Camcorders, whiteboards, digital microscopes and metal detectors are helping to build positive attitudes to learning at a Fife nursery school. Nicole Weinstein reports.

A projector beams out images of Space to a group of children who sit in front of an interactive whiteboard. The children, of St Andrews Nursery School in Fife, Scotland, have just completed a project on Space and the planets. They have researched it in books, built model rockets and made solar systems out of papier-mache. Now, they are watching video clips about space exploration that they downloaded from the internet. They are as close to Space as they are ever likely to get: they are transfixed.

ICT is a controversial topic in early years learning (see box below), but early years officer Elaine Cunningham, who oversees ICT at the 120-place council-run nursery in Fife, is convinced of its benefits in developing young children's confidence and positive attitudes for learning.

'ICT resources are integrated in our playrooms and can be accessed at any time, in the same way as the core activities like sand and water,' she says. 'When there is a rich array of carefully selected resources in ICT or any other area of learning, it encourages children to explore, learn and extend their knowledge. This, in turn, creates confident, independent and successful learners.'

INDEPENDENCE

Each of the three playrooms at St Andrews, which contain up to 18 threeto five-year-olds, has a desktop computer with restricted internet access that the children can use at all times. Interactive whiteboards are fixed to the walls at the children's height, with projectors attached to the ceilings and laptops running on each of them.

Ms Cunningham says, 'Children can double-click on the desktop icons to open up games like Fizzy's First Numbers. They can use the whiteboard for drawing, or we run interactive software like Come Alive Nursery Rhymes from Yellow Door, which children can sing along with or move the images around the screen.'

Digital Blue microscopes are also permanent fixtures in the rooms. The children can examine anything from hairs to minibeasts under these robust, easy-to-use instruments. They can take photographs of objects or make their own movies with Digital Blue moviemaker software, which allows them to add animation, sound effects and titles.

When they are out on walks, visits to the local beach or in the nursery's forest area, children can use their Flip camcorder to take video footage of themselves. It has a USB port that can be plugged into the computer, so they can easily watch the day's events when they return.

'The equipment is here as part of the children's daily learning,' Ms Cunningham explains. 'They use it independently, turning to carers to provide experience and support, which helps them develop a positive sense in learning.'

 

CHALLENGE AND CONFIDENCE

Ms Cunningham finds that children are very accepting of new technology and very willing to learn. 'If the product is interesting and looks visually exciting, it will engage them,' she says. 'If it has different levels which can be extended from a three-year-old right up to the age of six, it will be challenging, and children are going to want to learn and do more with it.'

When a new ICT product or game arrives at the nursery, Ms Cunningham learns how to use it with the help of the children. 'They are very much part of their own learning. They talk about what they like; I observe how they are using it; I find out if it's challenging and if there are enough different levels. If they're not interested, they don't have to do it, and if they are, we can observe that and take it on to the next level. This way, there is nowhere they can fail.'

For children with special educational needs, some of the ICT equipment can be 'invaluable' for boosting their confidence, Ms Cunningham has discovered. 'The whiteboard has been excellent for a child who has severe seizures and finds it difficult to use fine motor skills. Instead of holding a pen or a paint brush, he can make marks across the screen using his hands.'

INSPIRATION FOR LEARNING

The nursery has a dedicated storage area for ICT resources, which can be accessed by other nurseries in the area (see box below). One of the items, a remote-control dinosaur, was used when a little boy brought in a dinosaur fossil from the Science Museum.

Ms Cunningham explains that the boy made a cave using art materials and dinosaur models. Staff then got out posters and reference books to support his learning and afterwards looked out information on the internet about dinosaurs' movements. Finally, staff introduced the simple remote-control dinosaur.

Ms Cunningham says, 'The children were able to program it themselves and be in control of their learning.'

TURN-TAKING

Controlling access and turn-taking are all part of the learning process.

'Children move around the room freely, using all the resources,' Ms Cunningham says. 'We have a set of rules for turn-taking whereby we gently remind them to move on if someone else is waiting.

'We sometimes encounter challenges with some of the boys and the computers in the afternoons, so we have a five-minute egg timer that is used when there is a queue, usually when a new game has been introduced.

'We wouldn't encourage them to stay on any resource for longer than ten or 15 minutes, unless they were engrossed in play - for example, like building with blocks.'

EMBRACING CHANGE

Ms Cunningham believes that early years settings should embrace ICT and acknowledge its importance in children's learning. 'Children come into nursery knowing all about mobile technology. They have good mouse skills and ICT is part of their world.'

But she cautions, 'It should be used to enhance learning along with everything else, but not take over. I would always go with the child to select a book that would enhance their learning before turning to the internet.'

Cuddling up in the story corner to share a book with a child is one of the 'most wonderful things' that should never be replaced.

FOR AND AGAINST

Experts remain divided over the merits of using computers and screen-based technology in early learning.

Dr Richard House, senior lecturer in therapeutic education at Roehampton University, believes that 'Young children should not be exposed to random, rapidly appearing and disappearing sensory impressions which are machine-generated and which offer no authentically human meaning' (see 'Byte back', page 20, Nursery World, 16 December 2010).

Taking the opposing view is Professor John Siraj-Blatchford, visiting professor at the University of Swansea Centre for Child Research and an early years ICT specialist who has worked on The Land of Me early learning software.

He argues that research has shown 'many benefits' in the areas of fine motor skills, language and communication, self-esteem and self-confidence, and positive attitudes towards learning ('Computers benefit children', page 10, Nursery World, 7 October 2010).

'There is some rubbish ICT to be found, of course,' he says, 'just like some books and toys are better than others. At its best, ICT is shared with parents and other carers on a loving lap and provides valuable developmental and educational stimulation.'

ICT RESOURCES

Hardware resources at St Andrews Nursery School include:

  • cassette/DVD player
  • torches
  • calculators
  • electronic dance mat and keyboards and digital drum kit
  • battery chargers and rechargeable batteries
  • metal detector (National Geographic digital metal detector, £22.99, Argos)
  • remote-control cars, trucks and dinosaur (Chad Valley dinosaur, £19.99, Argos)
  • webcams to use with animation software
  • microphones - available models include the Easi-Speak MP3 recorder/player, from £36.95 (www.tts-group.co.uk)
  • digital cameras (Fisher-Price Kid-Tough digital camera, £39.99, Argos; other models available include Tuff-Cam 2 - child-friendly digital camera and movie camera, £84.95, www.tts-group.co.uk)
  • role-play equipment, including walkie-talkie radios, karaoke machine, battery-powered vacuum cleaner and cash register (Chad Valley interactive cash register, £14.99, Argos)

SOFTWARE

St Andrews Nursery School staff recommend:

  • Come Alive Phonics: Playing With Sounds & Letters, and Come Alive Nursery Rhymes, excellent on the whiteboard - each comes with lovely wooden resources and a teacher pack (from £50, www.yellow-door.net)
  • Moles - bright and fun, and children love the moles popping up (from £27.50), and Music Maker ...Pitch (from £37.50) - both available from www.resourcekt.co.uk

Packages available from www.sherston.com:

  • Teddy Bears' Picnic, literacy and numeracy games (from £49.95)
  • Izzy's Story Skills: Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Billy Goats Gruff (from £34.95)
  • Izzy's Island (from £49.95)
  • The Seasons of Little Brown Bear, eight games with varying levels of difficulty (from £39.95)
  • Rainbow Street: People who help us games (from £34.95)
  • Polka Dot Park: Growth and Habitats (from £39.95)
  • Young McDonald's Farm, developing visual and auditory skills (from £39.95)
  • Monkeys, Ducks and Frogs, for counting skills (from £39.95)

FURTHER READING

'On the button', Tried & Tested: ICT product reviews (Nursery World, 17 February 2011)