(11/08/2011) (V)’s 4th birthday is on the next Monday; however, her family would like to celebrate this very important day a little bit earlier with all of us, which was today. We held a small party during morning tea. We sang the birthday song and all the children and teachers had a great time. We took a lot of photos during the party. During the weekend I wrote a learning story about (V)’s birthday party; however, I did not put any photos on it. I planned that (V) can choose her favourite photos for this learning story on her own next week.(17/08) Today I brought my laptop and sat with (V) to choose the photos. At first I showed (V) how to insert the photos on the learning story, and after that she inserted two other photos all by herself.
Other children in the room also asked to do so; I thought that this is a good opportunity to enhance our children’s learning, so I gave my camera to the children to take photos. Some of them took photos of their peers, some of them took photos of their work, such as the puzzles they had done, the blocks they had made and the toys they played with. We were working together to download the photos from the camera onto my laptop and made our decision on which ones we would like to print. At the same time, we had a lot of discussions, as some children were also curious about what other functions were on my laptop.
Since then, every time I go to work, I prefer to take my laptop and camera. I used the laptop as a revisited tool to show photos of what they did last time. I also apply the laptop 
as a resource to play songs and stories. Now we not only could listen to stories and songs, but also could watch the stories and the songs.
as a resource to play songs and stories. Now we not only could listen to stories and songs, but also could watch the stories and the songs.All these experiences made me realise that ‘technology cannot be effectively used unless it is used widely and equitable among all groups in our society’ (Young, 2001, p.13). I also felt happy because the laptop and the camera continually provides a lot of learning opportunities for the children and me to work together practicing our technology skills and increasing our knowledge. As an ECE student teacher, I understand that early years are crucial in children’s physical, social-emotional, language and cognitive development. This means that when used appropriately, technological products can support and extend the children’s and adults’ learning in valuable ways to increase everyday educational experiences.
Furthermore, to promote children’s learning of technology, Young (2001) stated that the learning process within children creates a social learning environment which encourages children to work, interact with and learn from each other (Young, 2001). In our room, these two technological products do create a social environment which supports the children to develop strategies and skills for initiating, maintaining and enjoying relationships with other children, such as turn-takings, problem-solving, expressing their opinions and taking others’ point of view (Ministry of Education, 1996). Most importantly, this social environment involves collaboration between the children and the adults which provides scaffolding for each child to achieve their own ‘ZPD’ at their different learning stages in this learning process (MacNaughton & Gillian Williams, 2004).
In our centre, although the young children have opportunities to attend the Cherry.bytes technology-based programme, as ECE student teacher, I still need to work with my team members to provide more learning experiences for the children in order to support their technological development. Fortunately, digital cameras and laptops are easy to carry as well as definitely providing the children with relevant learning experiences of Information and Communication technological (ICT).
References:
Ministry of Education, (1996).Te Whāriki, he whaariki mātaurauge mo nga mokopuWellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
na o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum.
Young, M. E. (2001). Technology and early childhood development. TechKnowlLogia. www.techknowlogia.org
MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2004). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice (2nd ed). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson.
Hello Elsie,
ReplyDeleteyou have reflected well on the many uses of the laptop and camera to further enhance children's learning. I like the dialogue that took place and the giving of ownership to the child.I too love revisiting with the children using photos.It is very much a social situation with collaboration and scaffolding.
Luana
That was wonderful, Elsie! You were so kind to the children by sharing your computer and camera with them. It is very true, computer combining with other technology tools creates wonderful learning and developing experiences for the children, children benefit hugely.
ReplyDeleteWe are living in a world of rapidly developing technology. It is a very good idea to provide children the opportunity to explore with different technology tools, so that they can learn the knowledge and skills before they start school.
There are always two sides to everything, good and bad. As Tsantis, Bewick, and Thouvenelle (2003) talked about some of the common myths produced by different conflicts and disagreements of the advantages and disadvantages of using computers in ECE settings. Yes, I strongly agree if children spend too much time with the computer, they will miss out the other areas of their learning and development, especially physical development. Therefore, as teachers, we need to educate our children, keep an eye on them and make sure they explore the other areas of the kindergarten as well. I believe setting a time limit for each child’s use of the computer is a very good idea.
References
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.
Kia Ora Elsie,
ReplyDeleteyet another great reflection, its so nice to see the respect that you have for the tamariki in your centre as competent and capable learners. This is evident in the fact that you provided them with your personal camera and laptop to use in this experience.
Giving children the opportunity to choose the photographs that are significant to them, rather than asuming we know which photos best suit the learning story, gives the power back to the tamariki.
It's so refreshing to see that children are given the opportunity to make valuable contributions to the documentation of thier learning.
Ka pai, Elsie!
Carly
Hi Elsie
ReplyDeleteWhat a great pleasure to read your blog. Your writing style has a lot of detail and it feels as if I was present during your experiences with the children.
I enjoy nothing more that to give back ownership to the children, and you demonstrated this very well by allowing V to choose her own photos to add that personal touch to her learning story. It also shows how you appreciate and value V as a learner and an individual. Seeing as it was her birthday, rightly so the day should belong to her and involving her in her learning story, gives her the sense of ownership, competence in choosing and pasting her pictures.
Great acknowledgement and sharing, scaffolding and teaching technique
Keep up the good work
CHeers Rosie