Eftpos

Photography by Rachel Sun

Date: 20 August 2012

I have been working in toddlers’ room for 2 months. Although there is little digital material for children to play, we provide a lot of educational and meaningful resources for children to explore. For example, health theme, which includes bandages, empty syringes, stethoscope, empty medicine vials and hospital gowns; bakery theme, rolling pins, cookie cutters, baking pans, muffin liners, toy stove and oven, microwave and aprons. These examples of resources also provide children the opportunities on technology learning. Today we played counting song “5 cupcakes in a baker’s shop” with the toddlers at the mat time. Teacher T gave a mini cupcake (magnetic picture) to child Z and asked for 1 dollar. Z ran to the family corner and had an Eftpos machine (props) pass to the teacher. T said you need an Eftpos card to pay. Then Z looked at his father and his father gave him a card. The teacher held Z’s hand and taught him how to swipe the card through the Eftpos machine.

I was quite surprised that the children had such a technology concept in this early stage. I thought children only knew to buy things with money (cash). Through this activity, I realise how technology are impacting on children at a younger and younger age. Te Whariki (1996) points out that “children use a variety of technologies for different purposes as they explore their world” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 95). Through exploring the shopping props, children experience and understand the whole shopping process in the real world. In this imaginative play it provides children early mathematics concept with counting down and how many left; it also enhances children’s social skills through turn taking, sharing and negotiation, as well as their language skills. Te Whariki (1996) states children develop their ability and strength in sharing with peers to gain experience and describe different sorts of information (Ministry of Education, 1996). Through teacher’s scaffolding and guidance, children experience the shopping process and learn how to complete a transaction in the real life. Smorti (1999) emphasises it is more important to use a process approach to technology rather than the ‘product’. In this dramatic play children are be able to “explore new concepts, imitate people they have observed, test social theories and explore emotions outside a real life context” (Talay-Ongan & Ap, 2005, p161). This experience not only provides children with a meaningful form of communication, but also helps themselves for high-level thinking, problem solving (Isenberg & Jalongo, 2009). Vygotsky’s view of make-believe acknowledges dramatic play strengthens a wide variety of mental abilities, including attention, memory, logical reasoning, language and literacy, imagination, creativity, and the ability o reflect on children’s own thinking, control their own behaviour, and take another’s perspective(Berk, 2007).

I believe that technology can be used responsibly and creatively, to support children's learning in a different way. Teachers should develop and organise classroom resource materials to facilitate developmental and technological learning. A big challenge for early childhood educators is to increase our confidence and competence in technology teaching and learning. Tsantis, Bewick and Thouvenelle state that “it is the teacher’s knowledge and skills about how to use the technology that makes the difference, not the technology itself” (Tsantis, Bewick & thouvenelle, 2003, p. 4).

 

Reference

Berk, L. (2007). Development through the lifespan. Boston, U.S.A: Pearson Education Inc.

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

Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, 1, 5-10.

Isenberg, J., & Jalongo, M. (2009). Creative thinking and arts-based learning: Preschool through fourth grade (5^th ed.). Columbus, Ohio, United States of America: Pearson.

Talay-Ongan, A., & Ap, E. A. (Eds.). (2005). Child development and teaching young children.  Southbank, Victoria: Thompson Social Science Press.

Tsantis, L.A., Bewick, C.J., & Thouvenelle, S. (2003). Examining some common myths about computer use in the early years. Young children, 58(1), 1-9.