Technology: September 2012

Before taking this paper I was not looking forward to it because I have very limited knowledge in technology. I am also against the use of some modern technology believing to have bad influence on children’s behaviour as they have the freedom to access to any programme they wish to engage with and parents have no control on the use of technology by their children. While working on blogs along with other fellow members of my group, I started to feel good about how we conversed with each other, and able to view other’s opinion on blog entries. During this time I felt very happy and pleased and started to engage more in blog discussion and what I have achieved so far. What I like best is I learn something new almost every day on blog discussion as well as learning from my mistakes that I have done on my previous blogs. Sometimes I do not see it on my own blog but seeing others comments made me realise I have made a few mistakes in my own blogs and learnt from it like for example the spelling of the word lego. This is clearly stated in O’Connor & Diggins (2002), as educators you need to “think critically about your practice and identify what you do well, your strength, and build on these and what you don’t do well, your weaknesses, to try to overcome these” (p. 9). The overall feedback from my group discussion I noticed several important areas in technology I really like to think about in the future as a preschool teacher using technology in the centre: I never knew that potato peeler, scissors, and whisk are all part of technology until I actually got involved in this blog discussion about technology. What I learnt from potato peeler, is that there are so many learning and skills that a child gets when engaging in the use of this technology. The most important thing is risk taking as children also need to learn to take good care of him/her while peeling a fruit, or vegetable. Greenfield (2003) states, that “risks and challenges are part of everyday life, part of children’s play and necessary to their development and learning” (p. 5). As children are competent and confident learners they “take increasing responsibility for their own learning and care” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 40). This technology is something I can really learn from and extend it with other resources in the centre. The same as scissor as the child not only learn how to take care of him/herself but also help with hands and eye coordination, developing of fine motor skills and solving problems. It is challenging for some as fine motor skills are yet to be developed and to help children build their skills, “educators can facilitate children’s learning by providing experiences that are appropriately challenging for children to engage in learning” (Arthur, Beecher, Death, docket, Farmer, 2008, p. 328). One commented about asking children questions about something that they already know the answer to. I think children have common knowledge about the use of the oven but I feel that I should be more in depth about the way I have ask them questions during this activity. It is something that I really need to work on using open-ended question so that the children have an opportunity to develop thinking skills answering open-ended questions. As “asking questions to children provide them with an opportunity to think and to use language in a functional manner by allowing them to report observations, describes experiences and make predictions” (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009, p. 152). Asking closed questions often requires short answers like yes or no and does not encourage the child to actively involve in the discussion. The most effective way to promote children’s thinking about “specific events is asking open-ended questions and asking them what they can remember seeing and hearing.” (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009, p. 184) Comments about the use of blocks made me thought of how this technology can really build children’s essential skills as I was not aware of so many learning skills that a child can achieve by playing with blocks. It is a wake-up call for me not to underestimate the use of blocks in children’s learning as it has special values developing cognitive skills as “multiple unit blocks provide experiences which assist concepts of numbers, size, space, distance, sequence, order, balance and rhythm” and others (Somerset, 2010, p. 75). Overall I am pleased with what I have achieved and learned so far and I am very thankful for the opportunity to be involved in this constructive discussion about technology. It is a challenge for me and the result is that I want to know more and learn more about technology in the future. Thank you Sharon for being patient and for bearing with me through this challenge as there were very few technology available to us back in my days. Reference Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Dockett, S., Farmer, S., & Death, E. (2008). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (4th ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Cengage Learning. Greenfield, C. (2003). Outdoor play - the case for risks and challenges in children's learning and development. Safekids News, 5 McNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice (3rd ed.). Melbourne,Vic.: Addison Wesley Longman Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he whaariki mätauranga mo nga mokopuna ö Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media. O’Connor, A., & Diggins, K. (2002): On reflection: Reflective practice for early childhood educators. Lower Hutt, New Zealand: Open Mind Publishing. Somerset, G. (2000). Work and play in the early years (4th ed.).New Lyn, Auckland: New Zealand. Playcentre Federation

Technology

Monday, 3 September 2012

Hyperlinks

Saturday, 1 September 2012

Part 3: Final Reflection