Final blog reflection

Over the last few months with all the information gathered from class lectures, guest speakers, readings and all my group members I have learnt so much. My initial state of panic slowly disappeared and I can honestly say that I have enjoyed blogging. It is made clear that most of my group were under the same impression that technology is digital but slowly over time we have all realised that technology is many different things that we live with everyday. Having gained that knowledge we are able to provide children with many different opportunities and tools that are used for different things to explore their world (Ministry of Education, 1996). With me being the technology expert (not) I have learnt many benefits of non digital and digital technology. Looking at the feedback from my group I can see that we have all learnt a great deal on the subject as we are becoming aware of the many areas of technology that are part of our lives and the difference they make to it. Andrew shared a quote with me around my light table blog and the children’s curiosity. The bit that stands out most in the quote is the part saying “Curiosity is a gift children come with. I thought this was really nice and if curiosity is there then we are able to provoke and extend children as they are eager and want input through exploration and discovery. Thanks Andrew.  

Nicola I have been thinking about your question as to what other experiences we can use with children and magnets. I appreciate this question as I have not really used magnets before with children and you have provoked my interest to look deeper. They have always been there but until really looking at the children using them as I shared in my blog and seeing the way they were amazed I am going to look into different experiences for my age group so they/we can discover further the uses of magnets. For me working with young toddlers I need to find ideas that are age appropriate but if you work with the older children you are able to go a bit deeper into how they work. Here is a web site all about magnets/magnesium so reading this might spark some ideas that you can create and adapt for the children. It talks about what it is, how it works and explains that magnets are in everything even down to our electric tooth brush. So hopefully that will help.

http://www.explainthatstuff.com/magnetism.html

It is clear to see how much Nicola loves her digital technology but after learning further has come to understand that basic things that help us in life Smorti, (1999) such as a spoon, bowl and even magnets are all pieces of technology but we just did not see them before. After reading your blog about the computer I have now recently used the lap top with my two year olds at work. A teacher had bought her pet frog in and they really enjoyed it. We looked at it and spoke about it on numerate occasions but when it was gone they still continued to ask for it. This made me think that using the lap top and going onto utube will allow them to see many different types of frogs. The children seemed really enjoyed this experience and are still telling me about the different colours and the way they moved their legs to swim. Thank you Nic for opening my eyes to this beneficial piece of technology as I have learnt I can use it for more than just my assignments.

http://nicolastechnologycorner.blogspot.com/2011/08/computers-children-know-how-to-use-them.html

Also after reading shabnam’s blog on her play station 3 I fully understand her initial concerns but as I read on she has introduced me to a new way of thinking as she talks of the learning that can happen through this technology. Shabnam has obviously discovered benefits to this game console and thanks to her knowledge has been able to teach me a new way of seeing it. I had never thought of children’s hand/eye coordination improving and the benefits to improve fine motor skills through using this machine. Thank you Shabnam for teaching me this new awareness and understanding.

http://shabnamsinnovation-shabnam.blogspot.com/2011/09/dealing-with-technology-playstation-3.html

When Bronwyn Glass from Botany Downs Kindergarten came to give a lecture I was amazed at just how much technology they use in there centre. Although it all looked and sounded wonderful I had my reservations as to whether it was too much and what else are the children doing. Anyway my feelings have now changed after a visit to the Kindergarten as part of my social justice course. There is so much for the children to do there that does not involve digital technology which was refreshing for me to see after Bronwyn’s lecture. I also was able to see the many benefits of having so much digital technology and was surprised to see just how independent the children are when using it.

http://web.me.com/bdownskindy

Through this course I have come to realise that although I might not be the best in the area of digital technology, it is part of our everyday lives and our children of the future need to be exposed to it so they can move and keep up with this fast changing world we live in. But please don’t push aside all the non-digital technology that children can experience through outdoor play and exploration.

References

http://www.explainthatstuff.com/magnetism.html

http://web.me.com/bdownskindy

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he whaariki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna    Āotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.

Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No. 19 Autumn 1999.

  

Exploring with magnets

I was looking around the outdoor area watching my young toddlers exploring and discovering exciting things. Some were riding bikes, others playing on the slide, and then I saw a few in the woodwork area. As I walked closer to see what they were up to I could hear the other teacher explaining what the magnets do. It seemed by the look on their faces that they were amazed with how these things magically picked up other things without them even touching them. It was funny to watch their puzzled faces as they repeatedly took off the items they had picked up to redo it over and over again. The other teacher was explaining to our young children that the magnets can pick up metal and that all around the magnet is what we call a magnetic field. She also told them that the things (metal) we want to pick up has to be close enough (within the magnetic field) for the magnets to work (Teachers.net, 2001) also share these ideas and explanations. As the children get older a more in depth explanation can be given but for now with such young children this is just the beginning of a new discovery. This is a discovery that can help and be used in many different ways.

We have the magnets in the woodwork area to help us pick up the nails, screws and bottle lids that get knocked on the floor but putting this resource in this area encourages technological exploration as they have a varied range of materials to use (Mawson, 2002).

After a while another child came over and poured a pile of sand over the work top. My young toddlers just stood and looked as their magic jumping items disappeared. “Oh no” I said “Where have all the bottle lids and nails gone” “How are we going to find them” they stood looking and listening to me as I asked the questions waiting for me to answer as well. I then added “I wonder if our magic magnets can help us find them” “What will happen if we put our magnets over the sand”. As the children moved their magnets closer to the sand the magic began to happen again as all the lids and nail jumped onto their magnets. This showed them just what my colleague had been explaining with regards to being within the magnetic field. Big smiles and laughter from excitement erupted as the children seemed to think this was great.

Once again this is something that is always there but not thought of as technology or at least not by me up until this course. Now my eyes have been opened and I am really beginning to understand what different types of technology is. Using the magnets to help us pick these small items up makes the job a lot easier and faster for us and so sharing this with the children to help them find the other items that had been hidden has given them some understanding of one use for the magnet. Using technology in this way not only gave the children lots of pleasure but helped us solve our problem. Napper, (1991) says that technology is used to problem solve and make things easier but it is not a new idea.   
                                     

I now feel that I can see things in a different way to maybe the way I would have before. Now I understand that technology is the basis of children’s every experience and technology is a keys aspect of their developing knowledge and skill (Mawson, 2002).

This has made me realise that the toddlers and me are now going to be working together to discover other ways in which we can use a magnet. As the children experience many different ways and as they get older they will begin to understand the magnet and its uses further.    

 References

Mawson, B. (2002). Developing technology in early childhood settings. Early Education, 29.

Napper, I. (1991). The development of technology capability in young children. Australian journal of early childhood, 16(3).

Teachers.net. (2001). Teachers.net lessen plans. Retrieved from http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/2240.html

Technology within playdough

I decided to talk about play dough and how children are using technology within this activity. I have now realised that technology can be anything that we want it to be, it does not have to mean something electrical or scary as I have always thought but just simple things such as the measuring cups, spoons and bowls that we use with the children to produce the play dough they love so much. What would we have used before the measuring cup, spoon or bowl?

As I place each utensil and each ingredient on the table I can hear the many voices calling to me. “My turn, me do it care” (Clare) from the children who are so excited and waiting to participate in the process of play dough making. As each child takes their turn the different simple pieces of technology are being used to help us succeed. I have never thought of a measuring cup, spoon or even a bowl as technology before. As I watch the children working together I can relate back to the literature saying that technology is something that is used to help and make things easier for us and to support us in solving problems (Smorti, 1999). Without the tools I have mentioned earlier gathering the correct amount of ingredients for our play dough would be a lot harder. We take items such as the measuring cup, spoon and bowls for granted without giving them a second thought on just how much they are a part of our technological world.
Not only are the children learning and discovering ways in which we are using technology in everyday life but through this simple task the children are also gaining basic mathematical knowledge through measuring and weighting (Somerset, 2007). Te Whariki also states that through experiences the children have discovered some of the technology and resources that we use for mathematics, reading and writing (Ministry of Education, 1996). We all know that children learn through play just as (Gonzalez-Mena, 2008) shares with us. But just what are they learning? Well to be able to look past the actual activity that is happening such as making play dough we discover all kinds of learning going on without the children really even realising. Through making play dough and discovering the technical tools that we use and how they work is a huge stepping stone in the right direction for children to begin to appreciate that technology is not just computers, ipod’s and psp’s among some. Using this type of technology helps to promote children as they begin to explore new things through our group play dough activity. The children were socialising through conversation, helping each other if a friend was struggling, turn taking and laughing. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory says that the interactions children have with family, teachers and peers within the different settings they meet is of utmost importance to the young child’s development and learning (Berson & Berson, 2010). It has also been said that the ecological theory of Bronfenbrenner and Evans at the time it was theorised technology was not as important in our lives as it is today and that now the boundaries of this theory are being pushed as new Microsystems are evolving where children can interact and learn (Berson & Berson, 2010).

I do agree with this but strongly believe we should not forget our basic technology that makes the world an easier place to live in and what I believe is a more sociable way for children to play using technology.

 

References

Berson, I. & Berson, M. (2010). High-tech tots: Childhood in a digital world. United States of America: Information Age Publishing.

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2008). Foundation of early childhood education: Teaching children in a diverse society (4^th ed.). Boston, United States of America:  McGraw Hall.

 Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he whaariki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Āotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.  

Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No. 19 Autumn 1999.

Somerset, G. (2000). Work and play in the early years (5^th ed.). Auckland, New Zealand: New Zealand Play centre Publications.

  

Comments to blogs

Nicola

http://nicolastechnologycorner.blogspot.com/2011/08/children-can-use-cameras-too.html?showComment=1315884342827#c6895584372468900585

http://nicolastechnologycorner.blogspot.com/2011/08/we-can-learn-lots-from-cooking.html?showComment=1315275107656#c3369235041388564287

http://nicolastechnologycorner.blogspot.com/2011/08/computers-children-know-how-to-use-them.html?showComment=1314680164271#c6523056193872183013

Andrew

http://andrewmoose.blogspot.com/2011/08/bucket-technology-masterpiece.html?showComment=1315883956678#c6133850951653759699

http://andrewmoose.blogspot.com/2011/08/shoot-me-shoot-me-our-obsession-with.html?showComment=1315275396921#c1939862841445145534

http://andrewmoose.blogspot.com/2011/08/interactive-white-boards-theyre-amazing.html?showComment=1315884192309#c4687366005495443199

Steph

http://steph-about-tech.blogspot.com/2011/09/it-is-all-around-world-filled-with.html?showComment=1315883846882#c6900324644552164404

http://steph-about-tech.blogspot.com/2011/08/simple-technology-tools.html?showComment=1315275279106#c4674013298424059757

Shabnam

http://shabnamsinnovation-shabnam.blogspot.com/2011/09/design-has-changed-story-book-with-cd.html?showComment=1315883726224#c8872268411777877221

http://shabnamsinnovation-shabnam.blogspot.com/2011/09/dealing-with-technology-playstation-3.html?showComment=1315884053712#c2985484131110439250

Jade

http://autobotjadey.blogspot.com/2011/09/we-love-technology.html?showComment=1316493003175#c5647725141943335219

http://autobotjadey.blogspot.com/2011/09/all-in-one.html?showComment=1316493216872#c4344591353134766647

Light Table Fun

When we began this class I was in a state of panic, just the word technology adds to my stress levels. Technology to me has always meant computers, television, music systems and so on but mainly COMPUTERS. My immediate thought was why we need to do this class, why do we need to make a blog. I know this is just because I have been taken right out of my comfort zone.

Because of the wall I have built around my technology lens, I thought we do not do much in our centre. We have to bring the laptop out to use with the children it is not just available to them freely throughout the day and other activities have to be set up, but what is on offer for the children all the time.  After listening to our class discussions and beginning to look at what we do in our centre from a technology point of view I can see that we are surrounded by it every day every moment. Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett & Farmer, (2008) also agrees in saying that children experience a range of technologies as part of their everyday life. The children are welcome to use the camera when they wish to take a photo, we have torches on offer, baking, making play dough the list go on, our centre is full of technology it is just realising what technology is.

In my centre we have got a light table which is available all the time. It is never put away but is dressed with different provocations to encourage the children’s interests or spark something new for them. This creates curiosity and exploration for the children in many different ways. As I observe the different age children I can see that the older children enjoy using the table to look and discover how different a piece of art work may look, or what their bones look like through our x-ray pictures. This then creates more opportunities for their learning as they extend on what they can see with new questions arising.

 

The younger toddlers who I work with enjoy just sitting at the table touching the top which is lit up. I have offered and encouraged them to look at certain items on the light table but they have not shown much interest. Before I had just put that down to how young they are and that they have not got the understanding of the correct use yet. Then I thought well what is the light table’s correct use, for my toddlers sitting looking and touching the light is the right way for it to be used for them at this point in their life. Children see things differently from adults so using technology for different purposes opens up opportunities for them to explore their world (Ministry of Education, 1996). Through touching the light table and putting their face to it they are using a different sense which is how we begin to understand how things work when we are so young. They are expressing the confidence they have as they experiment, play and actively explore using their senses (Ministry of Education, 1996). Letting the children use the table how they wish shows they are competent users of technology, active in their own learning and are aware of the world beyond family (Arthur et al, 2008).

After now beginning to understand myself what technology really is and the learning that we gain through using it I am now beginning to see what each child experiences. Just because it looked like my toddlers were not doing anything I now realise just how much they were learning through using the senses with technology. Gonzalez- Mena, (2008) says that although sensory play may look only to be at a physical level we never really know the thoughts that are going on in the child’s imagination. This made me realise that for them just seeing something bright and touching something warm is how they are discovering and beginning to explore basic technology and are beginning to understand how it works.     

References

Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2008). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (4^th ed.). Victoria: Thomson.

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2008). Foundation of early childhood education: Teaching children in a diversity society (4th ed.). Boston, United States of America: McGraw Hall. 

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he whaariki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Āotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.