Below are four tools that would be beneficial to use in an early childhood setting. Through my own experimentation with these tools I have compiled a benefits list for each one. In addition I had an 8 year child trial each of the programs to give me an insight into how an early learner would engage in these programs.
TUX PAINT http://www.tuxpaint.org/
I feel that this program should be one of the very first that early learners are introduced to. It is a great learning tool due to its many manipulation possibilities. Although this programs does not have many advanced features it is great for early learning. While enjoying the drawing function of the program children are acquiring basic computer skills.
Benefit to children:
- fine motor skills
- mouse control
- playing with function of buttons
- learning and experimenting with menu & toolbars
- create shapes in a variety of sizes and colours (supports colour recognition)
- manipulation of tools
- benefits for colour and shape recognition
- experiment with colour and line
- variety of visual textures
- text can be used and introduced
- step by step instructions promoting literacy
- fun sound effects
Observation of child’s engagement:
- told me that they have the program at school and is used a before school option or during free time
- Childs Dialogue
o “I clicked on everything to try and see what they were”
o “I like doing this one because of the sounds”
o “That looks 3D like a pathway or tunnel”
o “I try all the colours”
o “I found this the other day”
o “The fire engine makes a noise of a fire engine”
Drawback
- poor verbal / oral lanugage display (character mutter)
- no spelling correction
KIDSPIRATION http://www.inspiration.com/Kidspiration
This program has many learning possibilities all in one. It is very easy to use and maneuver around. It offers a variety of images and various engaging activities.
The talking interface promotes literacy and helps with guiding the user around the program. It also (which I thought was amazing) reads back to you what you type.
Benefits to children:
- opportunities to use text and experimenting with a variety of font options
- can create concept maps with images and sounds
- promotes science, social studies, mathematics, literacy and introduces new vocabulary
- just some examples are
o adjectives
o writing about ones self
o letter sounds
o making a variety of patterns
o activities using base 10 blocks
o fraction tiles and fraction boxes
o bar graphs, adding with regrouping ….. and the list goes on
Observation of child’s engagement:
- knows ‘concept maps’ as ‘webs’
- had free manipulation the child was very curious about all the functions
- explored the program for a long period of time
- Childs Dialogue
o “You could use this for typing this up and you can add pictures”
TUX PAINT http://www.tuxpaint.org/
I feel that this program should be one of the very first that early learners are introduced to. It is a great learning tool due to its many manipulation possibilities. Although this programs does not have many advanced features it is great for early learning. While enjoying the drawing function of the program children are acquiring basic computer skills.
Benefit to children:
- fine motor skills
- mouse control
- playing with function of buttons
- learning and experimenting with menu & toolbars
- create shapes in a variety of sizes and colours (supports colour recognition)
- manipulation of tools
- benefits for colour and shape recognition
- experiment with colour and line
- variety of visual textures
- text can be used and introduced
- step by step instructions promoting literacy
- fun sound effects
Observation of child’s engagement:
- told me that they have the program at school and is used a before school option or during free time
- Childs Dialogue
o “I clicked on everything to try and see what they were”
o “I like doing this one because of the sounds”
o “That looks 3D like a pathway or tunnel”
o “I try all the colours”
o “I found this the other day”
o “The fire engine makes a noise of a fire engine”
Drawback
- poor verbal / oral lanugage display (character mutter)
- no spelling correction
My personal experimentation
KIDSPIRATION http://www.inspiration.com/Kidspiration
This program has many learning possibilities all in one. It is very easy to use and maneuver around. It offers a variety of images and various engaging activities.
The talking interface promotes literacy and helps with guiding the user around the program. It also (which I thought was amazing) reads back to you what you type.
Benefits to children:
- opportunities to use text and experimenting with a variety of font options
- can create concept maps with images and sounds
- promotes science, social studies, mathematics, literacy and introduces new vocabulary
- just some examples are
o adjectives
o writing about ones self
o letter sounds
o making a variety of patterns
o activities using base 10 blocks
o fraction tiles and fraction boxes
o bar graphs, adding with regrouping ….. and the list goes on
Observation of child’s engagement:
- knows ‘concept maps’ as ‘webs’
- had free manipulation the child was very curious about all the functions
- explored the program for a long period of time
- Childs Dialogue
o “You could use this for typing this up and you can add pictures”
Drawback
A disadvantage to this program is that I found the child was not interested in engaging in any of the math or literacy options voluntarily. Therefore this would have to be teacher directed and facilitated.
My personal experimentation
GLOGSTER http://www.glogster.com/Welcome to the 21st Century! Multimedia Posters!
Children are able to express themselves through creating personalised posters using images, text, sounds, graphics, videos…..
Benefits to children:
- easy to use program (click and drag)
- personalised work
- highly engaging
- able to upload own images, sounds and voice recording etc
- develops creativity
- high use of manipulation
- work can be accessed at anytime online
- can be done collaboratively
Observation of child’s engagement:
- worked out how to use the program pretty much instantly
- Childs Dialogue
o “I could make a poster about bike safety”
Drawback
- lack of direction surrounding the program. The teacher instructions would have to be very specific.
- would be used best in the later years of early childhoodMy personal experimentation
WINDOWS LIVE MOVIE MAKER http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker?os=other
This program could be used for recount, sequencing or even story telling.
Benefits to children:- upload own images, photos and video
- able to edit all visuals
- promotion of literacy by adding captions and verbal voice recording (the children make connections about how the words relate and have meaning)
- add titles
- exposure to time concepts
- explore different transitions and visual effects
- fine motor skills through mouse manipulation, photo taking, video recording and hand-eye coordination
Observation of child’s engagement:
- enjoyed listening to her voice back
- inserted images with ease
- Childs Dialogue
o “Could take pictures of friends, trees, flowers”
o “We did this first and did this next”
Drawback
- may require assistance with creating voice recordings and time concepts
My personal experimentation
Hi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteYou've written some great things about Kidspiration here, highlighting its benefits to educators. Thanks for sharing!
If you have any questions, find me on our blog, Facebook or Twitter. You may also email me at connect(at)inspiration.com.
Sarah Cargill, Inspiration Software
inspiration.com/blog
facebook.com/InspirationSoftware
twitter.com/InspirationSW
Hi Michelle
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is WOW, you have done an excellent job with this post! You will be able to do so many great things when you are teaching, you already display the ability to research and think outside of the square, you will be able to keep the students that involved that the days will just fly by. Keep up the great work.