This morning I set up the projector and wondered what the response from the children would be. As the children entered the room, they wandered over to explore the projector. They initially watched from a distance and then moved nearer for a closer look. They were very curious especially when they discovered if you put your hand under the light it appears on the wall.
They had learnt that even if you put your hand up high you will still see the shadow appear on the wall. They had then discover that they could make patterns with cut out shapes and the glass nuggets on the wall.
Isenberg & Jalonga, (2001, p. 321) state that” when children play with technology, they have many opportunities to determine the outcome of their play through the use of a variety of symbols”.
The next day I had moved the projector to a different area. When the children arrived today they noticed that the projector had been moved to a different area and a screen was placed in front. They checked it out carefully and then wiggled their fingers under the light to see whether it was reflective on the screen. The children then took turns to place nuggets on the glass to create a pattern and then looked at it on the screen. Te Whariki states “Equipment should be provided for scientific, mathematical and technological learning” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.83).
The concentration as the children had explored was amazing and their faces said it all!!
After a while I placed a picture which had been drawn on plastic onto the overhead projector. This again provoked interest. The children asked if they could try creating their own pictures, so I helped them find some plastic to draw on and they then proceeded to experiment with their creations using the projector. The children then discovered that they could make their creations bigger on the screen. Te Whāriki states “children use a variety of technologies for different purposes as they explore their world” (Ministry of Education, 1996. p. 98). This was really exciting for the children as they then tried creating faces using gems that they had placed onto the overhead projector and tried to enlarge their created smiles. This gave them a sense of achievement as they had big smiles on their faces and they appeared to be very proud of their work. Isenberg & Jalonga, (2001, p. 322) state that “materials that promote problem solving provide children with possibilities for gathering information, making decisions, generating creative ideas and solutions, and testing their plans and solutions”.
Hey, I think this is great. I liked how you let the children explore with the overhead projector. It seems very creative. It was great that the children got to use the overhead projector creatively by creating shadows and putting gems on it. I think that the idea of moving the overhead projector is a good idea too, as it lets the children explores in a different area. I think that if you move an activity to another area, the children can gain different experiences. Keep up the great ideas.
ReplyDeleteDrool, Drool...Awesome, I liked how you progressively introduced the use of the projector. First you just had the projector and allowed the childrn to explore it's possibilities. Then the next day you added plastic film to it provoking the children to create their own expressions to try out under the light. Tumeke to mahi - awesome work.
ReplyDeleteSounds like Reggio inspired activity?
You can see children are very curious to learn and explore new things (than us). They were very smart to spot that the projector has been moved to another place.
ReplyDeleteGood linking to technology :)How would you extend children's interests re. technology?