On Reflection

It is with a little sadness that this is the final stage of my Blog, I never thought that I of little technological experience and knowledge, would now be an enthusiastic participant, partner in understanding and using technology. 'Te Whāriki, he whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa' our New Zealand Early Childhood curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1996) highlights that development occurs through collaborative participation and that my role as a teacher is central.
As I begin this final reflection not all posts have been commented on fully so my response is written encompassing what others have contributed to date.

Using a blog was a first time experience for me, I was unable to attend the class with net safe internet safety presentation but had the information passed on. This was really useful to create an awareness of safety on line and the importance of secure passwords to prevent cyber infiltration from unauthorised persons (Net safe, n.d). This  also supported my use, ensuring what I wrote was positively written, critiqued and relevant, after all it is about the professional being professional. Awareness of traps and pitfalls when providing and using laptops and internet with children ensured that I put measures in place for everybody’s learning, safety and wellbeing (Ministry of Education, 1996).Through Donna's contribution I was able to access further learning around blogs and Skype use for possible use in my centre.

It was with interest and a little sense of trepidation that I reflected on these instances of technology of spontaneous and facilitated experiences. Would I truly understand what I could see, but it was as Yang (2009) stated, blogs are engagement with others in sharing your personal reflections, and the responses from others supported a deeper reflective process. The thought of who does use the internet and how this relates to social- cultural make up as Donna suggested, is certainly something needed to consider if using this format. I was able to consider others ideas, how they perceived what I expressed, which is useful to enhance children’s learning and knowledge (Ministry if Education, 1996; 2007).This was a reciprocal experience whereby I could almost at times relive mine and others experiences and sift through ideas and contributions of my group adding these ideas to the kite of knowledge.

Additional  contributions of  'Karen' from Botany Downs Kindergarten (Personal Communication, 2013) who shared her experiences of blogging in communicating with parents the daily/weekly occurrences, and a more personal loss of a child from this centre. This particular presentation was extremely pertinent for me, as I too have lost a son in the beginning of my journey at MIT. It was beautiful to come to a realisation that this child's memory is now secured in technology. He is there for his family and centre family to visit with, remember, hold close and for people who may move on, they  still have connections with him  through this high form of technology (Fleer & Jane, 2011). Smorti (1999) depicts technology helping to solve problems; this may not replace the child but personally I believe supports the grieving process.

Further on in my learning journey and Bex highlighted this, that writing to a foreign audience you needed to be clear in reference to including other ideologies pros and cons. I understood from this that not all people have similar experiences, read the same literature or the hold same values and beliefs.These are individual and our makeup as a teacher is unique (Santrock, 2009).
It is interesting how others see your true self within your writing, most of group pointed this out and how I had grown through the technology experiences for children. Being true to the child's world that surrounds them is indeed part of my philosophy and as I have discovered, this may very well be outside of my current world. Michelle and Bex were very supportive of  the spontaneous experiences that provided the technology within a  cultural perspective, this enabled me to understand how fortunate we are to have connections within our community. Through the support of literature and learning in action this was an experience that I believe yields a lifelong outcome, Jamee highlighted this and how she had been prompted to view differently as a result of these reflections.
 
It is and was indeed an honour to participate in contributing to the variety of skills and experiences that the children will need to continue their journey. This has contributed to my attaining further knowledge, it is as Jane & Fleer (2011) highlights, the most ordinary items that provide extraordinary learning and experiences. Michelle commented that the children learning through the inquiry is highlighted in 'Te Whāriki' our early childhood curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1996) and that she felt this summed up the total experiences. Indeed Inquiry learning reflects  the way of the future and a new view/ pedagogy for teachers. This continuing evolvement is something children and us as teachers I believe will need for future participation of and in  our world of technology (Ministry of Education, 2007).