I have noticed that the impact of technology in early childhood education is immense. I have now realised that technology is more than just a gadget. My whole perspective about technology has changed. I am aware now of how the teachers in my centre are fostering children’s learning about and through technology. It has been a great journey for me to technological learning. It will continuously grow and this is the beginning. In this course children’s development is expanded through “experiences and understanding of people, places, events and things” (Ministry of Education, 1996.p.21). “This course combines the two interconnected learning areas of technology and social sciences within the socio-cultural context of learning development in the early years” (class PowerPoint).
I have learned so much from the other student’s feedback on my post. It promoted interactive learning because in every group there were five members. It was a helpful tool for me to establish an encouraging and nurturing discussion space that enhances student’s reflection. They gave me so much positive feedback, for example, one of the students said, “I really admire that you are proactive”. This gave me confidence to try out more technology with the children in future. One of the blogger wrote, “I liked your idea of blogging or just simple emailing as made me think about how I can actually use technology to share children learning with their parents.”
Other bloggers extended my knowledge and understanding about technology’s effect on children’s learning. I thought that I was learning alongside the children but one of the students suggested that the children took the lead and became the teachers. This explained why this was a successful activity that was popular with the children. It will involve technology in their play which gives them ideas to use technology in the centre.
One of the blogger challenged me that we should not sub-consciously stereotype the abilities and capabilities of the children. And it is up to teacher to educate themselves in technology. We should use more open ended questions to know how much the children know about technology. I learnt that it is our responsibility to educate themselves in this area.
I have realised that we early childhood teachers enhance children’s learning through the meaningful use of ICT. It enables them to enhance their relationships and broaden their horizon by exploring the wider world (Ministry of Education, 2009, p.2). The children at this early stage knew the functions of cell phone, IPods, camera and computer and they also know how to operate them. It is amazing to see children using technology so much in their day to day life. Even in my life time the technology has changed so much and has reshaped the way I live my life.
I realised that technology is an important area of the early childhood curriculum along with, for example mathematics and science within the principles, strands and goals. That is why there is an increasing awareness of the technological world that we live in a world that people have created and changed through technology. I found that technology fits in early childhood curriculum document Te Whāriki because it has few direct references to technology (Ministry of Education, 1996). I have realised that technology has got some issues. First which I thought that the children who use the technology miss the outdoors and social interaction, which I think is normal. To gain something, obviously we have to lose something. But I have some strategies to overcome this. Balance the outdoors with the indoor life .I will facilitate the children with the interesting outdoor activities. For example water play, running, climbing carpenting, long jumps and high jumps. And we should not allow children to use technology in isolation. And I realised that sometimes anything inappropriate comes on the computer screen which is not safe for the children. To avoid this we can keep our computer safe by using net safe. I found computer technology very useful to use in early childhood setting. I can see colourful graphics, cute animation and musical tunes on the computer which we cannot do without it. So to identify the real value of a software program, teachers need to ask a basic question “Does this software program help to create learning opportunities that did not exist without it (Tsantis, Bewick, & Thouvenelle, 2003).
I realised that we early childhood teachers want to scaffold children’s learning in technology. So we need to broaden our understanding of technology and continue to extend our own knowledge and skill base (Smorti, 1999). Overall this whole blogging assignment was an eye opener for me. The lecturer was fun. She made everything easy for us.
References:-
MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forrest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa .Wellington: Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2004). Kei tua o te pae assessment for learning: Early childhood exemplars
Smorti, S. (1999) Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No.19 Autumn 1999.
Tsantis, L. A., Bewick, C. J., & Thouvenelle, S. (2003).Examining some common
Today Ben came with his mum and after a minute, he went straight to the supervisor’s office. He is a boy with special needs and is allowed to go into the office to get his special things. Today he got a real camera and sat on the couch. He started taking photos. He took many photos in different angles. I was surprised to see him taking the perfect photos. It was an eye opener to me to see the child so young can do things like that. I can see he was quite confident in spite of special needs. And I was not sure whether it is a good thing or bad.
But then I thought, the whole world has changed so rapidly why not the children. We should introduce technology in early childhood to foster children’s learning. Learning through daily experiences develops knowledge in children to try things out. Exploration and curiosity are important and valued ways of learning (Ministry of Education, 1996).
First time, I observed that Ben was confident in taking the photos. I had a conversation with him. I was happy to see him getting engaged in discussion. I used to talk to him every time but never got more than yes or no. This leads me to believe that it is very important to provide opportunities to children and see what children are interested in. By doing this they will develop the confidence to express their ideas. Creativity through the new technology assists in recognising oneself as being capable of gaining a new skill and become familiar with the technology, which will become a tool for him to understand his abilities as a competent learner (Kei tua o Te pae, 2004)
In early childhood centres, children experience an environment where they develop the knowledge that playing with ideas and materials with no objective in mind, can be an enjoyable, creative, and valid approach to learning (Ministry of Education, 1996). Previously I was thinking that Ben is a child with special needs. He will never have such a big conversation with me. I was surprised to see him, talking to me so confidently while he was using the camera. My whole perspective about the young children using the technology has changed now. I started thinking that the children are confident and competent to do things of their own.
I am thinking that we teachers are learning alongside the children. No doubt I as an early childhood teacher am providing children with opportunities to explore technology because Piaget believes that children learn through active engagement with their physical environment. These activities encourage children to explore and search for meaning and help them to form their own understanding about the world (Morrison, 1995 as cited in MacNaughton & Williams, 2000). But I agree with Smorti, 1999 that we teachers have no technical language to describe the process for children and our knowledge about technology is limited. Thus we have less ability to scaffold children’s learning in this area.
References:-
MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forrest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa .Wellington: Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2004). Kei tua o te pae assessment for learning: Early childhood exemplars
Smorti, S. (1999) Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No.19 Autumn 1999.
Images from Google.
Reflection 2
15th of August 2011.
Milly with her mobile.
This morning Milly came to the kindy with cell phone. I asked her, “Is it a real phone? She said, “Yes Mrs Bhan”. I started talking to her as why she brought it here. She said, “My mother is away and she is going to come in the afternoon to the airport. She is going to talk to me from the airport, because I miss her. I felt surprised as how is it possible for a 4 year old child to use the cell phone. Believe me it took me nearly six months to use the cell phone properly and still I have so much to learn about it.
I thought technology is very convenient tool to have in day to day life. I saw Milly very confident while using cell phone. She used little words to text. She knows what buttons need to be pressed. Te Whāriki states that children experience an environment where their emotional well-being is nurtured and develop an ability to identify their own emotional responses and those of others ;( Ministry of Education, 1996).
I realized that using many materials for different purposes enables children to recognise that different technologies may be used in various places and settings. Previously I was thinking what a four year old girl is going to talk on cell phone. But after listening Milly talking, I was amazed with her reaction. I observed all of a sudden her face was happy and curious to know about her mum. “ Families have the greatest influence on young children’s learning, and ICT can enable parents, families and communities to be included in their children’s early learning in new way”( Foundations for Discovery,2005,p.10).
TeWhaariki states that our children should have confidence to develop their own perspectives as well as the capacity to capture new knowledge and skills to be able to participate in this changing world (Ministry of Education, 1996). I believe that “Technology is about helping people and solving problems. It is like the creative arts which I have done last semester. It is the process of doing that is important rather than the product. The children should be encouraged to talk about the problem and possible solutions (Smorti, S. 1999).
I remember when my mum used to go to see my nana. I used to wait and watch all the cars passing by my house. But now if I go anywhere, my children can talk even see me with the help of technology. It is because of technology most children experience a range of technologies as part of everyday life. The children are competent users of technology, active agents in their own learning and very aware of the world beyond their family (Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett & Farmer, 2008).
I think me as an early childhood teacher needs a lot of awareness in technology. New Zealand is number one country for providing quality care and education in early childhood. And also “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).
References:-
Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2008). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (4th ed.).Victoria, Australia: CENGAGE Learning
Foundations for Discovery, 2005, p.10
Images from Google
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa .Wellington: Learning Media.
Smorti, S. (1999) Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No.19 Autumn 1999.
Reflection 3
Date, 30th of August 2011.
Our Little computer masters.
Yesterday we went to the sky tower. It was fun to go there with the children. We saw quite a few bungee jumps. Today “T” came to me and said, “You know how tall the sky tower is”. I said, I am not sure, I have to check. She said, “I know already, I saw on the computer with my mum and I know how tall it is”. And she gave me the figure. I was like wow; the 4 year old child knew that we can get information of anything on the computer. I do computers with the children on Tuesday and Thursday at my centre. We have seven computers for the children in our centre. We have put educational games for them to play like literacy, numeracy and language. It was Tuesday and I went to the computer room as usual. “T” again came to me and said, “Can we go in the computer to find some more about the Sky Tower. So we went to the computer room.
I thought it was a right time to enhance children’s learning by computer. She wanted to know about the history of the Sky Tower. I thought to reinforce the children’s interest at this stage will help her in future. I wanted to show her that computer is a very useful tool for information. But at the same time, I wanted to make sure that the children should not come across anything inappropriate. As I know internet is like a road and we have to drive safely otherwise accident can happen. The research has shown that while most children used a computer at school, interestingly home was reported as the most common site of internet use. So the computers and internet are a part of many children’s social worlds, which means that many children have access to a range of information and texts, including texts of popular culture (Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett & Farmer, 2008).
I realised that there are some disadvantages in using this technology. For example, the children miss the other learning development. They miss to play outdoors, social interaction, gross motor skills. It takes a lot of time to learn computer. It takes time to implement and monitor the computer. But in spite of all this, using computers in early childhood settings has got many positive outcomes. For example to support transitions we can use Skype between home and centre or early childhood settings to make children feel homely (Kei tua o Te pae, 2004). I thought it is very good for the parents to get to know about their children’s performance.It can help children to build relationships between home and centre. Children can learn to take turns and can learn how to interact with the adults and the children. And the parents get updated with the development of their children by emailing, Skype and blogs.
I like the document Blogging and web 2.0 considerations for ECE.The purpose of this document is to assist early childhood centres in developing a policy for the safe and educationally appropriate use of web- logs or blogs (netsafe. Org.nz). I want to educate myself about this safe blogging, because I want to use blogging in my centre to make strong relations with families and whanau. I am thinking as an early childhood teacher it is very necessary to provide opportunities for interaction and exploration of information and communication technology, which will encourage children to be confident users of ICT (Ministry of Education, 1996).
And I believe that there is no threat that computers will replace classic classroom teaching methods and materials. The interactions with computers cannot produce the same result as physically constructing a tall block tower or measuring and pouring grainy, dusty sand from a pall into another colourful container. Even the computers cannot replace the finger painting. So the computers do not challenge children’s learning but, to the contrary, they can enhance, extend, and boost their learning experiences (Tsantis, Bewick & Thouvenelle, 2003).
References:-
Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2008). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (4th ed.).Victoria, Australia: CENGAGE Learning
Images from Google.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa .Wellington: Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2004). Kei tua o te pae assessment for learning: Early childhood exemplars
Tsantis, L. A., Bewick, C. J., & Thouvenelle, S. (2003).Examining some common
about computer use in the early years. Young Children. Vol 58 (1), pp. 1-9.
