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