Motivation
• 15 Years in Early Childhood Education
• Sydney, UK and Singapore
• 8 Years in IT education
• Curiosity, Changes and Challenges that drive me
Challenges
• History of starting at the ‘top end’ of schools
• Parental bias
• Teacher bias
• Mystery of what young learners are actually
doing?
Authentic Learning
• Authentic learning is the application of relevant knowledge, thinking
skills, and interpersonal skills to the solution of real problems. It
involves finding and focusing on a problem, identifying relevant
information, categorising and critically analysing that information,
and synthesising and effectively communicating the results of an
investigation or creative endeavour (Renzulli, Gentry & Reis, 2004).
Technology is not social….
• According to Vygotsky - learning on your own is not as powerful or extensive as learning alongside a 'knowledgeable other' person. According to his Zone of Proximal Development theory (ZPD), whether that person be a teacher, peer or parent, children learn more extensively within a social context.
• Vygotsky - Technology is the ZPD mediating the social V Piaget - the technology is simply another tool that enables self discovery. The learner is still a solo explorer, discovering for themselves through trial and error, what is possible.
Future Ready
”To be future-ready, our young need to be able to think critically, assess options
and make sound decisions. They should have a desire to learn, explore and be
prepared to think out of the box.”
Nurturing our Young for the Future, Competencies for the 21st Century, MOE, 2010
Speed humps….
• Presuming play looks the same as it did 10 years ago
• Teachers as lifelong learners
• Putting tech before pedagogy