Upon
returning to Shirley Warren we were eager to meet the year 1 children and commence
work on our talking book relating to article 29 of The United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child (UNICEF, 1989). The concept of a talking book
related to our experimentation with various apps in week 8 and allowed us to
build on and expand our expertise.
I valued this opportunity to immerse
myself in all that the iPads have to offer, particularly the apps of iMovie, Book
Creator and Veescope. This links with a promise made
by Apple (2014) that ‘powerful creative tools, interactive textbooks and a
universe of apps and content make endless learning possibilities’. It also goes
to satisfy the aims of the new National Curriculum (DfE, 2013) for children to
engage in a variety of technology and media across the curriculum as even the
one resource of iPads had multiple purposes.
As
John and Sutherland (2004) express, ICT is a growing part of children's
everyday lives, yet is was still a pleasant surprise to see just how well such
young children responded to the features of new apps and technology. However, an important consideration may be
whether children fully comprehend how to use the apps when given a specific
purpose, or rather is their confidence misleading? Hague & Payton (2010)
highlight how many teachers often report that a majority of young people are
not as knowledgeable and as technologically savvy as they can appear. This may
be true to an extent during our work at Shirley Warren as our group recognised
aspects of the apps and were eager to experiment,
yet on more than one occasion would click on a link and unintentionally lose
their recordings. The fact that the children remained enthusiastic with the
task and were willing to learn demonstrates how the use of technology within
the classroom offers a range of opportunities for fun learning and development
for children (Byron Review, 2008).
Despite this, the key to our
success was collaboration as adults and children helped each other and turned
potential hiccups into problem-solving opportunities applying higher-order
thinking. Children responded well to having a degree of freedom which was in
fact very useful as we could occupy all of the five children by giving them
their own task to be getting on with. Heinrich (2012) supports this, suggesting that iPads and other forms of
digital media are a valuable resource due to do their increasing flexibility
with applications that encourage children to employ skills that printed texts
may not. The lack of time prevented us, however from placing as much of the
decision-making in the children’s hands as I would have liked to, yet a longer
session could help to overcome this in future practice. Also, regarding the
time frame, I would have liked to use the I Can Animate software, but will now
look forward to trying that next time!
As an
English specialist, I enjoyed the chance to see digitall literacy in action and
aimed to reinforce literacy so that ICT is seen as a cross curricula resource
(Potter and Darbyshire, 2010). This is even more true as the session
incorporated children PSHE, ICT and literacy learning in an active context. This links to Medwell, Moore, Wray and Griffiths’
(2012) belief that ICT should support children’s learning across all subjects
where possible.
The visit provided a supportive
context as the way in which children were permitted to behave differentiated
from some more formal tasks. The challenge of producing a talking book in a
limited space of time provided incentive for both adults and children so that
they could accomplish their learning while talking, laughing and working
collaboratively (Cook & Finlayson, 1999). As well as problem solving, this
creative opportunity also allowed for higher order thinking according to Cennamo, Ross and
Ertmer (2013: 55) as we as teachers placed the challenge into a relevant
context.
From a
trainee teacher's perspective, I recognise that the extent to which the school
has welcomed new technology remains rare, yet I also feel that it is a natural
step that many schools are beginning to take. Children need to be taught at
school about technology and how to use it, not only for pleasure at home, but
also for educational purposes (Bazelgette, 2010). This may be extended to my
own practice and expertise regarding new technology. I plan to always
familiarise myself fully with any new technology or specific app before
carrying out a lesson, allowing me to plan for the best learning opportunities
for that lesson. Brooks-Young (2007:34) suggests the importance of feeling
prepared to use technology in the classroom and the positive effect it can have
on teaching, ‘as your level of confidence with technology grows, your ability
to make adjustments in technology use will also increase’. It would be a shame
to miss out on the potential for engaging and memorable learning that
interactive technology facilitates (BBC Active, 2010).
References
Bazelgette,
C. (2010) Teaching Media in Primary Schools, London: Sage
Heinrich, P. (2012) The
iPad as a Tool for Education: A study of the introduction of iPads,
Winchester: Naace.
BBC Active. (2010). Ipads in the Classroom. Retrieved
from:
<http://www.bbcactive.com/BBCActiveIdeasandResources/iPadsintheClassroom.aspx>
[Accessed 25/03/2014]
Brooks-Young, S.
(2007) Digital-Age Literacy for Teachers:
Applying Technology Standards to Everyday Practice Washington: ISTE
Publications
Byron Review
(2008) Safer Children in a Digital World. DCSF Publications.
Cennamo, K., Ross, J.
and Ertmer, P. (2013) Technology Integration for
Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. Second Edition.
California: Wadsworth.
Cook, D. & Finlayson, H. (1999) Interactive Children,
Communicative Teaching: ICT and classroom teaching , OUP, Buckingham
DFE/QCA (2013) The National Curriculum in England, DFE/QCA
UNICEF (1989) The United Nations Convention of the Rights of the
Child, London: UNICEF UK.
Heinrich, P. (2012) The iPad as a Tool for Education: A study of the
introduction of iPads, Winchester: Naace.
John, P and
Sutherland, R (2004) Teaching and Learning with ICT: New technology,
new pedagogy? Education, Communication and Information, 4, pp101-107
Potter, F. And Darbyshire, C. (2010) Understanding and teaching the ICT National
Curriculum. Oxon: Routledge.
I agree that it was an enjoyable experience which made me more aware of how to implement ICT into the literacy curriculum. I also agree that sometimes children may not seem as confident as they appear to be when using technologies and this has also been explored in my blog post. It was apparent that the children were keen to use the iPads however they were not as competent at using it as they seemed. Despite this though, their willingness and enthusiasm to use the iPads and explore them demonstrated that they are 'digital natives' as it only took a short time for them to understand how to use the Apps.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. Viewing the results of our time at Shirley Warren on our final visit today, demonstrates the native skill that even year 1 children possess, in part as a result of the immersion of technology in their popular culture.
ReplyDeleteFrom discussions today in school in relation to children's skills in ICT, I think it is important for teachers to pitch children's ICT learning experiences at an appropriate level. When I was working with the children I was very keen to help and support them as much as I could, however, some of the children did not need as much help as I thought, therefore, it is important to know the abilities of the children you are working with and promote freedom and independence.
ReplyDelete