Children experience creative media and technology

One day when I was taking photos of children playing, young F wanted to have a go with the camera. She was curious about the camera. I talked to her that she can take photos with me next time. Today I took the digital camera with me and I borrowed another camera for her. F started to focus the camera to different angle. She was holding the camera nice and firm. Teacher F was trying to helped me to show F the part she was going to clicked to take photos while I was taking the photos of her for a learning story. F have a very good fine motor skills. She chose to take a photo of her cousin D, the leaves, the red car. She zoomed the lens and was fascinating of the outcome of what she was doing. She was so confident and stood like real photographer.

F focused the camera to the leaves and liked what she saw.

F had a go with the car....

Tried a focus into another angle...

F concentrated her focus into her cousin D...

What's happening here?

Upon recognising F interest, I encouraged F to work with the digital camera. I gave F the chance to explore the possibilities of using this technology that she always see from teachers using to capture their play. I just recently allow her to use this equipment and she is building a great curiosity on how this equipment is working.

Links to the curriculum:
Belonging, Goal 2; Contribution, Goal 2; Communication, Goal 4; Exploration, Goal 3

F will develop the confidence to express her ideas and creativity through the new technology. She will recognize that she is capable of acquiring new skills and become familiar with technology. This experience help her to understand her abilities as a competent learner. F sees herself as a great contributor, competent, confident learner and help teachers to take responsibility for her  learning. Her awareness of the activities of teachers in the centre is just showing clearly how she plan ideas to have a go to discover how and why teachers use the camera. F story also illustrate her confidence in using the digital camera. By letting her use this equipment , I enhanced and expanded her learning experince in photo taking; I let her use the resource for her learning (Smorti, 1999).

What's next?

Now that she experienced the camera, F is becoming interested in taking photos and it is my duty as an educator to give children a chance to discover things for themselves. I discovered that other children were looking and interested in what F was doing so next time we will involve the other children as well.

Reference:
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whariki, he whariki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No.19 Autumn 1999.