A top 100 tools for learning list generated by a group in the UK from a world-wide survey.
It's a little interesting to have a look at how many of these have you used? Do you even know about?
Not suggesting that you should simply take this list as some sort of guide.
By helping children self-author and produce e-books, early childhood professionals can make the use of computers more interactive and personal.
PowerPoint is ideal for helping young children to make basic self-authored e-books.
information and communication technology (ICT) is being viewed as another tool for early childhood professionals and children to use in this domain of learning in a way that can complement the more traditional provision of literacy experiences (Hills, 2010; Parett, Quesenberry & Blum, 2010; Marks, 2007; Siraj-Blatchford & Siraj-Blatchford, 2003).
Brown and Murray (2006) put it, children need to be able to use ICT so that they are adequately prepared for the future
This can be included in play-based, co-constructed classrooms by incorporating the internet, digital camera, iPad. Communication can be a simple as a menu of pictures, looking at a picture to create a mask or sea creature, to photograph a collage item and add the photo to a construction book.
Western society has invested print-based media with significant authority, but notions about literacy are changing. As society and technology evolve, there is a shift to an acceptance of digital forms of literacy (Jewitt & Kress, 2003). Increasingly, young children are exposed to communication tools and circumstances that are multimodal instead of solely linguistic (Hill, 2007
ICT as a tool for enriching the teaching and learning environment for young children.
They explain a mode as a ‘regularised organised set of resources for meaning-making, including image, gaze, gesture, movement, music, speech and sound effect’
(p. 2).
Text now refers to multiple forms of communication including information on a digital screen, video, film and other media, oral speech, television, and works of art as well as print materials. Electronic texts in particular have become part of children’s everyday lives to the extent that before they commence school, a growing number of children have more experience with electronic texts than they do with books. It is important to recognise that print is now only one of several media which transmit messages in our culture (p. 156).
The reading of texts has traditionally focused on decoding–encoding print’s alphabetic codes. Texts children read today, however, might be a mixture of images and print, and the delivery might be interactive with mobile forms rather than just print fixed on a page (Walsh, 2008).
These multi-media forms of literacy include traditional forms of print and numbers, but also hypertext, symbols, photographs, animations, movies, DVDs, video, CD-ROMs and website environments (Luke, 1999; Walsh, 2008).
Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework. In particular, Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators, has a section on how they can use ICTs to access information, explore ideas and represent their thinking (Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations [DEEWR] for the Council of Australian Governments, 2009).
Families and parents are still a child first teacher. Teachers acknowledge and respect that each child comes to a centre with varying degrees of prior knowledge.
Young children may have access to certain technologies as they were already present in their homes but this did not always mean that they were allowed and/or able to use these. O’Hara’s findings support the arguments made by Marsh (2004), Smith (2005) and others that young children already have an understanding of ICT knowledge and competences when they enter formal schooling as a consequence of differing levels of parental intervention and modelling along with being able to acquire their own new information, abilities and attitudes.
that to read and create multimodal texts, children do need to be able to combine traditional literacy practices with the comprehension, design and manipulation of various ‘modes of image, graphics, sound and movement with text’ (p. 108).
Walsh (2008) and Healy (2000), we are not suggesting abandoning practices centred on the traditions of print literacy but instead propose early childhood professionals include a range of texts for young children that expand beyond the current print traditions. Self-authored e-books are one way to accomplish this, as they can create a partnership between ICT and reading.
A collection of links to different presentation tools (Powerpoint alternatives) but also includes ideas for learning activities. e.g. Powerpoint Karaoke
"February 1, 2014
Whether you're the parent of a child with a reading disability or an educator that works with learning disabled students on a daily basis, you're undoubtedly always looking for new tools to help these bright young kids meet their potential and work through their disability. While there are numerous technologies out there that can help, perhaps one of the richest is the iPad, which offers dozens of applications designed to meet the needs of learning disabled kids and beginning readers alike. Here, we highlight just a few of the amazing apps out there that can help students with a reading disability improve their skills not only in reading, writing, and spelling, but also get a boost in confidence and learn to see school as a fun, engaging activity, not a struggle.
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Great apps Amanda!! I'm in the process of teaching my six year old to read and write as she attends an all Chinese kindergarten and is not learning any English. After an eight hour school day she really resists any more work that I try to do with her, which is very frustrating for both of us. She does however LOVE the iPad and I'll be trying some of the kindergarten specific apps mentioned in the article. Hopefully she won't even realise she is learning while playing. When we return to Australia she will be behind in reading (as our main focus for her right now is Mandarin) and will require targeted help.
Very helpful site!! The world is changing and we (as future teachers) should all be exposed to all the various ways that we can engage students in constructing and actively engaging in their own learning. If I was a child with dufficulties in reading I would rather engage with an Ipad rather than any other traditional way of teaching. Again this site is a proof of what a useful tool ICT can be and the positive results it gives when used in the right way.
96% of participants agreed technology allows students to share their writing with a wider, more diverse audience.
79% of participants claimed digital tools encourage greater collaboration.
50% of participants said it was easier to improve student writing with the use of technology
Richard Byrne's blog. "Coggle is a new, collaborative mind-mapping service that is very easy to use. To create a Coggle mind map just sign-in with your Google account and click the "+" icon to start your mind map. After entering the main idea of your mind map you can add branches by clicking the "+" icons that appear next to everything you type. To re-arrange elements just click on them and drag them around your screen. "