Showing posts with label ryerson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ryerson. Show all posts

Monday, 27 March 2017

Tech Teachers Playshop

PLAYSHOP

March 22-29 

What is a Playshop? 
Playshops are educational and interactive activities that encourage creativity and collaboration among others. Each playshop is unique, it can include any subject areas such as math, science, art, literacy and technology based. Playshops are ways children can use their prior knowledge to further develop their understanding and strengths. Each child is involved in the activity by sharing their ideas, interacting with their peers and finding common grounds to create something uniquely different.

To learn more about playshops visit All rigor and no play is no way to improve learning


Click here to view a short video of Tech Teacher's Playshop.


Materials
In Progress
This lab work was completed over a period of two weeks. During the first week, we were given the opportunity to explore the materials and come up with creating something with the materials we were given or had. Materials that were incorporated into this playshop project were reusable and recyclable materials. From these materials, the Tech Teachers decided to create "string telephones". From the idea of creating string telephones, we began to look through our materials to find duplicates, for example, cups (2) or toilet paper rolls (2). From there we would use various strings we had in possession and began to attach each pair of cups, boxes, and other materials to the string to form into string telephones. Other telephones we have made also included other materials such as foil, paper clips, etc. To make the string telephone look colourful and creative we used markers and colourful strings to create designs.



Below are our string telephones for show











End Results


Sunday, 19 February 2017

What are the benefits of technology in Education?

Benefits of Technology

Feb 1, 2017
Technology allows for Collaboration and Teamwork

In class, we often address how we could include technology in young children's lives. Technology is seen as a manipulative that can cause health risks if it is used too often or it can support further learning opportunities. This blog post I will be discussing the benefits of technology in education. In my opinion, technology is effective for educational use. According to Finegan & Austin (2002) technology is a fundamental tool for educational learning. Technology in education and at home use exposed young children to a variety of learning experiences. They are free to explore, engage, connect, and apply what they learn to the real world. For digital technology to be used appropriately it is important that educators, teachers, parents and other caregivers are familiar with the applications or services they allow their child to surf on. It is important to know that technology does not pull individuals away from experiencing their real world, rather it improves their learning experience through a new medium (Acker, Nyland, and Niland, 2015).

What advantages does technology offer to young children?

  • Collaboration and teamwork
  • Foster better communication
  • Motivation
  • Engagement 
  • Readiness for school 
  • Social Interactions 
  • Problem Solving 
  • Cognitive skills





Reference
Acker, A., Nyland, B., & Niland, A. (2015). The relationship between children's learning through music and the use of technology. Australian Journal of Music Education, (1), 64+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=rpu_main&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA463634447&asid=1e5fa8804114934a0d7e9638fefb381
Finegan, C., and Austin, N.J. (2002). Developmentally appropriate technology for young children. Information Technology in Childhood Education Annual, 97 – 102.
Hope Technology School Uses Leading Edge Technology to Help Non-Verbal Autistic Children Find Their Voices. (2009, January 22). Blood Weekly, 545. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=rpu_main&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA192219838&sid=summon&asid=2ff4c80513331c14870ceec4a94a5ec3