Saturday 1st September
The learning I have gained
from this course has been very valuable. It has opened my eyes to the different
types of technology that are used each day in the centre. I have always thought of technology as being
about digital devices and I have been a bit hesitant in embracing these devices
in my practice. However I am now able to understand that technology is not just
about those devices. I have started
having light bulb moments when I see technology being used in the different
curriculum areas.
The best part of this
journey has been able to converse with my peers through the use of the blog
about our own experiences with technology.
I think we all started with the same closed thoughts about technology as
we all kept reflecting upon the statement made by Smorti (1999) “technology is
about helping people and solving problems”. I think this statement provoked our
thoughts about how we could foster using technology with children. The feedback I received was very useful as my
peers gave me ideas of how I could extend the children’s and my own learning. It is always good to get other points of view
especially as everyone has their own strengths and this has been reflected through
our reflections in our blogs.
I have been very interested
in the different types of ICT technology we all have in our centres, with some
having the latest gadgets on offer. At
first I was a bit over whelmed by it all but I then began to ask myself why I
was feeling this way. I realised it was
because I didn’t have access to this technology in my own centre and I felt
like I was being left behind. However
these thoughts did not last for too long as I embraced my new found knowledge
of what technology was all about which didn’t have to involve the latest
gadgets. Technology is about the process
of doing. As a teacher I can foster
children’s learning about the use of technology helping them gain experience in
solving problems using creative and expressive media that involves the
technology associated with them (Ministry of Education, 1996).
I believe this experience
has given us all a new perspective of how we teach, what we know and how
valuable it is to have constructed feedback from our peers. I know for myself I have started to think about
my teaching strategies. I am beginning
to see that I can influence children’s experiences and make them more
meaningful through how I teach. I have
started to explore what really drives me and makes me teach like I do (Snook,
2003).
My peers have shown great techniques of
working with children and through this I have gained insight into how I too can
embrace some of these strategies. It was
interesting reading their reflections as I could see them in my mind working
with the children and their personalities really showed in the way they
taught. We have had conversations about
this and had a good laugh. Over the last three years we have become great friends
and have taken knowledge from one another to help us in our journey of learning
to becoming a teacher. The blog has been another avenue of doing this as in our
reflections we have gained knowledge from one another sometimes without even realising
it.
I am excited about
continuing my journey of using technology in my centre. I am feeling confident that I now have the
skills to work alongside children to help them develop knowledge and understandings
of how and why things work (Ministry of Education, 2007).
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