During our last session together before the holidays people in the class expressed how they are enjoying the course and that it is challenging them to pay attention to children's learning about and through technology. There is an old adage somewhere that goes something like "if you want to learn about a topic, teach it". This course, more than any other course I have facilitated has made me aware of the teacher's role as co-learner (rather than expert). I have been fascinated with the way we have been using class time to negotiate meaning and co-construct knowledge and processes.
As part of the process I have also been paying more attention to the role of technology in our lives and I have been reminded of just how amazingly competent children are. Here's an example from Zoe (aged 2 years 4 months). A couple of days ago I was using the laptop when Zoe came downstairs holding the webcam. She proceded to plug the camera in and set it up on top of the laptop. She then repositioned it carefully and began to take photos of herself with the camera. "I did it!" she proclaimed proudly while I sat there astonished. I love the way that after 20 years of working in ECE chidlren still have the capacity to surprise me : )
In what ways have children been surprising you with their knowledge and skilful use of technology?
I have to say that one of the most funny experiences I have had at my centre was when a group of children would constantly sing the same song over and over again(You may have heard it) "wonder pets, wonder pets we are on our way, we are not to big and we are not to tough but when we work together we have got the right stuff, go wonder pets yay" the tune was very popular and soon teachers and children alike were singing the song. I was curious to find out where this song had come from and so I asked one of the children who had introduced it to us and he simply said "Aunty don't you know its from Wonder pets on the TV every morning" This really opened my eyes to how influential technology has become for our young children.
ReplyDeleteAs clever as children are, when it comes to more high tech technology they are a league a head, seemingly hardwired into what things do and how you use them.
ReplyDeleteI have had a 20 month old toddler pick up the camera I put down, turn it on aim and take a photo. Although the shot wasn't lined up the principals of how to use it were clear. This child is still refining fine and gross motor skills and working on a range of sounds and words but knows how to use a digital camera.
It is amazing how insightful children are with daily technology tools.
Talking to my neices aged 3 and 4 highlights just how knowledgable children are these days, and just how big their world is. Both girls use technology daily in the form of computers, tv, sky and dvds. They are aware of the latest tv shows like the Wonder pets and music like Justin Bieber and know about all the latest toy trends.
I agree with Nicole, not realising just how much technology influences our children and their choices.
It has made me think though....How do we ensure that only good and positive influences get to the children? In a negative frame of mind some technology influences could simply be a way of making the children followers and consumers.
It amazes me how in today’s world technology is increasingly interwoven into the fabric of children’s everyday lives. This was highlighted when a group of children were dancing to some music when a child signalled they wanted to listen to a particular C.D and to my amazement he who is not even two yet picked out the C.D opened the disk player, put it in closed it and pushed play!! It was absolutely astonishing the skills this child used when interacting with technology at 23 months old. This really does make you appreciate the influence technology has on children’s abilities in this day and age, technology has developed so dramatically over recent years that educators must appreciate the effects it has over the learning needs of the current generation of children.
ReplyDeleteLeanne I too have had that same thought, I think as long as educators acknowledge this and ensure they provide an environment, experiences and interactions which promote a broad range of interests, skills and behaviours. Then technological resources in centres can be used effectively in supporting and extending children’s development
Kia Ora Tamar,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about learning and teaching, I believe it is in the doing that we learn best. Facilitating experiences for children involving technology has made me look at the environment more closely. So many of the tools and resources that we walk past and use everyday are technology and I have previously not given them another thought whereas now I see them as enriching children’s learning. In my post about searching the internet for dolphins, one of the children knew to use his finger to activate the mouse on the lap top; he moved the cursor around until he found the picture that he wanted to see. Right clicking seems a breeze for some of these three year old children. I was amazed at how perceptive and knowledgeable some children are with how to use technology. Another disposition that I have seen with some children and technology is curiosity and a need to explore and discover how to make something work.
Finally I have enjoyed the co-construction of knowledge in class and feel it builds support amongst classmates. I only wish we could have had a similar co constructing course in year one or year two, this would have been great to build relationships within the class.
Indeed this course has opened my eyes to technology and its impact on ours and children’s lives. Through the range of reading I have done over the past weeks it is evident that there are many benefits of using technology with children in early childhood education. As they are growing up in a generation were technology is such are large part of their everyday lives (Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett, & Farmer, 2008).
ReplyDeleteI too find it amazing the knowledge children have when using technology in the centre and as part of their everyday lives/ play. For example watching children with the ‘pretend’ cell phones, or when they change the disc in the C.D player. Ocassions when I've ask them how they knew what to do their response was that, that’s how Mum and Dad do it, or they name other adults in their lives. This is a perfect example of how without noticing it children are always observing us. So in remembering this we can further scaffold children’s learning through positive experiences with the technology we are using to help them understand and make sense of how to use it, which will help them to become confident users of technology.
Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett., & Farmer, S. (2008). Programming and planning in early childhood settings. (4th ed.). Victoria: Thompson.
Leanne raises a very interesting question "How do we ensure that only good and positive influences get to the children? In a negative frame of mind some technology influences could simply be a way of making the children followers and consumers." It is wise to think critically and be aware of some of the potential downsides of technology too - there are always advantages and disadvantages, but do the advantages outweigh the potential disadvtanges? I think a key issue here is that we can not avoid the fact that we are consumers - the question is are we discerning consumers and are we encouraging children to think for themselves and make wise decisions???
ReplyDeleteI agree that children today are more technology savvy than we were at that age. This is due to our world becoming technologically advanced and families having access to more hi-tech gadgets than previous generations. However, it is very important to ensure that children do not become influenced by television or computer/video games to lead their lives. I understand that parents or guardians today are more busy as the need for financial security rises. Therefore, we, as educators, should take an active role in making children aware of their ability to think for themselves and make wise decisions. In an early childhood setting, there are various things that teachers can do to help a child become a competent and confident thinker. One such aspect is giving children the opportunity to problem solve. I recall a situation at my centre involving two toddlers. They were playing in the block corner when one block accidently fell in between two shelves. One was a wooden shelf and the other was a plastic one with three removable drawers. They came to me asking for help. However, instead of moving a shelf to take the block out, I asked them what they thought could be done. The next twenty minutes or so were spent trying various methods to retrieve the block, but not by me, by the children themselves. Eventually, they decided to take the bottom drawer out of the plastic shelf and use a hand to grasp the block. I believe that children should be given opportunities to build on their cognitive and social skills to ensure that they can recognise their abilities to make wise decisions. Technology can be used to aid in the development of children's abilities but it should not overcome a child's potential to do his/her best in life. I know it is essential that children are exposed to technology as they will grow to engage in jobs that involve some aspect of it (Keengwe & Onchwari, 2009). However, as early childhood teachers, we should be adamant in helping children realise that technology is there to help make life a bit easier rather than becoming a guide to life.
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Keengwe, J. and Onchwari, G. (2009). Technology and early childhood education: a technology integration professional development model for practising teachers. Early Childhood Educational Journal, 37, 209-218.
Do you think that thomas Eddison shouldn't have invented electricity? It is so dangerous! Do you think that Mark Zuckerberg should never have invented social networkingFacebook? It can be so distructive.
ReplyDeleteThere is always the bad prospects with the good. That is just life. And unfortunately even if we teach children how to cross the road carefully, and safely there is no guarantee that they will always follow the rules of safety.
Here's the thing - "be well-prepared teachers, who recognise the power and limitations of technology " (Tsantis, Bewick, & Thouvenelle. 2003)
Technology is intergrated with teaching and learning and can not be ignored. It has amzing value and potential.
The sky is the limit. Make sure you, the teacher, are not.(Jill Hammond. 2008)
Linda A Tsantis, C. J. B. S. T. (2003). Examining some common myths about computer use in the Early Years. Young Children, 58,, 1- 9.
Hammond, J. (2008). Ulearn08 Juniors Can. Core education
Hi Tamar,
ReplyDeleteI do not think that Thomas Edison should not have invented electricity or that Alexander Graham Bell should not have invented the telephone. I do not even think the the internet or even Facebook should not have been invented.
There are always advantages and disadvantages to everything.
It amazes me when I see the children are able to type on the computer, how good they are at playing games, or dial a number and talk on the phone, how quickly they learn a new a skill such as text messaging. I didn't have the knowledge or skill when I was their age! Thus I feel that technology is amazing, allowing us to do numerous thing and enables us to learn and gain knowledges and get tasks done. How convenient is that! The benefits therefore do outweigh the risks or disadvantages. However having said that as teachers we need to teach the children to use technology responsibly and safely, whilst being aware of the risks and what to do in certain situations should they arise. Children could be encouraged to think for themselves with open ended questions, does the product benefit them as a whole should they own it? They should not let technology control and take their lives. There's more to life than computers. When children are encouraged to use technology wisely then they can make wise decisions when they are aware of the risks. Discussion is useful!
Yes Tamar, the young children are aware of everything around them whether it is pollution or littering as they experience these bad habits of technology. We as early childhood teacher should help children develop an initial disposition of care for their environment and guide them to make a wise decision. Recently, we upgraded some new books. I used a book called “Mille Moo” in mat time with our toddlers for a couple days as they showed great interest in it. Every time the children see the cover page of the book they will make the “moo, moo” sound. To my surprised, D, who is a 20-month old boy, can directly make correct sounds of different animals before I turn the page. He even can make the similar pronunciation of the animals’ names match with the sounds. The toddlers have fantastic memory; they are rapidly acquiring language skill by lot of practicing (Ministry of Education, 1996). Books are the most popular technology in the last century, in this ICT era, it is still a useful technology for infants’ and toddlers’ learning. Arthur (2001) state that early literacy development is closely linked to child’s earliest experiences and interactions with materials such as books, stories and adults in their lives. Every coin has two sides; the computer and TV make our everyday living a lot easier and more enjoyable, but is it all good for our children, especially for the younger ones? As early childhood teachers, we must follow the principle of teaching children in accordance with their needs and provide the most appropriate environment for them to learn and develop.
ReplyDeleteArthur, L. (2001). Popular Culture and Early Literacy Learning. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood. 2 (3), 295-308.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aoteraroa. Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
In what ways have children been surprising you with their knowledge and skilful use of technology?
ReplyDeleteHi Tamar,
I totally agree with Rain about children and books as books are used regularly in my centre during mat time . Depending on the weather , sometimes we will put a movie on for the children. But the most thing our children like to do is getting out the radio and microphone, instruments and singing along with the songs. They like to set up our little stage and just sing and have a good time. Sometimes it can be very loud in our centre , especially if its a raining day. The only thing we teachers need to worry about is to educate the children we teach about the environment and the impact technology has on it. Showing the children there are other opportunities out there that does not include technology, such as fishing, swimming etc..If taught right all is well, as we can not shelter children from technology but just offer other choices. At the end of the day technology will always be around and technology will have advantages and disadvantages, its how we choose to use this technology and use it for our good.
In what ways have children been surprising you with their knowledge and skilful use of technology?
ReplyDeleteHi Tamar,
one of the funny things that i experienced in my centre was when a little girl kept saying "spray and walk away", i never knew what it meant until one night i saw the add on T.V. the next day I noticed the little girl spraying the stairs with a spray bottle then she said "spray and walk away", I went up to the little and asked why did you spray the stairs and she said "the man did on T.V. this was then i realised that children are influenced by what they watch on T.V and just how influential technology has been become in children's lives.
“If you want to learn it, teach it." Well I feel that we have all been teacher's in this course, co-constructing together to iron out the rough spots, confusion and problem solving these. The discussions in class were very constructive as people were open minded and open to sharing their thoughts and ideas. Going through the processes as a group certainly helped with my understanding of blogging and what is involved.
ReplyDeleteHow have the children surprised me? Well the children haven't really surprised me that much. What has surprised me however, is how much technology is so built into our lives. I have always been aware of the technological world growing but never really thought about what was involved in technology. The children don't know any different from our world today therefore it is not surprising to me how in tune to technology they are.
Leanne I agree that a child's world is huge! I think of my world growing up and remember rolling around in long grass on the farm, building huts in the hay barn out of hay bails and creating a village by the creek. Not a lot of technology was involved in that play. Children's play today seems more complex, children are more exposed to life skills from an earlier age. or perhaps that was just my small rural community up bringing sheltering me????
In what ways have children been surprising you with their knowledge and skilful use of technology?
ReplyDeleteKia Ora Tamar,
When I was working in the under 2's I was outdoors with the toddlers and we had the CD playing wiggles songs. I turned the volume of the music down so as not to wake the toddlers that were sleeping in the next room. At this time one of the 11 months girl S turned the volume up again. I turned around and looked at her in surprise because I did not know that she was able to turn the volume up. She obviously seen staff turning the switch for volume at previous times. It is amazing how children as young as 11 months have an notion for uses of technology. This assignment has made me more aware of technology and it's many uses around the centre. Our children have much more technological experiences then what I had as a child.Children can access on computers and are more interactive with world wide theories, for example looking up things on the internet. It is great learning for both teachers and children. Technology is fun.
It this day and age children seem to be more technologically aware of what technology can expand into through their exploration they create in their play which we as adults yet to discover. It amazes me to see what children can come up with when given an item or object about technology. It's like at times they just in their own special way just connect with it then they just flourish and blossom. Children in every centre are the ones that will bring forth the new dimensions or era of technology in our world and it also comes with it's good and not so good advantages which I believe is part of learning in our growth development. The more we familiarize ourselves and children with technology the more awareness of closing missing gaps that disconnects us from eventually getting bored with certain technology around us. My 5 year old daughter when she was 4 years old she saw her daddy one day playing a game on his mobile phone which was an LG touch phone. She observed the process of accessing the games menu and which game to choose then actually beginning the game then playing it. Both my husband and I were really taken by surprise at how quick she learnt it and put it into action. It's a real joy seeing the children at my centre develop through technology. What a rewarding career.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking about Leanne’s comment about positive influences on children the thoughts that have since evolved from others. I believe this course has given us a much better understanding about the uses of technology and from sharing each others experiences, we are more aware of how we can use technology to empower children to think for themselves and make wise decisions (as Tamar described). We have all been surprised at how knowledgeable children are with technology at such a young age but the children in our care are not only learning from us, they are learning from other people, places, things and events. From what they experience at home watching parents, siblings, extended whānau, their wider community and of course interacting with the different types of technology that is all around them. I believe we need to share our knowledge now with the parents and even our wider community. The netsafe ideas for cyber safety would be a really good tool to share with our families. It is truly a technological world out there and children need to be equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes in order to take an active role in todays society safely and responsibly.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with you Tamar. Today's children are extremely competent and quite independent in getting around with using new technologies. In my centre, there is a little boy who is 3 years of age who is very curious and shows a lot of interest in using camera by himself. Its quite surprising for us because for a kid of 3 years to actually hold a camera by himself properly and turn it own by himself and focus it quite well to capture pictures. We got to appreciate their curiosity to deepen their knowledge and skills and also for being ready to face challenges and being confident and independent of their own.
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