In my final blog I found out that it was a very good experience for me. I started this course and did not know anything about blogging, unless I started to do few of them. This experience has given me an opportunity to put things together by doing it in the practice. Throughout the process I have learnt the importance of technology and learnt that smallest thing around us has bit of technology in it. “Technology is a creative, purposeful activity aimed at meeting needs and opportunities through the development of products, systems, or environments. Knowledge, skills, and resources are combined to help solve practical problems. Technological practice takes place within, and is influenced by, social contexts” (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 6). We as educators need to enhance children’s knowledge by providing them with different types of technology.
My own learning throughout this process about people, places, and things has involvement of children, parents, extended families, colleagues and community has helped in giving things a go and encouraged me to try new things. By providing different learning experiences helped children to grow further. Technology involves thinking about processes, successful products, practical invention, designs, searchers for solutions, research for practical purposes and study of how things might be (Fisher & Gravey, 1991 as cited in Smorti, 1991, p. 7).
When I was successful in creating my first blog, I was so delighted. It was not very hard because it was much similar to face book but with professionalism. Having feedback and reading each other’s blogs and making few comments was enriching. As we read others reflective blogs, we could visualise ourselves in similar situations. Modern gadgets like cameras and computers have made our lives so easy, convenient and progressive. There are so many benefits of having them in our lives.
The feedback given from some of the students were really useful for me because I am thinking of taking their advice on board and extending that in my centre. Some of the students have given me ideas which I never thought of and I am really thankful to them as this will help me in future. Blogging is another way of communication with each other and fastest way to write portfolio’s as well. Blogging has also given me an idea about having portfolio’s for children so that it will be easier for parents to access from anywhere, rather than reading the portfolio’s at school. This will save their time and they will be able to comment on their child’s learning. People, places, things and event is a board topic but we can only cover so much. Blogging is a good idea as this helps us students to know better about technology so that we can extend these in our own centres.
Doing these activities with children I personally learned a lot from children, that technology plays such a big role in children’s life. Children were also learning to evaluate their outcomes and actions, learning to use trial and error and share their knowledge with their peers and support each other’s ideas ( Helm & Katz,2001).
Teachers should role model children with different technology and even small things like paper, scissors and pen matters. We can facilitate children with so many things before introducing them to a bigger picture of technology. For example paper cutting with scissors is so important to children. We should encourage children with small things and that means a lot in their learning (MacNaughton and Williams, 2009).
I was a bit frustrated when uploading pictures because they were not in the right place. It took so much time and I was not happy with the outcome because time is very precious. I think if I will know how to put pictures in proper position it will become easier for me and my frustration will go away. However doing blogging was fun and we were able to see other student’s blog and this gave us encouragement and we were relaxed about doing blogging.
Lastly I think technology plays a great and fantastic role in early childhood, children should have better experience on that before they go to primary school. In coming future technology will be everywhere and this course has been really helpful to us students. We can now take a piece of this in our centre and implement technology in a wider world with children.
Reference
Helm, J., & Katz, L. (2001). Young investigator: The project approach in the early years.
New York: Teaches College Press.
New York: Teaches College Press.
MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2004). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Addison Wesley Longman.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Early Childhood Curriculum Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa .Wellington: Learning Media.
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