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.
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
Hi Clare!!
ReplyDeleteI feel this is an amazing blog in which you have really capitalised on the learning that took place through the magnets.
I was a lot like you in not realising what technology actually was, however as we develop knowledge we are learning and discovering with the children.
I loved how you encouraged the children to continue exploring with the magnets even when the sand was poured over the top. Through this I feel the children gained more knowledge and understanding of how the magnets works-even though we cannot see the metal the magnet still will find it. Furthermore it demonstrated to the children that the magnetic field did exist as they had two of their teachers talking about it.
This experience has shown yet another piece of technology that we often take for granted. Like you, I had only viewed magnets to help us in picking up small nails and such in the woodwork area. Your blog has shown me that magnets are a great piece of technology that holds technological learning possibilities for children.
It was clear that the children were very engaged in this experience and with your support their understanding of magnets and their role in our world are starting to develop.
I feel you are right in saying that the explanation given to the toddlers was age appropriate and it will be interesting to see the continuation of learning around magnets when they are older. To further my knowledge and give ideas for magnets to be put into my centre-what other areas or activities could we introduce magnets into in order to develop learning and exploration?
I really loved your blog Clare and you have shown me the joy and rich learning that simple technology can give to children and us as teachers.
Clare , I enjoyed your new blog especially the part about the children getting really excited when they discovered how magnets worked. I have worked with older children and magnets have the same effect on them. I liked how you made an informed decision not to go into depth (with the toddlers) about how magnets work. I work with a teacher who feels she needs to explain everything to the children and nine times out of ten she loses them. The other example I enjoyed was when you covered the nails and bolts with sand, thanks I will be trying that next week with my children.
ReplyDeleteIn concluding this comment, I feel you have set up an experiment that helps your toddlers see “themselves as “explorers”-competent, confident learners who ask questions and make discoveries”(Ministry of Education, 1996, p.88).
Reference;
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whariki: He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna Aotearoa; Early Childhood Curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media
I loved to read about the joy and excitement you were able to see the children experiencing as they discovered and investigated with magnets! Like you, I have also come to realise and understand the different types of technology all around us, in places that we would not normally think of, such as the magnets in the woodwork area. I agree that through using technology children develop great knowledge and skills. I work with infants and young toddlers and I could relate to what you said about the children picking up objects with the magnets and then pulling off the objects only to do it all over again. Through repetition children build and affirm their understandings, making sense of their environment. With experience children develop more complex mental structures which allows them to process information and build meaning (Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett & Farmer, 2007). You were able to observe this as your toddlers repeatedly picked up objects with magnets. I think it is great you are going to encourage the toddlers to find other ways to use a magnet, and I am sure great learning will result from this.
ReplyDeleteReference:
Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2008). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (4th ed.). Victoria, Australia: CENGAGE Learning.