Computer

Using a computer in my early childhood centre is one of the daily activities that children enjoy doing throughout the day. Technology has become advanced and is used in many forms in an early childhood settings. The New Zealand curriculum (2007) states that through the use of technology “students develop knowledge particular to technological enterprises and environments and understandings of how and why things work” (p. 32).

Today while working with children, I observed a child who was drawing and colouring pictures by himself. After spending quite some time then I offered the child if he would like to make the same picture on a computer using technology and see how the picture comes out. I helped the child to login by allowing him to type the password. I explained him that a password is used to protect our computer in the setting. As an educator I guided the child to the painting programme where I firstly showed ways he can draw and paint using a computer. Te Whāriki suggests that “in order to participate in this world, our children will need the confidence to develop their own perspectives as well as the capacity to continue acquiring new knowledge and skills” (Cited in Smorti, 1999, p. 5).  

As an educator I personally felt that I was also learning and developing my understanding as I worked with that child in his drawing. When I look back at my experience I feel that maybe I could have offered other ways for the child to choose for himself. As an educator I feel this experience was more teacher directed as I guided the child through this process. After reflecting on my practice I had few things to look back and ask myself as a teacher. I asked myself, was I making things limited for the child? What if I used open ended question to allow the child to think? To make this practice better, next time I would allow the child to explore and discover things himself. Te Whāriki states “growing experience in solving problems together develops children’s understandings of how technologies can help them and others” (Ministry of education, 1996, p. 96). I feel I could have stepped back and allowed the child to experience drawing and painting himself instead of guiding him step by step. According to O’Connor & Diggins (2002) “Reflective practise is about getting to know yourself as an educator. It encourages you to look at your actions and ask ‘is this the best way?’, and making informed decisions about what is appropriate and effective in early childhood education” (p. 16). I also faced some challenges during this process as I was not able to print off the picture due to some technical problem. As a teacher I had to solve this problem myself and play around with few things to get to learn about technology myself.

Through this process the child was learning to solve problems by exploring the buttons and by recognising visual cues. This learning experience was allowing the child to explore and extend his knowledge about basic skills of using a computer. For example, how to hold the mouse, which side is used to click to select particular things and to recall which picture represented to erase the mistakes. According to Tsantis, Bewick & Thouvenelle (2003), “research has confirmed that for many children the computer is a catalyst for information sharing, language development and decision making” (p. 7).

Reference

Images: Retrieved 15/03/2012 from Google images www.google.co.nz

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, He whāriki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Āotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. New Zealand: Learning Media.

O’Connor, A., & Diggins, K. (2002). On reflection: Reflective practice for early childhood educators. Lower Hutt: Open Mind Publishing.

Smorti, S. (1999, Autumn) Technology in early childhood. Early Education, 19.

Tsantis, L. A., Bewick, C. J., & Thouvenelle, S. (2003). Examining some common myths about computer use in the early years. Young Children, 58(1), 1-9.