It
was really good experience throughout this course as I read many literatures
about technology education, other students’ reflections in my group, and their
comments on my reflections.
Surprisingly, we all shared similar values in technological education. I didn’t appreciate the importance of
technology in early childhood education, but gradually I was able to evolve from
a member of non-digital generation to the open-minded technology education advocate. I thought early childhood is when children
should be exposed to the nature and outside play and digital devices are only
for the grown-up generation. I did not
realize technology is already a significant part of children’s lives. However, I was able to see myself changed in my
perspective in regard to ICT(Information and Communication Technologies) capability.
As
I read through other students’ reflections, I noticed they all have similar experience
as well. And they left very encouraging
constructive comments on my reflections saying that it is good to be open to
the new learning about technology. It
was really eye-opening experience for me to recognize children’s capabilities
on using technological tools. Now I am
not reluctant any more to offer children any expensive technological equipment
as I believe they are already confident and capable users of such tools. So, teachers should provide the children with
various opportunities to use technology and grow their sense of exploration,
challenge, problem-solving, creativity, and curiosity.
Especially,
it was really significant discovery for me personally that I found that my background
culture is very technology-oriented while human-focused at the same time. I am proud to say that I am from the culture
which uses chopsticks and as a result I now appreciate more about the cultural
heritage. I thought technology is all
about digital products before but now I know technology is everything and everywhere
and I use it often on daily basis. It is
great to learn about non-digital technology and the benefits of incorporating
technology into our daily lives.
Another
wonderful discovery was that I learned ICT can enhance children’s
learning. So I feel responsibility as a
teacher to provide and encourage children to use ICT in their play, creativity,
problem-solving, risk-taking, and relationships. Now I understand how important it is to
invest in ICT education in regard to providing quality education for the young
children. Because teachers are
responsible in providing meaningful environment to support children’s learning
and ICT is what people are interested in these days. I believe children’s learning can be enhanced
when they are encouraged to use technology in their learning experiences. According to Ministry of Education (2005),
there are many benefits of ICT in early childhood education. Parents can use ICT to enhance communication with
teachers, teachers can use ICT to share children’s learning, administrators can
use ICT to improve data management, and Māori community can use ICT to support te reo Māori acquisition.
I think we all learned a lot throughout this course. I noticed other students also realized technology
is not only about digital devices, it is all about technological activities. Thus, I think we have to encourage children
to participate in the technological activities to enhance their learning and
skills. As an early childhood educator,
I believe I have to up-skill my knowledge and skills in technology, then, I
would be able to help children get used to technology which is undeniable way
of learning these days. Teachers should
introduce children technology so that they embrace the changes in their
world. It is fact children are growing
in the world of technology which is changing every day getting faster and
faster. Technology is the way of the
future and computers are “natural part of learning in the early childhood” (Tsantis,
Bewick, & Thornton, 2003, p. 1). I
want to be well-prepared being able to introduce, encourage, and embrace
technological experience. I thank my
lecturer and my group members for their inspiration on the importance of technological
curriculum in early childhood education.
Reference
Ministry of Education. (2005). Foundations for discovery. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
