Reflection 4
By reading other students’
reflections and mostly their feedback on my blog gives me various inspiring
learning, that gives me new ideas and reminds me to re-evaluate my teaching
techniques. The feedback also helps me
to identify the differences and similarities in the use of technology to promote
children’s learning and development. It
also highlights the importance of children’s safety and the control when using
both digital and non digital technology.
I read and learn about the
students’ inspiration and ideas that they implemented in their centre. It brings
me new ideas and take in new knowledge and to put these ideas in to practice in
my centre, and it went well. Yang (2009,
p. 12) says that blogs “teach and bring newly learned knowledge back to
classrooms.” Contributing other students’
own multiple views about technology gives me new insights to try it in my
centre and refreshes my knowledge about some interesting concepts such as using
scissors in multiple ways.
Other students’ comment and
feedback also makes me develops my critical thinking and be able to extend my
knowledge in my past experience. For instance
Summer’s question to Harpreet’s reflection in cooking pancakes. That really inspired me to think back in my upbringing
in the island. It also encouraged me to
re think again and reflects where there was a learning outcome of the children
in the activity that I just finished implementing. “When you reflect on your practice, you are considering
your values, beliefs and assumptions (O’Connor and Diggins, 2002, p.30).” Sometimes
I need to be aware of taking assumptions in children’s learning. I believe that
this awareness is for me to reflect to my techniques of teaching the children
are in the right direction for children’s development. Reading other students
reflections and their comments really motivates me to change what I feel is not
right in my own practice with children in the centre. According to Wang (2009), he suggested that
educators should also have to challenge their own teaching belie and make
suitable changes if possible.
I noticed that there was a quite
more similar digital and non digital technology used by the centres by reading
all my groups reflections. I found out
that most centres are using the most common digital technologies like digital
cameras and computers. I believe that it
is for one purpose to develop and improve the communication, imagination and
information skills of young children in the centre (Ministry of Education,
1996). It was fun to learn how children
were so active in using the camera to take pictures of the environment and
everything surrounds them. Even my own
granddaughter, of how she was taking photos of herself while she was crying. I
will keep those pictures for memories when she grow up.
Overall
evaluationt
The New Zealand curriculum
describes technology as a resource that develops the human possibilities (Ministry
of Education, 2007). This is by using
technology extends children’s skills such as building self esteem and self
conscious, advance cognitive thinking and promoting collaborative
learning. Children use technologies for
different purposes to discover the world (Ministry of education, 1996).
Now I realised that
technology can extend children’s thinking to widen their understanding of the
things that lives in their environments.
“Children are competent users of technology in their own learning and
they are aware of the world around them (Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett &
Farmer (2008).” They are motivated to
use technology to get their experience to familiarize, practice and be competent
of using technology.
References
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.
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
Wang, H. (2008). Exploring the educational use of
blogs in U.S. education. US – China Education Review, 5 (10), 34-37.
Yang, S.-H. (2009). Using blogs to enhance critical
reflection and community of practice. Educational
Technology & Society, 12 (2), 11-21.
