Reflection Two: Digital camera that captures children’s learning
/ Fashion show.
3 August 2012
Recently
children in our centre were interested in dress up and showing each other their
costumes. The teachers organised a fashion show, we set up a stage and used a
long piece of material laid on the mat area as a runway, then asked the
children to showcase the costumes from different part of the world. We’d
captured the fun learning experience on the centre’s digital camera. The children
dressed up in Scottish, Spanish, Irish, Indian, Chinese and Tongan traditional
costumes.
Two
older boys saw me using the digital camera taking photos, so they asked me if
they can use the camera to take pictures also. I thought will this be a good
idea? I was not so sure because the camera is for the teachers to use as a tool
on recording children’s development. I asked my supervisor for advice. She said
as long as I show the children how to use the camera properly, so they can
respect our camera as a resource and make sure they take turns with it.
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I
was surprised by boy 1 who knew how to operate the camera; showed me how to use
the function button on the camera to view the photo’s that he’d just taken. I
was unfamiliar with the brand of the camera so he said ‘Wendy you push this button
to make people look bigger and then you push it back and the people will be
smaller’. He is implying the zoom function on the digital camera. “When technology
is used effectively, it creates an active interaction between learner and
content. The complexity of these interactions increases with the level of
student talent” (Schunk, 2000, p.18). They were laughing and taking photos, boy1
he is very capable of using digital camera, but I noticed boy 2 was upset and
sobbing because boy 1 was not sharing the camera with him. I had asked him
twice to share the camera with his friend, yet in the end I had to take away
the device from him. I felt by doing so I am teaching boy 1 to considering
other’s needs.
Even
though technology is playing an important part of our everyday life, teachers
need to know how to channel children’s technology curiosity and use this
technology to help them grow intellectually, socially and emotionally (Serriere,
2010).
I
wonder what else boy 1 knows about the digital technology? Using scanner and
upload their work to create a power point presentations perhaps? The children incorporated a wide range of
technological knowledge and understandings in their collaborative play; they
also brought knowledge from out-of-centre experiences into centre life (Mawson,2000).These
elements are; Technology practice strand, Technology knowledge strand and
Nature of technology strand, described in terms of the strands of the New
Zealand Technology Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007).From observing
children closely to understand their technological
knowledge, this knowledge provides insight into the content knowledge needed by
the teachers, in order to offer some possible area of interest that could be
explored within extended learning experience.
References
Mawson,
B. (2011). Technological funds of knowledge in children's play:
Implications for early childhood educators. Australasian Journal Of Early
Childhood,36(1), 30-35.
Ministry of Education.
(2007). The New Zealand curriculum.
Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Schunk, D. H. (2000). Learning theories: An educational
perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Serriere, S. C. (2010).
"Carpet-Time Democracy: Digital Photography and
Social Consciousness in the Early
Childhood Classroom." Social Studies
101(2): 60-68.Children in
our centre
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ReplyDeleteDear Wendy,
ReplyDeleteNowadays as the development of the technology, children have more opportunities to use the new technology. I was surprised to see some children are so familiar with the function of the camera, because in my thought, a young age child should not know how to use a camera which is an adult’s tool. As the change of the society, digital products becomes part of our daily life, the adults such as parents and teachers around the children are using digital technology all the time in front of children, for example, laptop, smart, tablet, and camera. It is stated in the Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory of development children are influenced by the parents, teachers or caregivers who spend lots of time with them in direct interaction (Santrock, 2009). As teachers, we should not stunt children’s development in using new technology because I believe as teachers’ dense of perceived competence is directly related to the use of ICT in the early childhood setting (Joshi, Pan, Murakami & Narayanan, 2010).
Santrock, J.W., (2009). Lifespan development: International student edition (12thed.), Boston, Ma., United States of America: McGraw Hill.
Joshi, A., Pan, A., Murakami, M., & Narayanan, S., (2010). Role of computers in educating young children: U.S and Japanese teachers’ perspectives. Computers in the school, 27(1):5-19.
From your reflection, I get the message that technology can empower children in their learning. We all want our children to grow as confident and competent learner, as Boyd (2008) argued, ICT is allowing educators to expand on what they mean by this. By giving children the digital camera and allowing them to take photos, teachers help children to build a sense of empowerment, that they have a right in their learning.
ReplyDeleteIt is especially meaningful for children who already have the connection with technology; those prior experiences enable children to turn out to be ICT expert among their peers. A good teacher will be aware of those “funds of knowledge” that children bring with them, and extend on it (Hatherly, 2009). For example, teacher can draw upon children’s technological knowledge and encourage children to help others who are not familiar with digital camera. At this point, the use of digital cameras not only serve as documenting tools, but also create many opportunities for children to collaborate and socialize with each other.
Hi, Wendy, I believe that we have an important role in providing technology for children to explore by themselves. Children are in the age of technology and they have the rights to know how to use the technology around them. By giving opportunities to children to explore technology, this enables them to deal with boarder media environment (Buckinghuang, 2000 cited in Loveless, 2003). Hence, I agree with you that when you provided opportunities for children who were interested in using camera to take photos during children’s fashion show.
ReplyDeleteI think that allowing children to take photos with a camera can enhance their self-esteem. Also, it can value personal interests, cultures, beliefs, challenge thinking and encourage children to provide personal resources (Andrew, n.d.). This is because children can learn to capture images and see them through displaying in the camera. So, they are able to extend their abilities of creativity by taking the photos of their friends or even themselves (Andrew, n.d.)
The child in your reflection is so confident to take photos by himself. I believe you can extend his further learning by showing him some other camera function -recording. By doing so, the child would develop a deeper understanding and a new skill of using camera. Also, He can be more familiarised with character of the technology (Ministry of Education, 1996).
Hi, Wendy, I agree your opinions in this reflection. Children learn to use digital camera as a technological skill, which makes their learning more fun. In addition, teaching and learning are happening during the interactive process, the teachers are able to learn from children, as well as children are learning from each other. I believe children learn effectively in a fun way. Linking to Te Whariki, children develop the knowledge of playing with ideas and their learning can be enjoyable and creative (Ministry of Education, 1996). What can we do to encourage children to engage in digital technology learning? On the one hand, we need to provide a learning environment with available resources. For example, there are no cameras available for children to use in some centre. Actually it is possible for us to provide some second hand cameras for children to try and practice the proper way of using them. On the other hand, as a teacher, we need to provide children with opportunities of exploring actively through using digital camera for their own learning in the centre. For example, children are encouraged to take pictures of objectives, environment. Through this way, they can show their understanding and ideas of the world around them.
ReplyDelete