Recently our cook left us
to moved to Australia , he was the only male in our centre and really good with
the children. The children loved him and couldn’t leave him alone. It has only
been a week and a half and the children are still asking for him. This is quite
sad for them and as he isn’t close by to pop in from time to time I decided to
contact him and see if he would like to Skype the children. He agreed, and
loved the idea. We do not have Skype at work so I brought in my own laptop with
Skype installed on it. Between him and I we organised a time. At mat time we
told the children that we will be able to talk to * on Skype. We also told them
to think of something they want to tell them or draw a picture is they want to
show him the picture. I used our technology/project room for this. The children
all brought a chair into the room and sat in little groups. We switched Skype
on. I manage the children and only had little groups at a time, as the laptop
screen is quite small. Skyped worked really well and the children and I enjoyed
it very much.
In Te Whaariki it states children should be encourage to be solving practical
problems contributes to self confidence and well being through technology. Children
using many materials for different purpose enable children to recognise that different
technologies may be used in various places and settings. Through technology children
gain experience in using communication technologies such as crayons, pencils,
books and computers.(Ministry of Education, 1996).
By using this
type of technology the children were able to revisit their past experiences. Some
of the children were very excited to see him on the screen moving and talking
to them. It was quite funny for me to wash as they try and high 5 him on the
screen and then searching for the camera. Some children found themselves more interesting
on the screen itself. In the New Zealand curriculum it states the importance of
technology in preschool as many of them will be using digital technology in
their school age years. (Ministry of Education, 1993).
Technology plays a big part in everyday
life. Most children now experience a range of technologies as part of everyday
life in Arthur & Beecher they state there have been a major social, economic
and technological changes in the late twenty and early twenty-first centuries in
many parts of the world, resulting in changing experiences of childhoods.(Arthur
& Beecher, 2007) here is a amazing you tube clip about 21st century
learners. MUST SEE
I thought this activity was a
really good way to incorporate technology into our centre. We have lovely
teacher – child relationships and when someone leaves they always says they
will come and visit but never do, and this is just the perfect way of keeping
in touch, we just had a little boy how left for holiday for 2 months, when he
come back we had to settle him again and took so long for him again to rebuild
those relationships. I wonder if we skyped him while he was on holiday if that
would have made his settling in period smoother?
Reference:
Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S.,
& Farmer, S. (2007). Programming and
planning in early childhood settings (4th ed.). South Melbourne,
Australia: CENGAGE Learning.
MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for teaching young children:
Choices in theory and practice (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forrest, Australia:
Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa : Early childhood curriculum. Wellington,
New Zealand: Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media
Photo reference:
Skype logo: retrieve from Goolge 21/03/2012
geek.com
geek.com
Skype laptop:
retrieve from Goole 21/03/2012
mariaeves.com
mariaeves.com
Children skyping:
retrieve from Google 21/03/2012
blog.ps119amersfort.com
blog.ps119amersfort.com
You tube clip retrieve 05/03/2012
Hi Chantel
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to introduce a digital communication device into the centre. Sine you have contact with the cook how often will you skype him? Is there something that you learnt from this experience that your didnt know before using skype? Will you make skype a common thing in your centre now or is it just to the people that leave the centre? While reading through your reflection it clearly shows you planned this activity by getting in contact, but also organising small groups of children to skype at a time because the screen is too small, it’s great to think ahead of time with activities like this. As you don’t want children’s learning to be lost because children can’t be involved or can’t have the change to interact with the technology. Well done Chantel I liked your reflection and liked you link to YouTube. :)
Hey Chantel, this was a great idea and learning experience for the children. Have you considered installing skype into your computer at work for the children, so you do not have to bring your laptop in all the time? Did you learn anything from using skype with the children that you never knew before? Do you think the children gained more knowledge about this digital piece of technology? Did you talk about the camera on the laptop and how it works to extend their knowledge further? Seem the children showed more interested in themselves on the camera how do you think you could extend on this interest? Maybe you could make videos of them and allow for them to watch them on the television or laptop? It’s good to see you have linked your reflection to a YouTube clip and pictures. Good reflection Chantel I enjoyed reading about how you used skype to keep in contact with your former cook.
ReplyDeleteHi Chantel
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your reflection on using Skype with the children in your centre. I thought that this was a great way to introduce children to a different form of technology within your centre as not a lot of centres use this type of technology yet. I really liked the way you used the YouTube clip as I found it very interesting and useful. I really found it interesting the way you thought about using Skype with children who have gone away on holiday. This showed me that you were really thinking about how you could keep the child involved and also continue to make them feel a sense of belonging within the centre. During this experience did you think of any ways of how you can further enhance children’s learning through the use of Skype? Did you have any difficulties through this experience? Will Skype be continued to be used on a regular bases or was it just a one off experience? Overall I found your blog on Skype really interesting and I liked the way used it within your centre with the children.
Kia Ora Chantel,
ReplyDeleteGreat reflection of using Skype in your centre, this piece of digital technology is the future of the world. I would love to share this same experience in my centre as it would be great for children’s concept of their wider surroundings. I agree with Ellisha, do you think your centre would download it so children have access when they want? I really liked how you planned ahead to organise the specific time. You also pre empted the children by getting them to draw something, which develops children’s planning and cognitive skills. I wonder how the children would react if they were to see him on a bigger screen such as a projector? If it became a regular occurrence the children could rehearse dances and songs. Are there other people associated with the centre such as Grandparents, friends, cousins, parents on a trip, that they could Skype with? I enjoyed watching your Youtube clips throughout your blogs, this is a reflection of the confidence you have with using technology. It also shows as you are always looking for ways to incorporate it into your centre. Overall well done Chantel! You have written about some great use of digital technology.
Hi Chantel,
ReplyDeleteThis is such a fantastic idea and the children must of really enjoyed being able to talk and see him on Skype. I agree with your reflection as you discussed the importance of technology and its place in day to day life for both the children and yourself. I wonder what else you use the laptop for in your centre? Maybe you could switch the webcam on for the children to record themselves to show their parents or friends in the centre. You could be very creative and the children could use their own creativity and problem solving skills as they come up with ideas to do on camera. Have you used Skype since this experience? It would be an awesome programme to implement in your centre so the children can continue to revisit their old friends and explore this fantastic piece of digital technology. Great reflection Chantel! This was a very interesting reflection.