Reference List

Gonzalez-Mena, J. & Eyer, D.W. (2007). Infants, Toddlers, and Caregivers: A Curriculum of Respectful, Responsive care and Education. New York: McGraw Hill.

MacNaughton.G & Williams.G. (2009). Techniques for Teaching Young Children: Choices for Theory and Practice. N.S.W, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.

Ministry of Education. (2004). Kei tua o te pae assessment for learning: Early childhood exemplars. Wellington: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington: Learning Media.

Tsantiis, L.A., Benwick, C.J., & Thouvenelle, S. (2003).  Examing some common Myths about computer use in the early years.  Young Children. Vol 58 (1), pp.1-9

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

Contributions I have made

Contributions to Class Blog.....

http://tamarwk.blogspot.com/2011/04/children-as-competent-confident.html#comments

http://tamarwk.blogspot.com/2011/03/martin-robot-man.html?showComment=1304406888596#c2129789766153163762

Contributions to Other Blogs... 

http://monika-prasad.blogspot.com/2011/05/technology-has-gained-acceptance-in.html?showComment=1304507578011#c6939636613815774738

http://bumblebeesonam.blogspot.com/2011/04/technology-of-constructing.html?showComment=1304509027889#c3991725573843659533

http://lucystechnologyblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/using-chalkboards-for-drawing.html?showComment=1304324534963#c17220249486893664

http://lucyseducationreport.blogspot.com/2011/04/1-building-house-by-using-computer.html?showComment=1304510556617#c245555260267553974

http://ladybug-veronica.blogspot.com/2011/04/e-is-mowing-lawn.html?showComment=1304512996065#c5260081162384438860

Tumeke!

It is not until you take time to analyse your teaching and reflect, that you realise what technology is, what it involves and how easily it can be implemented to allow children the opportunity to learn through their technological world of the twenty first century.

From this course, the knowledge of technology in early childhood that I have extended on has made me think of what I am actually providing for children in every experience.  For example cutting with scissors, digging in the sand pit, toilet training – the lists goes on.

My knowledge of technology has shifted from the obvious computers, cameras, phones and television, to the wide range of tools we use on a daily basis such as scissors, staplers, bottles, and musical instruments.

“Children learn through play – by doing, by asking questions, by interacting with others, by setting up theories or ideas about how things work and trying them out, and by purposeful use of resources” (MOE, 1996, p82).  This links to Smorti’s (1999) explanation of the ‘process approach.’  Children can design, make and appraise their own theories and ideas.

Through the feedback and discussion in my blog and in other’s blogs has extended my thinking towards technology.  It has opened my eyes and mind to what is, the possibilities and learning involved.  One major aspect I have learnt about technology is that it is a work in progress and the best way to go it to learn alongside others including the children.

I had mixed emotions about blogging before, during and after completing this task.  Before starting my blog page I was excited and apprehensive, being the unknown.  As I made my way through the task I found it daunting as I came upon challenges.  My first challenge was with uploading the photos.  Not only learning how to upload them but the ethics that was involved.  My centre has a cyber safety policy which meant that I had to get written permission for every child in every photo, even though the children’s identities were not shown.  Luckily all the parents were very willing to share their child’s photo on my blog.  Some of the parents were very keen to view my blog and see the learning involved.  This was a very time consuming task as I had to copy and paste each photo to a form and have a separate form for every child in every photo, again using technology to the fullest.  Having the class discussions and guidance helped me to understand the blogging process.  I think that our class Facebook page was a life saver as this allowed more discussion which was a similar style to blogging.  At times I found myself getting frustrated which made me think about children in learning situations.  I feel that I can now relate to the children’s frustrations at a different level.  After completing the blog I feel inspired to continue providing the best learning opportunities for children through technology as it is such a large part of our lives today.

“The thoughtful and meaningful use of ICT in early childhood education services can support children “to grow up as competent and confident learners and communicators, healthy in mind, body, and spirit, secure in their sense of belonging and in the knowledge that they make a valued contribution to society” (MOE, 2004, p2).

I feel now I can go forth and concur all!  I would like to thank all of those who have helped me through, providing knowledge, support and kindness.  Co-constructing has been the key to completing this task.

Ministry of Education. (2004). Kei tua o te pae assessment for learning: Early childhood exemplars. Wellington: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington: Learning Media.

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

Woof Woof....... Woof Woof.......

The children were playing with the plastic animals from the block area a lot.  A teacher sat in the block area one morning to see where the interest could go.  She started laying blocks out and one child began to place some of the animals around the blocks.  After a few moments the child got a block from the shelf and added it to the square that had been made with the teacher.  “Gate” he said as he placed it in the corner of the square where the blocks didn’t join up.  He moved the block to make an opening and then walked an animal into the square and joined the blocks all back up again.

Over time different props were added to the block area to extend the animal play.  We added a slab of fake green grass, dried leaves and plastic trees from the duplo.  The children then added the animals to these props and participated for long periods of time consistently.  Also the children helped a teacher to make a book with pictures of different fences and gates found on Google Images.  The children often read the book in the reading area, but they also began using the book in the block area as they played with the props for the animals.  From the keen interest in the pictures of fences and gates, large pictures of different farm animals were printed and laminated for the children to use as well.  The Te Whāriki Exploration strand encourages educators to provide opportunity for “Children to develop strategies for actively exploring and making sense of the world by using their bodies, including active exploration with all the senses, and the use of tools, materials, and equipment to extend skills” (MOE, p86).

From here the children’s interest went back to animals and we started discussions about what animals each child had at home.  One of the teachers brought in her toy puppy dog from home.  This puppy dog could bark and walk.  The walking, barking puppy dog became very popular and being toddlers the children became very possessive of the new toy.  It was constantly on the go and one day a little girl (that seemed to be spending a lot of time with the puppy dog) approached me with a very sad face.  She brought to my attention that the puppy dog was not barking or walking anymore L  I explained to the girl that the puppy had got very tired and needed a rest.  The little girl took the puppy dog to the family corner and put it in the bed with a blanket over it.  I managed to find some batteries to put in the puppy dog.  I showed the children the process of taking the old batteries out of the toy and put the new ones in, which magically gave the puppy dog the energy it needed to entertain his friends again J  Hooray we then had a walking and barking puppy dog again.  With this new found energy the children continued to play with the toy again and find new and exciting things to do with it.  The puppy was read to, carried everywhere, sat at the table at meal times and even taken for rides in prams and trolleys.

The children had the technology that gave them social experience and extend on skills.  The children developed awareness of how to respect the toy and ensure it was kept safe from harm.  They practiced in turn taking and offering, built on relationships and learnt that learning can be fun as the toy was shared around the children to play with.  Believe me there were trying times as the children came across conflict situations.  The children persisted with the important task of resolving the conflict situations with verbal and non-verbal cues.  Infants and toddlers are going through the motions of learning Erikson’s three stages of psychosocial development, Trust, Autonomy and initiative.  “Social skills are learned behaviours that connect us, help us to be independent, and foster cooperation and interdependent relationships” (Gonzalez-Mena & Eyer, 2007, p251).   This continued the children’s learning from previous experiences such as caring for others (even though it wasn’t living, they thought it was) and linked to the children’s interests.  The children sustained the great use of technology and learnt through these experiences.

Gonzalez-Mena, J. & Eyer, D.W. (2007). Infants, Toddlers, and Caregivers: A Curriculum of Respectful, Responsive care and Education. New York: McGraw Hill.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington: Learning Media.

Our new addition

“Toddlers are active and curious, determined to become competent and to make sense of happenings, objects, and ideas” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p23).  The toddlers in our infants and toddlers room are very curious about our new little friend.  Our little friend’s name is ‘Google’ and he is a goldfish.

Google came to us through the children’s growing interest of the beach.  The children have been role playing scenes from the beach within their dramatic play throughout the play areas.  They have been engaging in different beach themed experiences such as water play, props added to the sand pit and more.  While a teacher was giving the children the opportunity to make a beach mural, sharing their ideas of what is at the beach, one child began talking about fishing.  This sparked the direction of the interest in fish.  The children made fish for the mural and it spiralled from there.  Sea creatures had been added to the water play on numerous occasions however the children were not maintaining the interest the same.  We revisited the mural when it was displayed on the wall.  The mural had textured surfaces and this seemed to satisfy the children’s curiosity and the interest hovered for a little bit longer before slightly fading again.  The books and songs about fish were not cutting it.  With discussion and ideas thrown around between the teachers we decided that the children needed something real life and hands on to maintain the interest.  We came up with an idea to bring a real fish into the classroom for the children to experience.  One of the teachers kindly offered to bring her fish from home to share with the children.

In a flash the children crowded around the fish tank as Google was welcomed into his new home.  Google arrived already in the tank, I think that the short trip in the car made him a little dizzy however it didn’t take him long to swim to the surface of his fish tank as the children gave him his first meal – goldfish flakes!  The fish tank is set up at the children’s level on a table.  The table is located in front of a power point so extreme supervision has been required while the children’s curiosity shifts from the power cord for the oxygen pump back to Google himself.  The children slowly learnt that it was a special cord to help Google breath and have nice water to swim in.  And it also took perseverance from the teachers as the children learnt the lid at the top was for feeding Google only, not for giving the play dough extra moisture when it got dry!  Although some of the children thought it was a great idea to add some seashells to his tank, because there are seashells at the beach J  It was wonderful to watch the children’s awareness of living creatures grow.  The children began their understanding of living things during their interest in crickets and other bugs and Google has expertly increased this understanding to another level.  

Once Google was set up and settled in as one of us in our room, I began to realise not only his connection to the children’s interest but also his connection to using technology in the centre and the unlimited learning the children could gain from his stay with us.  The children began to learn about fish, how they live and how they can care for him.  Smorti (1999) states that “technology is about helping people and problem solving” (p1), the technology being the fish tank, solved our problem of maintaining the children’s interest in fish and providing a real life experience.  This helped the children to learn more about their interest and be available to them at all times.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington: Learning Media.

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

A Good Old Waiata - with a touch of technology

This old man.... he played one....he played knick knack on my drum.... with a knick knack paddy whack give the dog a bone.... this old man came rolling home!  All together now J  That is the common sound in our infant and toddler room, a sing-a-long with all the children as they read the popular book as a group.  But it doesn’t stop there.

The children have been extremely interested in reading and books.  We created a more reading friendly area for the children to spend time doing what they love, the space being quiet with areas to read together and areas to read on our own.  There are pillows, child sized arm chairs and couches and a little reading loft.  This extended the interest further and now there is no stopping them.  We have a set of sing-a-long nursery rhyme books that have been a hit with the children.  If these books are not out on the shelf or accessible to the children they go to the resource room door and ask for it.  One little boy in particular is crazy about the song book ‘this old man.’  One day when he came in with his mother she was saying that he hadn’t stopped talking about “Tina, man” all morning.  We weren’t sure what he was trying to say and it wasn’t until later that morning at it all made sense.  He was at the resource room door, “Tina!” he exclaimed.  “Tina, man.”  Ding dong, now it all made sense, he was asking for the book, ‘this old man.’  We got the book out and read it over and over ............... and over again, as you do!  Lunchtime came, the boy had already managed to take time out for a nappy change, however he was not going to put the book down for lunch.  After a lot of convincing he had lunch and a sleep.  Then when he woke up, his first words were, “man, man, man.”  I was working on the computer at the time of his request so I suggested we could try and find it on the computer.  I went to the You Tube site on the internet and searched for this old man.  Pictures popped up of different video clips and the boy pointed at the screen, “man.”  I showed him the cursor arrow on the screen.  We moved it together using the mouse pad and then I showed him what button to click and tad da! We were watching the video clip.

It was only a matter of moments before majority of the children were gathered around the table trying to get a look at the video clips we were playing on the laptop screen.  We moved the laptop to a more user friendly space, in the reading area.  The children sat down on pillows and made themselves comfortable.  As we watched and the other activities in the room were taking place, the sound was hard to hear.  So the children watched as I pushed buttons to turn the sound up.  Eyes widened as they could hear it clearer.  Before long we were looking and listening to a range of video clips.  We looked at Thomas the tank engine because a picture of it showed up on the screen in between clips and the children wanted to watch Thomas!

I was rather excited about using the computer to extend the children’s interest in singing and reading.  After using the computer for the research and learning of crickets and bugs, the children were familiar with the process.  In this experience I let my own insecurities go (a little, but it is a start) and allowed the child to interact with the equipment.  Smorti (1999) explains the importance of educators broadening their understanding in technology to be able to scaffold the children’s learning in this area.  I felt that I was comfortable enough in this area, using the laptop and the internet, to be able to scaffold the children in extending their interest.  I feel that it was a fun experience for the children, adding a variety of learning tools to their everyday learning.  In this experience, of following the children’s interest in reading and books, the children’s learning was facilitated through the environment and resources.  “A supportive and helpful learning environment will make it more likely that these goals can be achieved and that children will be self-motivated learners” (MacNaughton & Williams, (2009), p83).

MacNaughton.G & Williams.G. (2009). Techniques for Teaching Young Children: Choices for Theory and Practice. N.S.W, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.

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

Cricket Mania!

Over time the children have shown their curiosity in the crickets and other bugs found around the centre.  What has this got to do with technology you ask?  Well, the interest in crickets has led to the children experiencing use of technology in the centre.

It all started in the garage.  While getting the equipment out of the garage a child spotted a cricket in the corner when the climbing box was moved.  As the child investigated the cricket other children showed interest too.  After poking and prodding at the cricket, it moved about and kept hiding.  I captured the poor cricket in a container.  This allowed the children to get a better look at the creature.  The children saw the different body parts of the cricket and this sparked conversation and questions.  Where do crickets come from?  Where do they live?  What do they eat?  Over the next few days the children began noticing more crickets around the centre.  Some of the crickets weren’t moving much, which added more curiosity.  Were they dead or alive?  We got the laptop out and did a search on the internet to find the answers.  Using Google we looked at images and read information on sites about crickets.  We found out that an adult cricket has the life span of 3 months.   We also discovered that crickets liked to eat fruit.  One child wanted to feed the crickets some fruit, so we found some fruit in the kitchen, chopped it up and placed it out in the garden for the crickets to come and eat.  Again we revisited the images using Google again.  This time we printed and laminated the pictures and the children put them on the wall to look at.  The pictures were rather popular and the children began finding more bugs around the centre.  From this interest leading into bugs, together we looked at Google images again, finding a range of bug pictures.  We printed the pictures and displayed them.   The pictures were very popular so using the power point programme on the computer we made a book.  The children helped to laminate the pages and then binded the pages together to make a book for the library.  This was allowing the children to begin developing research skills and the ability to take responsibility in their own learning.  “Children experience an environment where they learn strategies for active exploration, thinking and reasoning” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p88).

 Through the children’s interest of crickets and bugs the children became exposed to learning through technology available.  As the children used the laptop they learnt how to use the computer carefully and safely.  As a teacher I was very wary of the children using the laptop.  I felt myself doing most of the work and limiting the children’s use.  This barrier made me aware of my insecurities of children using technology in the centre.  Am I afraid that they will damage it?  Am I questioning their capabilities? And underestimating their ability?  Tsantis, Bewick and Thouvenelle (2003) discussed the myths of using computers impacting on how teachers implement these as learning tools in the curriculum.  I feel that perhaps with my lack of knowledge in computers, I am projecting my insecurity of using computers onto the children.  I now aim to steer away from this and allow my knowledge to expand through the children’s use of computers.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington: Learning Media.

Tsantiis, L.A., Benwick, C.J., & Thouvenelle, S. (2003).  Examing some common Myths about computer use in the early years.  Young Children. Vol 58 (1), pp.1-9