Going over the assignment, I knew it would be interesting to incorporate and focus on activities with the children that involved technology, both digital and non-digital. Personally, setting up experiences that involved technology was not difficult, but in evaluating, reflecting and discussing in depth about the situations was a challenge for me.
Thinking about technology and what it meant to me and my practice with children was something to consider as I integrate technology into the children’s learning. When starting up my blog, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, although I’m a person who loves to experience new things, so setting up my blog would be an adventure for me. Through trial and error, I was able to successfully get my reflections done, which was something I felt proud of, going through the entries I had documented and achieving something I had not done before.
Coming into this assessment, I had no idea of how essential the impact of technology had on our professional practice as educators and on the children. It did not occur to me how the use of technology could benefit the overall learning and development of the children in our centres, but in having this time to reflect and analyse the different experiences I and my peers have encountered, it has really made me think, about the tools that we use everyday within our centres and consider whether they are forms of technology, whether it be digital or non-digital. Moreover, it has made me contemplate on my overall practice and reflect on ways in which I can make technology more interesting and at the same time, safe and secure for children within their environments (Ministry of Education, 1996).
One of the major things I’ve learnt through this experience, is the different forms of ‘non-technology’. I had no idea that ‘non-technology’ could be in the form of a stapler, cello tape, glue, magnifying glass, etc, but in researching and through class discussions, I have gained extensive knowledge about the wonders of non-technology and that we should be taking advantage of all that is in front of us. As Smorti (1999, p.5) states, “technology is about helping people and solving problems”, where in regards to our practice with children, it is our role as educators to encourage children to make use of the technology that is before them to make sense of the world around them, attaining new skills and knowledge for them to preserve for future encounters.
Some of the feedbacks I had received from my peers, requested that I make use of asking more questions to the children about their experiences with technology, in which I hope to improve on in my future practice, where Arthur & Beecher (2008) propose that through asking open-ended questions, we are encouraging the children to build confidence in themselves to express their thoughts and feelings about their own personal experience in an activity. I feel that this is important in order to see the child’s point of view and acknowledge their contribution towards group and individual experiences (Ministry of Education, 1996).
Overall, in reflecting back on this group blogging experience, I’ve come to understand and acknowledge the uses of different forms of technology and its benefits, not only to myself as an educator, but particularly to the children as we continue to enhance and strengthen their learning and development of assorted tools and skills. Through reading and commenting on my peers’ blogs, it has enabled me to have a broad insight into their experiences with technology within their centres and how they would address and facilitate the children’s learning about the unique tools. In receiving feedback from my group members, it has allowed me to consider improvements on my practice in the field of teaching technology to the children within my centre and ways in which I could build on their knowledge and my own, where Smorti (1999) suggests that in order for educators to extend on children’s interests and learning in technology, we must first broaden our own knowledge of technology.
Reference List
Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (20008). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (4th ed.). Victoria, Australia: CENGAGE Learning.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whaariki: He Whaariki Maatauranga mo nga Mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No. 19 Autumn 1999.
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