We had an old VCR player that wasn’t working anymore brought
in by a staff member for the children to play with. A small group of children
who were investigating it and asked me if they could open it up to see what was
inside. I thought this was a fabulous idea that the children had, so I asked
them what they would need to open the VCR with and they suggested tools. “What
sort of tools?” I asked them as I wanted them to really think about how they
were going to accomplish this task and make known to me and the other children
their ideas. Smorti (1999) suggests that children need their confidence to
develop their own perspectives at the same time as acquiring new knowledge and
skills.
We gathered a variety of different tools and the children
were able to pick what they needed to open the machine. Hammers, screwdrivers
and scissors were the chosen tools and they set out to open the VCR up and see
what was inside. I found with this small group the children were all able to
work and talk together helping each other. Mindes (2006) also agrees with this
type of group activity stating that in small group experiences like these
children are able to be actively engaged in learning, developing their
learning.
As the children started dismantling the device they found
all sorts of things like springs, screws, nuts and bolts and asked me what they
were and how they made the machine work. I was honest and told them I didn't know but asked them what they thought. I heard lots of different and very interesting ideas and theories about how these items made the machine work. Clark (2007) suggest that all young children have lively and active minds which really should through in this experience.
I remember as a child when we got out first
VCR I was fascinated with it and wondered how it worked and played my movies.
To open one up and to see the mechanics of it showed me what an intricate piece
of technology it was. I learnt a lot from this experience as well and our small
group discussed how we thought the different parts worked in the machine. I
could see the children were so involved in working out the technicalities of
it. “Graphics and other forms of visual representation offer important tools
for exploration and communication” (Ministry of Education, 2007).
I found this type of activity great for the children’s fine
motor skills as they had to unscrew tiny screws, nuts and bolts and use their
strength and muscles to cut through tough wires and cords. Through this type of
activity children develop increasing control over their bodies including
development of fine motor skills, gross motor skills and manipulative skills (Ministry
of Education, 1996).
It was interesting to think about how technology has changed
so much from when I was a young child and only being able to watch movies on a
VCR. Nowadays we are able to use computers, DVD players, iPads and iPods to
watch movies which is incredible and some children have never heard of or seen
a piece of old technology like this.
References
Clark, A. (2007). Changing classroom practice to include the project approach. ERCP, 8 (2), 1-10.
Mindes, G. (2006). Social studies in
kindergarten. In D. Gullo (Ed.), K today: learning in the
kindergarten Teaching and year (Chpt. 10, pp.107115). Washington, DC: National Association
for the Education of Young Children.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te
Whāriki, he whaariki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa : Early childhood
curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media
Smorti, S. (1999) Technology in Early
Childhood. Early Education, 19, 5-10.
Robyn I really enjoyed reading your blog and loved how the children investigated the video cassette recorder and the tools they used. Smorti (1999) "states that technology is about helping people and solving problems" (p.5). The tools the children used on the video cassette recorder definitely helped them solve problems of unscrewing screws cutting wires etc. So the experience the children had with the Video cassette recorder had lots of elements of technology. The video cassette recorder used to be a great piece of technology but is hardly seen these days. I liked how you talked about your personal experience with it, and how much technology has changed in regards to watching movies on different pieces of technology. I brought an old printer into my preschool and the children loved exploring it. Are you going to continue with this interest and explore other items of technology that don’t go so they can pull apart and investigate?
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very effective experience to set up for children. I was in a centre once and one of the teachers managed to supply about three different items of digital technology for the children to explore and take apart. This activity ended up going on for weeks as the children were fascinated by it. I like how you asked the children what they thought they would need in order to dissect the video player and then gave them the opportunity to work it out for themselves. This is encouraging them to contribute their own ideas and then work alongside each other to reach their goal (Ministry of Education, 1996). This sort of technology changes so fast, but it is still surprising that the children we teach might not have even seen a video player before. This really highlights the fact that we as educators need to keep up-to-date with changes in digital technology, so that we can assist children in freely exploring technology. Where will you take this experience with the children next Robyn?
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I love the picture of the little, busy hands using different tools; I can tell just from the picture that there would have been a lot of enjoyment through this experience. I think it was great how you were asking children questions to get their minds thinking. It was great how you allowed the children a choice when it came to picking the tools, instead of just dishing them out. Ministry of Education (1996) says that through exploration children develop: “the ability to make decisions, choose their own materials, and set their own problems” (p. 84). This activity seemed great for children to develop relationships with each other. What would you have done if more children wanted to be involved? I think it was good how you were honest to the children when you weren’t sure on things. Maybe you could extend this experience further and research what the springs etc are used for with the children. It was interesting to read your own personal experiences with the VCR player, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog i agree that this experience helped the children to develop their fine motor skills( ministry of education 1996), i also like the picture that you had posted at the top of the blog it gave me a good understanding of what was going on. i believe that this would have been an enjoyable experience among the children as it is helping them get a better understanding of how things work and what can be inside different objects. i agree with what emily asked i am very interested in where this experience is going to go next.
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