Katie Quayle
In our centre we have recently
purchased a digital camera strictly for the children’s use. This purchase was
made as it was clear to see that the children had a clear interest in them, as
they always used the pretend ones to take pictures of each other.
One of the teachers will normally
carry the digital camera around with them and if a child wishes to use it to
take photos of their creations, of something interesting they have found or
their friends they just have to ask. We realised that with them being toddlers
this was probably the safest way to do it, as they tend to throw a lot of the
objects around the room. All though all children who use the digital camera are
supervised, the teacher never intervenes unless asked and lets them figure out
the camera for themselves.” Growing experience in solving problems together develops
children’s understanding of how technologies can help them and others (Ministry
of Education, 2007, Para. 7)”. It amazes me that some of these two year olds
know how to zoom in and change the format to take videos. I can see that the
digital camera is something exciting for them as it’s something that they have
always seen the older people around them using and now they are able to use as
well. I have observed that the children set up different scenes to photograph.
One of the girls the other day focused on her doll, taking photos of it at
different places around our room. It made me laugh to see that every time they
take a photo they make sure they say “cheese” first. To me this is great as they are able to link
things they have seen in their home and community environment to their school
one (Santrock, 2009).
Once the children have finished
taking their photos the teacher supervising will set up our teacher laptop for
them and assist them on taking their photos off the camera and uploading them
to the computer. “Children use a variety of technologies for different purposes
as they explore their world (Ministry of Education, 1997, P. 98)”. It is truly amazing that most children know
now where the usb port goes on both the camera and the computer allowing them
to plug it all in themselves. The children are quite capable in using the mouse
also to navigate through all the next buttons to which the upload starts. If I
have been supervising the children with the camera I normally ask open ended
questions about what the child has photographed and why. I then use their
answers to help them write a story using the photos of which they have
collected. I believe this gives them a chance to express themselves freely, to
look at what they are doing in a different light and a great way to bring
literacy and other skills into our classroom (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).
I then print these books for the children and they go into our library so they
children can revisit their experience.
It amazes me how much technology has
involved since I was a child. The cameras we use to use never showed us the
photo nor gave us the option to delete them. It would be a long process to get
the photos off the film and called for a professional and children were hardly
permitted to use cameras. Now here we are 10 years later and children at the
age of two are doing all of this. I can
quite clearly see how far technology has come in such a short space of time and
this excites me for the future as it does not seem to be speeding down. I never
really looked at technology within our learning environment before but now I
can see just how important it is and how much it has to offer all of us not
just children as learners. Technology is the way of our future, it gives opportunities
for problem solving, communicating, exploring and gaining confidence within our
world (Smorti, 1999).
References
MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques
for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice (3rd ed.).
Frenchs Forrest, NSW, Australia:
Ministry of Education.
(1996). Te Whāriki, He Whāriki Mātauranga mo nga Mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early
childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. Wellington,
New Zealand: Learning Media.
Smorti, S.
(1999) Technology in Early Childhood. Early
Education, 19, 5-10.
ReplyDeleteKia Ora Katie
I really respect that you have chosen cameras as we don’t have this opportunity in my centre. I really like how you mentioned that the teacher never intervenes unless they are asked to. I believe in this strongly because you need to allow for children to have space and time to create and problem solve on their own (Ministry of Education, 1996). It’s quite nice that you as a teaching team can see that the children are able and capable learners by allowing them to plug in the camera to the computer and so on. This is great for the children to have a sense of pride in accomplishment and they know that you have trust in them to complete their creations and bring out their ideas. I believe in free play and learning through relationships and this aligns with the theory of Vygotsky who stated that, “helping children accomplish something is more inportant than letting them struggle and possibly fail” (Gonzalez-Mena, 2008, p. 175). I like how you extend the children’s learning further by helping them to write stories and revisit the experiences.
Kia Ora, Katie
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to read how your centre incorporates the digital camera into children’s play experiences and I have to agree with you that children link their home and community experiences into their play and exploration practices. I had never really thought of why children are always excited to use the camera. I always thought it was the concept of children being capable and excited to push the buttons or to visually see their image. Through your reflection I have realised children observe their parents, whanau, friends and people using the camera and different types of camera devices. Through children being open and attentive, to the different types and uses for cameras allows them to be excited, curious, and enthusiastic to use them and share their knowledge with others, on how they work (Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett & Farmer, 2007). Children are being modelled different dispositions and a variety of camera technology, such as cell phones, ipads and cameras on laptops every day.
Wow, I think that it is awesome that your centre has purchased a digital camera particularly for the children’s use. It is great that the teachers don’t intervene when it comes to the children using the camera too! Are there some problems around the children taking turns with the camera? If so, how are these managed? I have found this website to be very interesting when it comes to using a digital camera with children and thought you might like to have a look at it. http://www.digital-photography-school.com/13-lessons-to-teach-your-child-about-digital-photography It talks about some advice that teachers can give to children when they are using the camera. At my centre when the children take photos using a digital camera we also upload them to our Promethean board and play them during pick up and drop of times. This could be useful at your centre if you have a projector or tv, of not, even a digital photo frame works wonders. I find that through doing this the children feel proud of what they have photographed and enjoy showing them to their parents in the mornings and afternoons. This also relates to Te Whariki through providing the children with connections from home to centre (Ministry of Education, 1996).
ReplyDeleteKia Ora Katie!
ReplyDeleteWow, I really love how you have incorporated this digital technology in your centre, I especially like how you have gone out of your way to follow the children’s interest by purchasing a digital camera for them. From reading your blog and seeing the success of how children are using and looking after their camera makes me want to pursue this at my centre as the children only have access to the teacher’s and fake cameras. The camera is a great form of technology that allows children to explore and develop understanding of their surrounding world (Ministry of Technology, 1996). “Through the Technological Knowledge strand, students develop knowledge particular to technological enterprises and environments and understandings of how and why things work.” (Ministry of Education, 2007). You could possibly extend the children’s interest with cameras by introducing the children to other types of cameras such as Polaroid cameras.