Obviously, a popular
non-digital resource at my centre is the “glue gun”. When I was a young child,
in my country, I remembered that I used a liquid glue or a home-made sticky
rice glue for gluing stuff. “Technology
is influenced by the culture or the society in which it occurs” (Smorti, 1999, P.
6).
On the contrary, nowadays, there are so many different types
of glues that we often wonder which one will best suit the material. I believe
that the glue gun is one of many effective non-digital modern devices, which allows
children “to generate and explore ideas in creative ways, individually and in
groups, to provide opportunities for purposeful contribution (Ministry of
Education, 1996, p. 96). As a result, glue guns provide children with new opportunities
for creativity and problem solving.
Somerset (2007) emphasises the significance of the children’s
learning environment as “Whatever offers in the way of material at any time
will determine the activity and its direction”(p. 85). Fortunately, the
children at my centre are always able to access this technology, the glue guns,
whenever they need to without the teachers’ supervision. The teachers set up
the collage area with a variety of materials available from which children can
choose. I often observe that children create something new that has meaning by
cutting, pasting, gluing and arranging any of the available materials. I was
amazed to see how the children’s creative ideas evolved by gluing stuff
together to make a meaningful product.
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By using a glue gun, I do believe that children learn how to
keep their own safety by understanding of how the tool works. “An understanding
of material properties, uses, and development is essential to understanding how
and why products work the way they do”(Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 32). One
day, as Child B showed us her magic stick, she said to us, “I burned my finger
on a hot glue gun.” She smiled and said to Child B, “It’ ok. When it (a hot glue) cools down, it will dry,
then you can take it off.” Through this conversation, I noticed that Child R had
already learned over time how to take risks by using glue guns. She
had also learned how to appropriately handle them by being aware of the
instructions. It is clear that the benefits outweigh the risks.
Despite the benefits of the glue gun, there are still many
teachers who are concerned about using a glue gun with young children. This is
because of safety issues. In fact, I was one of the people who were focused
more on the hazards than the benefits of glue guns. When I saw my sons using
the hot glue gun at their kindergarten, I was so worried that their fingers would
get burnt. However, my concept shifted after a year when I read their learning
story, which told me about how well my son performed using the hot glue gun. I
have understood that what is important is learning to be responsible for one’s
own actions by understanding the consequences (Ministry of Education, 1996).
This reflection helped me to think about the teacher’s role that
“by offering a variety of contexts, teachers help their students to recognise
links and develop genetic understanding” (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 32). Technology
is constantly and rapidly advancing whether it is digital or non-digital
according to people’s needs and interests. I do not know how glue guns would
change in the future. However, what I
know for certain is that “Technology is about helping people and solving
problems” (Smorti, 1999, p. 5).
References
Ministry
of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum
Ministry of Education (2005).
Foundations for Discovery: Supporting learning in early Childhood education
through information and communication technologies: A framework for
development. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga
ngā mokopuna Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington:
Learning Media.
Smori, S. (1999)
Technology in Early Childhood. Early
Education, 19, 5-10.
Somerset, G. (2000). Work and play in the early years (4th
ed.). Auckland: New Zealand. Playcentre Federation.
I agree with that technology does not have a fixed path, is open to constant renegotiation and re-articulation. However, technology in early childhood centre is not intended to replace interaction with others but it can be viewed as a catalyst for activities. Children need to develop working theories for understanding how to use the material properly (Ministry of Education, 1996). Nevertheless, it depends on the teachers whether they have carefully selected materials designed to promote specific aspects of child development. I believe that self-directed activity and engagement are essential components of effective learning environment, but teachers’ support is also vital for learning to occur. In Piaget, theory contended that children could learn only when they were able to actively construct their own knowledge in an environment where they are active explorers (Piaget, 1972). Young children are exposed to different mode of technologies, which in turn afford them the opportunity to formulate new understanding about their world and make meanings about ideas and concepts on the basis of their experiences. This can be seen from the example of Child R.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he Whāriki Mātauranga mo ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Piaget, J. (1972). The principles of genetic epistemology. New York: Basic Books.
This learning experience allowed me to explore what is involve in technology and social science curriculum. I liked how you said technology is influenced by culture which quoted by (Smori,1999).For example, when you showed your home made glues from rice. There is no different from any other glues that has been used nowadays. The only difference is how children use it technology. I agree with how you used glue gun as non digital technology and with many benefits which allow children to explore ideas in a fast creative ways and problem solving. Link to your example as child R. experienced that hot glue gun will burn but when it dry it can come off. This child experiment in taking risk of using hot glue gun and share his new ideas with other children about safety(Morris,1977).At my centre I have noticed two activities were set with one teacher sit with children used glue gun and the other activity was liquid glue paste. When children can't wait to have a turn they use problem solving in put more glue for their materials to stay and faster than waiting for glue gun. I can see the change when children experience and try things out from non technology to technology. Teachers can use this topic to foster critical thinking, problem solving, and can do review for more ideas (NCS 1994).I wonder if you can' make glue from rice with children, allow them to explore and see what will be the outcome from children creativity of technology from non technology.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Morris, R.1977. A normative intervention to equalize participation in task-oriented groups. Unpublished doctrine dissertation. Standards University.(quoted in Cohen 1994, 53-54).
NCCSS (National Council for the social studies). 1994. Expectations 0f Excellence : Curriculum Standard for social studies. Silver Spring, MD: Author.
Smori, S.(1999) Technology in Early childhood. Early Childhood,,19,5-10.
Kia Ora Eunsun,
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat piece of non-digital technology you have chosen to write about! A hot glue gun is something that we use at my centre with the children often when making collages or box constructions. Just this week we have been using hot glue guns with the children to help make Father’s Day presents. I agree that it is important to explain the safety hazards with children e.g. hot glue can burn your fingers, but I think this is something that children will discover on their own anyway through using a hot glue gun. As Te Whāriki states, children should be “introduced to tools and materials for arts and crafts and allowed to experiment with them” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 81). You have noticed this yourself as you observed the conversations between Child B and Child R, that Child R had already experienced this through previous experiences with hot glue guns.
I think it is interesting how you mentioned that the children at your centre have free access to hot glue guns without teacher supervision. How does this make you feel? Do you personally think that the use of hot glue guns should still be supervised, regardless of the children’s competency levels with them, or do you think that supervision should be necessary depending on children’s competency with hot glue guns?
I like how your experiences with your own son had created a shift in your thinking. Sometimes things can make a lot more sense to us when we have an experience that is close to our hearts! This was a good reflection, Eunsun, well done!
References
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga ngā mokopuna Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.