. Young Children, 58(1), 1-9.

Camera - Digital Technology

One of the digital technologies that educators and children use in early childhood centres is a camera and as technology has become advanced it can be used in many forms.

Today, while working with children in the outdoors I was taking photos of the children of what they are playing or undertaking when one of the girls approached me and asked if she can use the camera and take some photos. I thought to myself that it would be a good inspiration to let the child explore this technology. I gave her the camera and told her to use it very carefully. She asked me what button to click if she wants to take a photo, I showed her how to use it and she turned around and took my photo first before she explored around the outdoor setting taking some photos. Te Whāriki states “children develop the ability to represent their discoveries, using creative and expressive media and the technology associated with them” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.88). After she finished taking photos, she came to me and asked if I can show her the pictures that she took so I demonstrated her which buttons to push and she explored the camera and viewed the images herself.

As an educator I feel that I scaffold this child’s learning and interest of how to use this technology. I also believe that I provided opportunity for this child to explore the camera while she is in the outdoors and take some photos of the things that she thinks was attractive to her. Smorti (1999), suggests that “if educators in early childhood are to scaffold children’s learning in this area we need to broaden our understanding of technology and continue to extend our own knowledge and skill base” (p.5).  While providing for this child’s interest I came across some challenges that I faced as there was only one camera which I had and I wasn’t prepared for this type of learning for the children. When the children saw ‘F’ using the camera they also wanted to have a turn so I explained to them that they have to take turns as there was not enough cameras for everyone to use at the same time. I also went inside and got 3 more cameras so all children get equal opportunities to explore through this digital technology and this solved the problem as the children didn’t have to wait longer for their turns. The use of digital technologies such as camera also enables educators to capture and record children’s work (Talay-Ongan and Ap, 2005).

Technology encourages communication and enhances children’s language and concept development. Camera is a device that helps children stay on task where they also gain independence and assurance. By allowing children to use the camera I have acknowledged them to make their own choices of what kind of photos they want to capture. Children develop the confidence to express their own ideas and creativity through this technology whereas they also gain a new skill and be capable of using and being familiar with the camera. The New Zealand Curriculum states “the aim is for students to develop a broad technological literacy that will equip them to participate in society as informed citizens and give them access to technology-related careers” (Ministry of Education, 2007, p.32). Through this learning experience children gained problem solving and social skills as I observed them helping each other when they faced difficulties, they tried to solve it themselves rather than coming to me for help. 

References

Images: Retrieved 15/03/12 from Google Images www.google.co.nz

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, He whāriki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Āotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. New Zealand: Learning Media.

Smorti, S. (1999, Autumn) Technology in early childhood. Early Education, 19.

Talay-Ongan, A., & Ap, E. A. (Eds). (2005). Child development and teaching young children.  Southbank, Victoria, Australia: Thompson Social Science Press.

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