Blog 1

Young Computer Operator’s

28/03/2011

Child (A) started our preschool and likes to play with one of the teachers only. I encouraged her to play with her peers but she would not play with the other children at the centre. I did also give her our good resources but she would only spent few minutes and back to one of the teachers. I talked to her mum about that and to know what she likes to do. She told me that she likes to spent time on the computer. I talked about this with the other teachers at the staff meeting. We agreed to give children an opportunity to use the computer as this will also increase their ICT knowledge and at the same time we introduced another technology in the centre. There was an old computer in the staff room so we decided to put that computer near the book area for children to use. Every morning the computer is turned on and there are pictures of children of our centre which I have set up as a slide show. Child (A) and I use the computer every morning. She likes to type the alphabets on the word document and print the document. The other children did also showed interest to use the computer. I helped the children to use the computer and print whatever work they did on the computer. They feel free clicking to the different option available and waited to see what happened. They try to scorll the page up and down.  This also helped me to settle child (A), also she was now comfortable to play with and alongside her peers.  

Are young children ready to use computers? My question was answered when I actually gave children an opportunity to use computers. Young children are developmentally ready to explore things out. One of the strands of Te Whāriki Exploration goal 1 states that “The knowledge that trying things out, exploration and curiosity are important and valued ways of learning” (Ministry of Education, 1996. P.84).

Computer is a modern technology used by humans in every aspect for their life. It has bought fundamental changes in people’s life as well as it has influenced the way of communicating, gathering information and data storage. Computers are widely used today and acquiring computer knowledge is the need of the modern life. Tsantis, L., Bewick, C., & Thornton, S. (2003)

(Smorti,1999) defines technology to help people and solve problems. “Technology is also a creativity and purposeful activity aimed at meeting needs and opportunities through the development of products, systems or environments” (Smoriti, 1999. P.5)

While exploring computer children learn to seek information, and at the same time they interact with other children. Computer technology develops children’s gross motor skills; enhance their math skills, increase creativity as well as their self concepts. It also helps children to learn to solve problem. Tsantis, L., Bewick, C., & Thornton, S. (2003)

Launching computer technology to the children of our centre helped us settling child (A) in the centre environment and she was also comfortable playing with and alongside her peers. It did also helps teachers to build relationship with children while working together on the computer as children did needed that support. Teachers scaffolding children to help them to move to a level higher as this helps children to increase their competence. MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2004). I feel proud that we introduced computer technology in our centre to facilitate children learning.  We now have to select an appropriate software.

Reference List

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa.    Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No.19 Autumn
       1999.

Tsantis, L., Bewick, C., & Thornton, S. (2003). Examining some common myths about computers in the early years. Young Children on the Web, November 2003, 1-9.