Technology is defined
as being a tool that will fix a problem or help us out so it is very
significant in the learning and development of children (Smorti, 1999).
The children do not use
the scanner a whole lot in the centre so when we use the scanner we encourage
the children to recall on past experiences on how to use the scanner (Smorti,
1999). My personal philosophy feels strongly in providing practical experiences
for children. These practical learning experiences ensure higher quality hands
on learning experiences for children so if required I model to the children how
to use the scanner then encourage the children to upload their own pictures
(Gonzalez-Mena, 2008).
The world we live in is
very technological and technology is expanding and being used more and more in
everyday life, therefore I feel it is essential for early childhood settings to
provide tools to help children grasp the basics of ICT as they will need these
skills in future. By giving children new resources and tools to experiment with
opens their learning and opportunities to greater levels (Ministry of
Education, 2007). During these technological learning experiences children are
able to develop operational skills from using the scanner. When using the
scanner children are able to develop and extend their problem solving skills
(Ministry of Education, 2004). For example when the children forget which
button to press for scanning the experiment and are encouraged to work out for themselves
what button to press. Often in this kind of situation there are other children
who remember and show their friends which button to press (Gonzalez-Mena, 2008).
The children develop their social skills by sharing, taking turns and helping
each other when using the scanner and supporting each other through the process
showing aspects of tuakana teina relationships. Children developed knowledge of
being able to use ICT for a purpose (Ministry of Education, 2004).
Arthur, Beetcher,
Death, Dockett, Farmer, (1993) discusses the importance and the ways in which
teachers can document children’s learning “It is important that educators
explore and advocate new theoretical approaches to documentation that enable
them to work collaboratively with families and children while still meeting the
intent of systems such as quality assurance, regulations and mandatory
curriculum” (Arthur et al, 1993, p.275). It is very interesting to observe how
children create and come up with new ways of doing things and bring new ideas
into the way things are done in the centre. When reflecting on these learning experiences
I understand how scanning could be a great way for teachers to document
children’s work to add to their learning stories or save on a USB for their
parents implementing new ways for the children to learn and look at their own
work if they wanted to. I see that this piece of technology can be very useful
as occasionally through transitions children’s artwork can be misplaced so by
scanning the document the centre could still have the children’s work available
on the laptop (Smorti, 1999). After doing some research into the significance
of technologies in relation to learning experiences using the scanner I feel we
could research on you tube on what is a scanner and how to use a scanner rather
than me just demonstrating to the children. I feel by doing this I would be
helping to ensure that the children develop the independence to access certain
tools to extend on their own learning (Ministry of Education, 1996).
Reference List:
Arthur, L., Beecher,
B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2007). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (4th
ed.). South Melbourne, Australia: CENGAGE
Learning.
Gonzalez-Mena,
J. (2009). Foundations of early childhood
education: Teaching children in a diverse society (4th ed.).
Boston, Ma: McGraw Hill.
MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice (3rd
ed.). Frenchs Forrest, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ministry of Education.
(1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga
mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa : Early
childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Ministry of Education.
(2004). Kei tua o te pae assessment for
learning: Early childhood exemplars. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning
Media.
Ministry of Education.
(2007). The New Zealand curriculum.
Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Smorti, S. (1999)
Technology in early childhood. Early
Education, 1, 5-10.
Hayley I love how the children are able to use the scanner by themselves and how they ask o use it, this shows me that the children are able to recall past learning that they have experienced. It seems to me that your children at your centre are very much aware of technology and how to use it, a fun activity you could think about doing with the children could be using the scanner to copy their own hands onto the computer, from here you could print them out and give each child a copy of their own hands where they could draw around them. This in turn will bring about a whole lot more learning for the children and you will hear so much conversations happening, when the children compare hands and talk about how they copied their hands to the computer. Great blog it explains a lot of experience the children can have.
ReplyDeleteKia Ora Hayley, another great blog about your experiences with using a scanner with children, I find it very inspiring hearing about all the different activities you do with your children. I haven’t used the scanner with the children but will definitely give them the opportunity this week.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement that “the world we live in is very technological and technology is expanding and being used more and more in everyday life”. Technology in the world is forever changing and I agree that we should be providing children the opportunity to learn a basic knowledge about different digital technologies and ICT within the centre. It’s great to hear that you are encouraging these experiences within your centre. However I personally feel that we shouldn’t push these experiences onto our children as these skills will be developed when the children go to primary school and further education. So I like how your centre uses these devices with the children ever so often and it sounds like they will be used if the children request it, Ka pai to mahi!
Hayley,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog. You and your centre seem to provide the children with so many great opportunities to explore a range of digital technology. I loved how you mentioned that the children all supported each other in using the scanner, and showed each other what button to push etc. This is such a great idea, and I love how the children's are able to scan their art work, preventing it from getting damage.
An idea that you could do next time, is making collages. The children could collect different textured paper, fabrics and materials, and then place them on the screen and then scan them. The children will be able to see what the different types of textures look like once scanned. This could also allow the children to examine the details of small objects.
Well done :)
Hi Hayley,
ReplyDeleteOnce again an enjoyable blog to read. I am once again inspired by your philosophy of encouraging the children to recall and do hands on experiences. I too feel that hands on experiences are really important also and feel that they learn so much and are able to link it with previous knowledge and develop further knowledge.
The scanner almost seems like an 'old' piece of technology which i have personally never used with children before. I can see how this would be a really great experience.
After I read this blog it really reminded me of a book called " Mum's grumpy clothes" but sorry im not sure of the author. Within the story they scan a picture a child has drawn and email it to his mum at work. I think we as teachers lack this spontaneous contact withe parents as it is not formal such as a portfolio but I am sure a parent would appreciate this little surprise just as much or more then a portfolio entry.
I like how this experience allows the children to take real pride in their work and encourages the children to be patient as I can imagine it is quite a process. After reading this blog I am going to enquire about investing in a scanner for the centre.
Heres a cool site to gather more ideas for the use of a scanner with the children. http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/childdev/snappyscannerideas.htm
Ka pai Hayley