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?
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 (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.
Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No. 19 Autumn 1999.
Somerset, G. (2000). Work and play in the early years (5th ed.). Auckland, New Zealand: New Zealand Play centre Publications.
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ReplyDeleteHi Clare :)
ReplyDeleteI really feel that this blog demonstrates how we take technology for granted as well how our views may be influencing the children we work with. For example if we only see technology as digital, then we will provide digital experiences for the children and will ignore the rich learning that non-digital technology has to offer. Play dough is a great example of non-digital technology and I think it is great that you allow the children to make the play dough with you. Through this experience you are providing opportunities for children to develop knowledge and competence in using spoon, bowls and other simple technologies.
I strongly agree with you that we do take technology that is no digital for grated-life would probably be a lot harder for us if we did not have them. Therefore we need to foster children's thinking and use with this technology.
Your (and my own) recognition of non-digital technology has allowed for the "door to be opened" into an entire new world of technology that we need to let our children experience.
Lastly I strongly agree with your idea of children understanding that technology is more than just digital. We need to discuss this with children and foster understanding as well as enhance the socialisation that occurs through making play dough.
I love your blog and it has re-opened my eyes to new non-digital ways to enhance children's understanding of technology :)
Clare, I agree with you about technology being as simple as a measuring spoon. I struggled with this concept to begin with but since the beginning of this semester I understand it better. I feel you place real importance on the children’s social emotional development. Technology can be a great tool to foster social relationships. Your example of Brofenbrenner’s ecological theory was an interesting way of investigating technology and its impact on children. Keep the good work up and I look forward to your next blog.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog Clare! I agree that we take items such as measuring spoons for granted as for us they are part of the ‘norm’ and we don’t know what it is like without them. I really loved your comment that simple pieces of technology are being used to help us succeed. I have thought about technology as a way of solving problems, but you have helped me to also see technology as a tool that helps us to succeed at tasks. As you stated in your blog, children explore and discover technical tools such as measuring spoons and cups for making playdough, learning that technology is not just computers, cameras etc. In the world they live in, most people view technology as digital, as we did before this course. We can help young children to see technology is more than just computers, and talking about it with them is important to inspire thought.
ReplyDeleteHi Clare
ReplyDeleteGreat insight into non-digital technology using basic items such as measuring cups, spoons and bowl. We seem to take things for granted but could we imagine what would happen if these basic utensils were not available?
Imagine we were baking a cake and had no cups to measure the amount of flour, butter, sugar etc. Although in saying this, I suppose different culture deals differently with technology. For instance, in my culture, my grandmother never used any measuring equipment whilst cooking. My mum learnt the same way and now I am doing the same, using estimates only.
I totally agree with you that using non-digital technology is equally important to foster children’s learning, ability to socialise, turn-taking and having fun.
Clare
ReplyDeletewe take so much for granted its not funny and when you think of all the simple things in life that make our lives so much easier you cant help but feel unappreciative especially of the spoon. We use one everyday whether to make a cup of tea eat a yoghurt feed our children or measure an ingredient to make play dough.Bowels make life so much easier how would we eat our cereal? Without these simple tools how else could we measure our ingredients. Then again when i bake i dont use any and thats probably why my cakes never turn out, neither does my play dough. So you are right tools like these help us in succeeding at those simple things.