At my centre I noticed the children playing with the toy camera and pretending to use the camera to take photos of their friends and things around our centre that interest them. Seeing the children pretending to take photos with the toy camera it prompted me to find out if the children were interested in taking their own photos with a real camera. I approached the three children that were playing with the toy camera and asked if they would like to take photos with the real camera. The children excitedly said yes. I began to talk to the children about how to use the camera, showing them the screen to see what they want to take a photo of and showing them what button to use when they want to take a photo. The children took turns taking photos of things they liked playing with in our outdoor environment.
L was first to take photos of plants around the outdoor environment. She wanted to take photos of flowers that she likes to pick to give to us teachers.
As it was a nice sunny day when L looked at the ground she saw her shadow and took a photo of her shadow and took a photo of our shadow that she saw as I stood behind her taking a photo of her taking a photo of the shadow.
that are around the outdoor environment, photos of the carpentry table and the balancing beam that he likes to play on outside.
J took photos of all the things she liked to play with, the swings, the monkey rings, the carpentry table, the climbing ladder and the wooden beam. As J looked down she noticed my bare feet and took a photo of my feet and the shadow it made on the ground.
From taking their own photos the children had the opportunity to view the photos on the computer after and choose the photos they would like to print and write about afterwards.
Through this experience the children have the opportunity to take visual images of things that are meaningful to them and write about them. According to Supon (2006) digital imaging motivate children to write, therefore children should be given the opportunity to take their own digital images to encourage them to write.
Through children having the opportunity to take their own photos, this promotes children’s ownership. They are able to feel a sense of ownership, something that is theirs (Supon, 2006). As the children take pleasure in enjoying taking their own photos of what they want and the way they want this promotes children’s pleasure in and of learning through improving their engagement, motivation, want to learn and develops their individual way of expressing themselves (Plowman, 2006). Through experiences such as this the children are able to develop operational skills such as how to use the display screen to see what they want to take a photo of and how to use the button to take a photo. It also develops children’s concepts, that when they take an action a response is produced, in this case when the children press the button to take the picture it produces a still image (Plowman, 2006). Through the opportunity for children to take their own photos the children are able to gain confidence in using a number of different approaches to explore and make sense of their world around them. They are also able to view themselves as active explorers who are competent and confident in making their own discoveries (Ministry of Education, 1996).
As I looked back on this experience I realise the importance of ICT within children’s learning. At my centre the children never had the opportunity to use a real camera to take photos themselves of what they wanted, it is more the teachers taking photos of the children and the learning they are engaged in. To have the chance to give the children the opportunity to take photos themselves with the real camera was great. Not just to see the pleasure and enjoyment the children gained from being able to take their own photos but to see the different things the children thought were important and meaningful to them and to see the things the children thought were interesting or different. It was a meaningful experience for me to see the children having the opportunity to take their own learning into their hands. Seeing the children talk about what they took photos of and why they took the photos. It also surprised me at how competent the children were at taking photos, how focused they were and how the photos were well framed. This experience clearly showed me that children need to be given the opportunity to use digital cameras as part of their learning, especially with our world becoming a more technical world.
References
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa .Wellington: Learning Media.
Plowman, L. & Stephen, C (2006). Supporting learning with ICT in pre-school settings. Research Briefing for the ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme.
Supon, V. (2006). Using Digital Cameras for Multidimensional Learning in K-12 Classrooms. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 33(2), 154-156. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Images of children taking photos and their photos they took
This experience really confirmed to me the importance of children using technology to extend upon their learning, skills and knowledge. The children developed “a perception of themselves as “explorers” – competent, confident learners who ... make discoveries” when they actively explored the different ways in which technology can be used to capture and print the images that they wanted to take pictures of (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 88; Ministry of Education, 2004, p. 4). In this way they are able to “experience enhanced learning opportunities through the meaningful use of ICT which will enable them to enhance their relationships, and broaden their horizons by exploring the wider world” (Ministry of Education, 2004, p. 2). I also learned from reading this reflection that the children's photo taking experience reinforces their sense of ownership that can be extended upon by writing about it afterwards in order to further express themselves. I did not realise this before and I found it to be an awesome eye opener for me which I will also use in my practice with the children I am engaged with when using our centre camera... Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteI agree I believe by giving children the opportunity to use technology and letting them use cameras to take photo's builds the children's confidence and competents in using technology and in taking photo's. It helps us see the world through their eyes and how they see things. When children take photo's it also help's us identify interests of the children.Ive learnt alot by doing this course on technology that letting children experience technology is hugely important and will effect children's lives as this is such a technical world now. When children use cameras they learn how to take photo's, look at their photo's and how to angle the camera to get the position they want this is a great learning experience especially if we can then show them how we put there pictures on the computer and how we can put the pictures into words eg: a story etc... well done Tamelia!
ReplyDeleteSerena
ReplyDeleteIt is great to see that by us learning about ICT this experience has happened and may become a trend in your own centre. I myself have my own digital camera that I always have at my side. I too enjoy providing a technology that enables children to document their own learning experience in the way that they themselves choose. My own centre has had cameras in the past that the teachers have used but I have found that there is not a willingness to encourage the children to use these tools as they are expensive and don't want them broken. This is a concern of my own as it is my own camera and if broken I will have to replace it myself. I overlook this however as I find that the reward of the experience outweighs the negative. When lending my own camera I stay close by and explain to the child that care must be taken to keep this tool operational so that it can be used frequently.
Further extensions to the use of a camera can be to download these images onto the computer or onto a projector screen so that the children can show others what interests them and share in the experiences of others also. Good for you for encouraging the use of this resource, I believe that photographs say a thousand words and are one of the best forms of documentation. "Children will have the opportunity to create and act on their own ideas, to develop knowledge and skills in areas that interest them, and to make an increasing number of their own decisions and judgments" (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.40).
What a fantastic experience Tamelia! I really enjoyed reading this reflection. I thought that was remarkable of you to extend on the children’s interest when you noticed their interest on the toy camera, and taking another step by asking them if they were interested to take pictures with a real camera. I like the way you seek their permission first, this shows how you value children’s point of view and their opinions, a good example of how we teachers need to show consideration within the children’s learning environment.
ReplyDeleteGuiding them through when introducing them on how to use the camera shows how you have reinforced their learning too. Some of them might have digital cameras at home but would have never got the chance to even hold it due to lack of trust in children by adults within the family/whānau. Supervising the children taking turns with the camera is fantastic too since it encourages sharing amongst themselves. Through past experiences, I have also noticed that when children use cameras or take pictures, the end result is always mind-blowing because of the stunning shots being taken by the children and here we could also discover more of their interests. I believe that children have the capability of taking breathtaking pictures which will be more meaningful to them. What a great experience Tamelia! You are an excellent teacher! Tūmeke!