This week, we
revisited Shirley Warren Primary school where we gained first-hand experience
of working with children to produce a multimodal text. Working with a group of
six children, we created our own ‘talking book’, using ‘Book Creator’ on an
iPad, which incorporated an array of digital media. Our ‘talking book’ was
based on Article 29 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
(UNCRC) which states that ‘education must develop every child’s personality,
talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human
rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and
the environment’ (Unicef, 1991: 1). In order to make it more child-friendly, this
was summarized to the children as ‘your right to become the best that you can
be’. In creating a ‘talking book’, the values of the National Curriculum were
supported as the pupils used technology to create a range of multimedia which
supported them in becoming digitally literate(DfE, 2013).
Whilst discussing
the use of technology with the children, it was apparent that they were already
very knowledgeable on how to use different types of technology which supports
the idea that they are ‘digital natives’ (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008; Prensky,
2001). The majority of the children had access to iPads at home and the school
encouraged the use of iPads and other technologies to support learning
therefore each child had some experience of using digital technology. This
proved beneficial as the children were confident and willing to use a range of
Apps on the iPads to create the ‘talking book’ as they had previous experience
of using a range of media devices (Ofcom, 2012). However, although the children
seemed confident in using technology and claimed to have used the Apps before,
it was evident that they were not as knowledgeable or ‘savvy’ as they appeared
to be (Future Lab, 2010). The children could not fully operate the Apps
independently (although they were very keen to) therefore we explained and
demonstrated, step-by-step, how to use each App. I found this challenging, as
it was difficult to explain to the children how to use some of the Apps as I
had only had a short time to explore them previously therefore I was not fully
confident myself. However, after explaining it to the children, my confidence
built and I felt more willing to discuss and explore the Apps with the children
which helped me to support their digital literacy (Future Lab, 2010).
Another challenging
factor was the pressure of time as we did not have copious amounts of time to
create our ‘talking book’ therefore we could not fully explore the Apps with
the children. Implications for the future would be to ensure that pupils have
sufficient amount of time to explore Apps in order to grasp a good
understanding of how to use them. However despite this, the children remained
enthusiastic with the task and were willing to learn which demonstrates how the
use of technology within the classroom offers a range
of opportunities for fun learning and development for children (Byron Review,
2008).
In being given the opportunity to work
with a group of children to create a multimodal text, I was able to link theory
with practice and gain first-hand experience of how ICT can enhance children’s
learning throughout the curriculum. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the
children and I feel their enthusiasm and willingness to cooperate made the
experience worthwhile and very educating for me. A key aspect to consider for my
future practice would be to continue to build my confidence in using digital
technologies with children as I have gained valuable experience of how ICT can
have a positive impact on children’s learning and also how it plays a key role
in motivating and engaging young learners (Higgins, Xiao and Katsipataki, 2012;
Marsh, Brooks, Hughes, Ritchie, Roberts and Wright, 2005).
Byron Review (2008) Safer Children in a Digital World. DCSF
Publications.
Department for
Education (2013) National Curriculum in England: English programmes of study.
London: HMSO
Future
Lab (2010) Digital Literacy Across the Curriculum: (Sections 3.5 – 3.6 Digital
Literacy in Practice)
Higgins, S., Xiao, Z., and Katsipataki, M. (2012) The Impact of Digital Technology on
Learning: A Summary for the Education Endowment Foundation. Durham
University: Education Endowment Foundation.
Marsh, J., Brooks, G., Hughes, J., Ritchie, L., Roberts, S.
and Wright, K. (2005) Digital beginnings:
Young children’s use of popular culture, media and new technologies.
Sheffield: Literacy Research Centre.
Ofcom
(2012) Children and Parents: Media Use
and Attitudes Report. London
Palfrey, J. and
Gasser, U. (2008) Born Digital:
Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. New York: Basic
Books
Prensky, M.
(2001) ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part II: Do They Really Think
Differently?’ On the Horizon. NCB
University Press, Vol. 9: 6.
Unicef (1991) United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child. [online] https://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Publication-pdfs/betterlifeleaflet2012_press.pdf Accessed: 26/03/14
My group and I were also surprised to see how confident the children were with navigating the iPads and I agree that this supports the idea of 'digital natives'. However, like you, we also had the challenge of teaching how to use some of the apps, e.g. 'GoAnimate'. We found that the Air Play feature that the Apple TV supported aided us to teach children how to access and use the technology purposefully; it also helped them to all be involved in discussions.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the Air Play feature is a very good way of teaching the children how to use the Apps. It was particularly useful in the editing process as it got the children involved and talking about how they could make improvements and what to do next.
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