The Role of Ict in Early Years free essay sample

The role of ICT in a nursery setting that supports the development and education of children. ICT are tools that can connect people to a global community; they enable access to information from around the world; they enable individuals to publish and share their thoughts and ideas; they are tools for discovery and self expression (Kankaanranta Kangassalo 2003) Early years settings need to provide opportunities for children to learn about ICT as well as to learn with ICT (E. Y. F. S I. C. T is an integral part of all our lives as it is used so largely in society, starting from a babies playing with a movement operated singing toy to adulthood being able to send and receive emails. It is the ‘responsibility of education to prepare students for the future’ (Morrow, Barnhart Royyakkers 2002) ) A nursery experience in ICT means that children are now advancing the older generation by the time they reach primary school. We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Ict in Early Years or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page (Nutt, 2010) Within a nursery setting up to the age of pre-school there are a large range of ICT recourses that can enhance or delay children’s learning experience. dcsf,2004) ICT is at the heart of the DCSFs commitment to improving learning for all children. These can be an ICT toy that is used for free exploration experiences. These may include baby’s activity centres to enhance sensory development. musical talking books for toddlers and pre-school children, this doesn’t give the children time to think about what is going on around them and also a lack of imagination used when using these, however I found in my setting that talking books are a good way for children to learn nursery rhythms and rhythm as the children continually press the same button. We use programmable and radio-controlled toys as well as everyday items such as remote-control devices to help children with spatial awareness ,numbers of movements we can also use knowledge and understanding of the world by using maps for the movements. we can also use Realistic ICT toys and everyday technology to supports children’s imaginative and role play by providing meaningful contexts such as in the role play area, the shops need bar code scanners and may have digital tills (my setting now have chip and pin toys) these are some benefits of using ICT t an early age as children are more prepared to grow up in the environment they are nurtured in Some advantages of using ICT with young children is that children can grow up using all ICT recourses and find them normal in everyday life as they are growing. We can plan activities and free play for ICT so that it underpins each principle of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). in literacy children can locate letters on a keyboard and if you have the software then letters typed can be read allowed to the child. With multi-lingual children learning and understanding a new language can be difficult and cause development delay to help prevent this we can use recorder pens that speak multi languages to improve the Childs understanding. There are lots of sensory toys to use such as voice changers and recorders, motion, senesced toys. The recorders are very good for children to tell their story in their own words . In my setting we have a child with cerebral palsy who also has communication difficulties, by using ITC the child has a small portable communication aid with large letters and pictures. When the child has pressed what he wants to say he will give it to the practitioner who can access their needs. There are certain settings where it is appropriate for speech and language therapists to base support around ICT resources  already provided  by school(Kent County Council and NHS, 2008)I find this is a good way of integrating SEN children in mainstream nurseries. Rather then children having traditional activities planned every day such as gluing and sticking for creative development we now have children’s digital cameras to be creative with as well as video cameras. A video camera is useful for children and adults to record visits and outings for discussion in a group after the event. They can be used with a microphone to putt clips together from role play for storytelling Braxton (2002) saw the great potential of integrating ICTs into the early childhood classroom in her first venture the ‘Teddy Bear Rap’. (Braxton, B 2002,) ‘American and British children swapped teddies and shared stories. This was made possible by a web cam video from school to school. Children now get to see other children from all around the world. A down fall to this is printing and viewing the photos, we still need to think â€Å"How can we help children use the cameras and save or print photos in the most independent way possible? † also we can afford a limited amount of video cameras. A disadvantage of ICT is that I replace’s traditional activities that include the social side of learning such as board games being replaced with consoles. when it came to righting and drawing the computer is used this is delaying children literacy skills being able to write letters to form their own name . n my setting there are lots of lost opportunities for this as I observed a practitioner say to a child â€Å"I need to make a label for the new book box, do you want to help me print of a new label. It could have been hand written by the child and therefore more special to the child. Children are starting nursery pre-school with vast differences in their technological skills, many already have a grasp of basic ICT skills on t heir first day of nursery and are ready for ‘learning how to use the computer for personal productivity, decision making and lifelong learning’ (Chatel, 2003). he children who do not have a computer at home or from a poor rural area are already at an disadvantage as they are often left to catch up while the more able children take over the use of ICT . Research carried out through Stirling University, ‘Already at a disadvantage? ’ found that practitioners rarely consider children’s developing ICT cultural and learning competencies and give greater emphasis to children’s technical competences, (McPake. J,2005), In order for the ICT to be effective the children have to have the motivation to engage in learning how the new equipment/ toy work first. Similarly, the development of ICT expertise has a basis in strong internal motivation and in intensive use of ICT outside school; it is based on informal learning, and ICT resources at home (Facer, K. eat al,2003) Nurseries have a short budget to use for the yearly period a lot of ICT resources will be expensive to buy therefore the children may have to share with the whole nursery and have to wait weeks to use the resource. The EYFS is currently being reviewed ICT if used correctly as a teaching aid should stay as a curriculum topic I believe that children should be encouraged to embrace ICT at early age so that they will think its normal, they will be familiar on how to use it and more efficient when starting school. ICT should be used as a learning tool and not a replacement for socialising and creativity.