Summary

5 Ways for Young Children to use Technology

Make & Display a Graph- spreadsheets
Explore with Digital Tools- digital microscopes
Tell a Story in Pictures & Words- Paint programs
Write, Record & Visit- Take pictures of a field trip
Share & document Learning- chronicle their progress with photos

Helps them to revisit back to their ideas and experiences
Digital Cameras are engaging and easy to use
Visual Representation is important because their written skills aren't quite there yet
Go from concrete to abstract thinking


Technology and Learning

Use small groups at computers, keep the physical setup so a few can sit at each computer
social atmosphere if they work with a few others

Technology and Curriculum

technology needs to interactive and open ended and lets them have ownership
work at their own pace and its a collaborative effort

Videos

Bookends of War
Inside Kapunahala

While I watched these two videos, I found some great ideas for how to include technology in my classroom. I really enjoyed the Kapunahala video. I thought having children participate in a small TV broadcast show was absolutely adorable. I don't know how realistic it is for everyone, but it looked to me like the children were having a blast. I think they felt more mature and independent, like they had an actual part in something big.

With the Bookends of War video, I felt like the teacher seemed very aware of the reality of technology. I'm glad she mentioned that it was hard at first to really know what she was doing with everything. I also thought she looked very involved with her students and they seemed excited about their websites.

I just hope that I can be as creative as these teachers were with using technology. Also, you have to be willing to have your class be somewhat loud and messy so that your students have the freedom to discuss their projects. I know I'll have to work on that.

Lesson Plans

Science Lesson Plan- Whitney Winegar

Math Lesson Plan- Whitney Winegar

Language Arts Lesson Plan- Whitney Winegar

3 Videos

After watching the three videos, I found the most important thing was to have age-appropriate tools and technology resources. In all of the videos, I could tell that the programs they were using were appropriate for that age group and if the teacher didn't take the time to ensure that, the students would probably feel frustrated or bored. All of the students in these videos seemed very engaged in what they were doing.

Along with that, I found that the technology was used to enhance any unit or theme instead of becoming the unit or theme. I feel like it would be easy if you had technology readily available to just rely on it for most of your activities. But, these teachers in the videos used it to add to the lessons, not take over the lessons. Overall, I thought the story extension was the most enjoyable looking. I loved how it took ideas and illustrations directly from the students and allowed them to make a book.

Reflection on Technology

I filled out the consent form and midcourse evaluation.

I thought it was interesting to find out what was available to my friend's classroom. Four computers seemed like a lot for the classroom but she does teach in a ritzy area. Also, I thought it was cool to know that the kids love using the computers during free time. I guess for some students, technology really can enhance their learning. Other classes just always talk about hands-on experiences and inquiry learning, so I feel like technology kind of defeats that, but if you use it right, maybe it doesn't.

Technology Interview

I interviewed a friend, Amanda Higgins, from Texas about the technology she uses in her classroom; she teaches 1st grade. Some of the technology resources she had available to her right in her classroom were 4 desktop computers (these computers have microphones and 2 have webcams), a laptop at her desk, a sound system of sorts where she hangs a microphone around her neck and then the whole class can hear her, the I clickers like we have here at BYU, and a fancy overhead projector (not the old rickety kind).

She also can check out a digital camera, a dvd player, and a TV. The school has a computer lab that they go to twice a week and if needed can find more times to visit there.

The main thing she said she would love to have is something called a Smart White board. They are supposed to be getting them installed over the summer but I guess these white boards have tons of abilities and programs. She also said it would be nice if they had a projector automatically hooked up into the ceiling so she wouldn’t have to mess with the overhead projector.

She said she tries to use technology quite a bit, but her computers get the most use during free time. There are a lot of math and science games, which are great, except she had to figure out a system so they could take turns. They do use the digital camera as often as possible because the students love taking pictures themselves. She gathers a lot of her ideas off of teacher websites and other teachers in the school.

I asked her if she felt like technology did enhance her lessons or if she felt like she had to work hard to use the technology because it was available to her. She said that most of the time, it definitely helps because it makes the students feel more grownup. Sometimes though, she said it was just high maintenance because it breaks and she doesn’t always know how to fix it and there’s not much technical support.