Blog One-Butterfly Creek

Blog One

The use of technology on our visit to Butterfly Creek

I currently work as a permanent part time teacher at a privately owned center in Howick. I work in the pre-school four year old's room where we are unfortunately lacking in current modern digital technology however I will be reflecting about digital technology in this blog. For my first blog I have decided to reflect on our visit to butterfly creek and the use of technology when documenting our visit.

Class excursions are extremely rare within our center due to lack of funding and spare resources however we worked incredibly hard at fundraising at the beginning of the year. We decided to spend our fundraising earnings to attend butterfly creek as we had been studying insects and bugs as one of our main focus topics. Throughout the trip there were hundreds of photos taken of the children, the insects and the animals. The other teachers and parents and I were all armed with digital cameras, we would document the children as they experienced each part of butterfly creek.

Often the children would ask to see the pictures, after showing the children I would suggest, encourage and allow all children to use the camera themselves to choose what they would like to document and record. I believe that it is important to show the children that we trust in their ability to take care of the centers and in this case, the teacher’s personal items. Some of the children were unsure of using the digital camera at first, however they soon changed their minds after I explained how to use it. I used the teaching strategies of explaining and role-modelling to encourage the children to have a go, “Good descriptions help children to expand their understandings of the world” (MacNaughton & Williams, 2010, p. 57). I showed these particular children how to hold the camera and use it correctly and after they had given it a go they became a lot more interested in recording the process and became very confident with the digital camera, “Children develop a perception of themselves as capable of acquiring new interests and abilities” (Ministry of education, 1996, p. 68). When children use technology they become curious, young inventors who often need to draw on problem solving, decision making and critical thinking skills in order to master it (Fleer & Jane, 2004) as well as social and interactive skills when using technology in peers or groups , “Using technology appropriately involves a process of searching for an answer to a problem associated with people” (Fleer & Jane, 2004, p. 159).

The photographs that were taken on our trip were printed out, cut out and laminated individually. We sat down with the children and we spread all of the photos out on the floor, there was a group of children who were particularly interested in the photographs. I asked the group of children how they wanted their photos displayed and what we should do with them. Due to the age of the children in our room they are able to help with the planning, documenting and decision making within our room (Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett & Farmer, 2007). “We should put them on the wall”, one child suggested, the rest of the group agreed. The teachers and the children came to a collective agreement that we could display the photos on our wall in the shape of a butterfly, as a type of butterfly photo mosaic.

The photos that weren't printed out were still extremely important to the teachers and the children so we decided to display them on a digital photo frame on our bug and insect display table. The photo frame was left on for a majority of the day and the children were able to revisit the butterfly experience whenever they chose to. They loved to watch the photos appear on the screen and they would bring their parents and siblings to see the photos when they were dropped off at the center  Through writing this blog I was able to identify and notice the use of technology in much greater detail than I had previously experienced.

In this case technology improved the quality of our teaching as we were able use technology as a teaching tool to record the day while we worked alongside and with children to document the visit. This visit to butterfly creek was a valuable learning experience for me as I overcame my pre-conceived ideas that children need the assistance of an adult when using expensive technology. This change in thought pattern is important as a teacher’s beliefs and views on technology strongly influence how children learn and how they feel about technology (Fleer & Jane, 2011).

Reference List:

Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Dockett, S., Farmer, S., & Death, E. (2008). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (4th ed.).  Victoria, South Australia: Thomson.   

Fleer, M., & Jane, B. (2011). Design and Technology for children. Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson Australia.

Fleer, M. & Jane, B. (2004). Technology for Children: Research-based Approaches, Pearson, Frenchs Forest.

MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forrest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he whaariki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa : Early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.