BLOG 2                               DATE: 18/4/2011

TELEPHONE CONVERSATION 

         

            

Wow!! Look at the weather outside today. It is raining so children stayed inside playing in their favourite areas. I noticed some children in the family corner taking turns to talk on the telephone. When I saw L and K talking on the telephone, I quietly went behind them listening to their conversation making sure not to disturb them. L gave the phone to K saying “aunty you talk to K”. K said “hello”, after few seconds L took the phone from K saying “my turn”; she talked to her aunty for a while. I heard L said to her aunty “you going shopping, elephant for me, bye aunty”. Then she put the phone down saying to K “aunty going shopping”.

Then I moved to see what D was doing. Through my observation D was pushing s buttons on the telephone; I asked D “what you doing with the telephone”. He told me that he wants to ring mum because he miss her and want to talk to her. I was also listening to S conversation which she was having on the telephone. She was telling the doctor that her baby is sick which she is holding in the other hand. Today I saw children coping each other using telephone but in different ways and different time.

Telephone is a technology that communicates information over great distances by transmitting and receiving sound, most commonly speech. Children benefit extremely using telephone as a powerful technology. Technology has a huge contribution on children’s learning and development. Through this technology children extended their knowledge and understanding of the world in the broadest sense of communication, language and literacy, problem solving, reasoning and numeracy.Through my observation today, this technology enhanced relationships between children, parents and their families. For example by using this technology children tried to communicate to their parents because they missed them. Children developed an understanding of how technology has a real and direct impact upon everyday life. Telephone helped increase children’s understanding of others and around the world. By exploring this technology children get self-sufficient and independent (Druin, 2009).

While playing with telephone children build literacy and numeracy skills such as correlation between written words, numbers, symbols and their meanings with an increasing ability to interpret these numbers. This technology provided children with the ability to enquire, explore and generate their working theories for making sense of the world around them (Ministry of Education, 1996). Children had opportunities to explore, question, take part and make sense of that which is known. For example how a telephone works such as “connecting links with the family and the wider world” (MOE, 1996, p. 54). Children also increased their fine motor skills and turn taking skills while using technology.

Telephone also enhanced children’s learning experiences through the diverse learning opportunities and provided methods that helped children to become more engaged and enabled them to consider their existing interests in new ways. For example literacy, in particular, was an area that saw significant enhancement in the way that children were able to engage with and develop their literacy skills through technology (Shah, Godiyal. nd).  

To extend children’s learning I will practice children “pushing" on the numbers in the correct order. As well as gather children in a circle and give them turns to "push" the numbers individually on the telephone. This is important in helping children to remember their emergency numbers such as police, ambulance and fire fighters. I will also help children learn and remember their telephone numbers by engaging them in fun activities. For example play the pretend phone game. One of the first things young children need to learn is their telephone number, along with their address and the name of their parents. I will also explain children when and why they should use these phone numbers. For example children are lost or in trouble when away from home, they will need to have their phone number memorized so they can tell a safe grown-up how to reach their parents. Also talk to the children that emergency number is never to be used unless someone is hurt or in danger and or the grown-up in the house cannot get to the phone.

REFERENCE LIST

Druin. (2009). Mobile technology for children: designing for interaction and learning. Unites States of America: Morgan Kaufman.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa . Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

 Shah, Godiyal. (nd).  ICT in the early year: Balancing the risk. Retrieved April 17, 2011, from Online:  http:// www.ejournal.aiaer.net/vol21209/17.%20Shah%20&%20Godiyal.pdf