Technology surrounds us and is part of the daily life of all members of our community. As a school, we offer children experiences that translate to their world outside of Boulder Journey School.
We embrace technology as a language, just as we do the languages of dance or mathematics, to name a few.
We embrace technology as a language, just as we do the languages of dance or mathematics, to name a few.
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“From a very young age, children demonstrate their fascination with the search for the essence of things."
-Children, Art, Artists, Reggio Children |
We value opportunities to engage with:
low technology
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high technology
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the digital world
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teachers as tinkerers
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"We need to be 21st century learners to be 21st century teachers.”
-Chip Donohue, Ph.D., Dean of Distance Learning and Continuing Education, Director, Technology in Early Childhood Center, Erikson Institute
-Chip Donohue, Ph.D., Dean of Distance Learning and Continuing Education, Director, Technology in Early Childhood Center, Erikson Institute
Messing About and Tinkering
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'Messing About' refers to the three-phase learning cycle suggested in the essay, "Messing About in Science" by David Hawkins. David proposed that an optimal learning environment is one in which time and space are provided for all three phases, defined below.
Circle phase: unguided exploration without a superimposed agenda Square phase: unpacking of ideas and theory Triangle phase: choosing a path to narrow the focus of exploration Hawkins Centers of Learning |
Tinkering is the method of engaging with building, engineering, and challenges for the delight of experimenting rather than the goal of getting something right.
“Tinkering is closer to the way real scientists, mathematicians, and engineers solve problems. Tinkering is not just an uninformed or immature way that science happens. Sure, scientists make plans. They also follow hunches, iterate, make mistakes, re-think, start over, argue, sleep on it, collaborate, and have a cup of tea. Tinkering is encouraging making connections.” -Invent to Learn, Sylvia Libow Martinez and Gary Stager, Ph.D. |
Pre-kindergarten age children spent time disassembling a motorized car constructed from loose parts. The parts were offered to them following conversations about robots, leading to the following questions: What are robots for? What can robots do?
By spending time messing about with the parts, the children gained new understandings about the properties of motors and electricity - a step on their quest to understand robots.
By spending time messing about with the parts, the children gained new understandings about the properties of motors and electricity - a step on their quest to understand robots.
How do we choose which technologies to use?
“Technology and interactive media are tools that can promote effective learning and development when they are used intentionally by early childhood educators, within the framework of developmentally appropriate practice (NAEYC 2009), to support learning goals.”
-NAEYC Position Statement
-NAEYC Position Statement
What is the difference between active use and passive use?
Howard Gardner discusses the difference between being app-enabled and app-dependent. When working with a technology that encourages active use, we are app-enabled - the app is supporting goals we make for ourselves. When working with a technology that encourages passive use, we are app-dependent - we are supporting the app designer's goals and are guided through the motions of interaction (Gardner and Davis, The App Generation, 2013).
By asking the questions below, we can determine which technologies to integrate into our classroom experiences.
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Does this technology extend the learning in which the children are already engaged?
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Does this technology cultivate opportunities for social engagement?
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Does this technology inspire new avenues of exploration?
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Viewing the Digital World as a Tool
“To today’s generation of young children, the virtual is real.” - Sam Hall, Administrative Director, Boulder Journey School
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How do we consider digital reality a material with which to mess about?
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Inspired by work in Reggio Emilia, Italy, we recognize the importance of not only offering children experiences with technologies, new and old, to use as tools. We also recognize the importance of offering children experiences in which digital life is a material in and of itself.
In the heart of Boulder Journey School lives a fish, a blood parrot cichlid, Diggum, who through his decade plus residence at our school, has grown to be not only a friend and companion, but also a provocateur of work.
A few years ago, the city council of Monza, Italy, barred pet owners from keeping goldfish in curved bowls... saying that it is cruel to keep a fish in a bowl with curved sides because, gazing out, the fish would have a distorted view of reality. But how do we know we have the true, How do we offer children avenues for developing empathic connections with pet fish? The fish cannot live in our world, and we cannot live in theirs.
Can digital tools enrich this relationship? |
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Through the use of technology, we can augment reality to navigate new experiences. Using a Go Pro and a digital projector we were offered a glimpse into Diggum's world.
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To fully honor the impact of Diggum's perspective, we took advantage of the manipulative nature of digital media - in much the same way we might take advantage of the manipulative nature of tangible loose parts - and offered the videos, projected on a wall, as an experience for the children to mess about with. With these tools, the children could fully submerge themselves into DIggum's fishbowl, they could swim beside him and experience reality from his perspective.
This experience, in addition to offering a factual look into the world that Diggum inhabits, offered us an opportunity to view the world the way Diggum does. Finally, we had answers to questions that are regularly asked, "Is he really that big? What does the view look like from his side of the distorted glass?" |
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When the projection was combined with a tangible material, in this case a cardboard box, the children had space to fluidly step from digital reality to tangible reality and back again. Additionally, through this work, Diggum's role expanded from pet and companion to active participant in the play.
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"Creativity, emotional intelligence, and cognitive flexibility are skills that will
tap human potential and allow people to augment robots, rather than be replaced by them.”
- ManpowerGroup, ‘The Skills Revolution’
tap human potential and allow people to augment robots, rather than be replaced by them.”
- ManpowerGroup, ‘The Skills Revolution’
Our goal, as we navigate the rapidly changing relationship with technology, is to offer experiences and interactions that foster the growth of creativity, emotional intelligence, and cognitive flexibility in all areas.