Group 2 (III-2 BECED) TEACHNOLOGY IN ECE MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Software for Teachers (Example)
Assess2Achieve- is a comprehensive software package that includes planning, assessment, evaluations and report writing for teachers

Benefits: • Assess2Achieve enables you to store all the assessment information for each child in one place. You are able to search for an individual child records or a group of children records as an efficient means for using assessment successfully. It enables the teacher to record individual pupil assessments rapidly, therefore saving the teacher time. • Assess2Achieve solves this problem because it is a software system that enables you to store all the evaluation information in one place. Then you are able to search for a particular subject or topic as an efficient means to using evaluations successfully. • With Assess2Achieve teachers can now pass on their back-ups to the class. future teacher to enable him/her to access more detailed information about his/her class. Data stores from different teachers can be amalgamated to give an overview of a whole school so that reports can be created with information supplied by different teachers. • The format is friendly to non-computer professionals. Assess2Achieve has a paper like look to the application, even though it is a data store. Teachers can use the software flexibly to suit the needs of the curriculum, their pupils, the differentiation within their classes. Assess 2 Achieve has design features to suit the needs of both primary and secondary schools.

A. DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE MATERIALS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION The concept of developmentally appropriate practices refers to providing an environment and offering content, materials, activities, and approaches that are coordinated with a child’s level of development and readiness. Three dimensions of appropriateness must be considered: age appropriateness, individual appropriateness, and appropriateness for the cultural and social context of the child (Early Childhood Network, 1997).

DIGITAL STORYTELLING Definition: • It refers to a short form of digital film-making. • A relatively new term which describes the new practice of ordinary people who use digital tools to tell story. • Is the practice of using computer-based tools to tell stories. Nature: • Digital stories often present in compelling and emotionally engaging formats, they are usually less than 8 minutes long and can be interactive. • Digital stories are short 2 to 3 minute multimedia movies that combine photographs, video, animation, sound, music, text, and often a narrative voice. Digital stories may be used as an expressive medium within the classroom to integrate subject matter with extant knowledge and skills from across the curriculum. • As with traditional storytelling, most digital stories focus on a specific topic and contain a particular point of view. However, as the name implies, digital stories usually contain some mixture of computer-based images, text, recorded audio narration, video clips and/or music. Digital stories can vary in length, but most of the stories used in education typically last between two and ten minutes. • The most important characteristics of a digital story are that it no longer conforms to the traditional conventions of storytelling because it is capable of combining still imagery, moving imagery, sound, and text, as well as being nonlinear and contain interactive features. The expressive capabilities of technology offer a broad base from which to integrate. It enhances the experience for both the author and audience and allows for greater interactivity. • The term "digital storytelling" can also cover a range of digital narratives (web-based stories, interactive stories, hypertexts, and narrative computer games); it is sometimes used to refer to film-making in general, and as of late, it has been used to describe advertising and promotion efforts by commercial and non-profit enterprises. • This newer form of storytelling emerged with the advent of accessible media production techniques, hardware and software, including but not limited to digital cameras, digital voice recorders, iMovie, Windows Movie Maker and Final Cut Express. These new technologies allow individuals to share their stories over the Internet on YouTube, Vimeo, compact discs, podcasts, and other electronic distribution systems. • One can think of digital storytelling as the modern extension of the ancient art of storytelling, now interwoven with digitized still and moving images and sound. Thanks to new media and digital technologies, individuals can approach storytelling from unique perspectives. Many people use elaborate non-traditional story forms, such as non-linear and interactive narratives. • With the arrival of new media devices like computers, digital cameras, recorders, and software, individuals may share their digital stories via the Internet, on discs, podcasts, or other electronic media. Digital storytelling combines the art of storytelling with multimedia features such as photography, animation, text, audio, voiceover, hypertext and video. Digital tools and software make it easy and convenient to create a digital story. Common software includes iMovie and Movie Maker for user-friendly options. There are other online options and free applications as well. Facts and Studies… • Digital Storytelling model has also been adopted in education, especially in the US, sometimes as a method of building engagement and multimedia literacy. • For primary grades the focus is related to what is being taught, a story that will relate to the students. For primary grades the story is kept under five minutes to retain attention. Vibrant pictures, age-appropriate music and narration are needed. Narration accompanied by subtitles can also help build vocabulary. Content-related digital stories can help upper-elementary and middle-school students understand abstract or layered concepts. For example, in one Kindergarten class a teacher used digital storytelling to depict the story of the Monkey and the Turtle. • These aspects of digital storytelling, pictures, music, and narration reinforce ideas and appeal to different learning types. Teachers can use it to introduce projects, themes, or any content area, and can also let their students make their own digital stories and then share them. Teachers can create digital stories to help facilitate class discussions, as an anticipatory set for a new topic, or to help students gain a better understanding of more abstract concepts. These stories can become an integral part of any lesson in many subject areas. Competency: • Language competency is developed in digital storytelling. (The texts, words and vocabularies) Age–Appropriateness: • Ages 4-5 yrs. old – the story must be short to retain the attention of the students. There is always a recorded voice because at this point children are still non-readers. • Ages 6-7 yrs. old – we can now add phrases or even sentences while having the recorded voice because children at this stage are beginning reading. • Ages 7-8 yrs. Old – longer sentences and more vocabularies. Recorded voice is optional since they already know how to read.

DORA SAVES THE CRYSTAL KINGDOM Dora's back, and this time she's off to explore the frozen places of the world so she can rescue the Snow Princess from a really mean witch. In this application children should guide Dora through an enchanted land filled with hidden clickable puzzles, exciting sleigh rides, and whole lot of winter fun! And join the adventure and save the Snow Princess before winter is gone for ever! ✓ Helps memory & matching ✓ Increases logic & problem solving skills ✓ Improves Hand-Eye Coordination

B. IDENTIFYING DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT INTEGRATING COMPUTER IN LEARNING The integration of technology should serve to guide, expand and enhance learning objectives.It is understood that teachers and students do need to spend time learning the basics of using a computer. This is necessary in order to move to effectively integrating technology. Curriculum integration with the use of technology involves the infusion of technology as a tool to enhance the learning in a content area or multidisciplinary setting Technology enables students to learn in ways not previously possible Effective integration of technology is achieved when students are able to select technology tools to help them obtain information in a timely manner, analyze and synthesize the information, and present it professionally. The technology should become an integral part of how the classroom functions as accessible as all other classroom tools. (ISTE, page 6).

Role of Teachers: • It's important that teachers have a clear understanding of what technology can and can't do in the classroom. • On the other side of the coin computers cannot replace teachers. • Teachers understand when the teachable moment is at hand and guide students' academic growth. • The teacher facilitates learning and helps students transfer ideas to new learning situations.

Organization: There are generally two scenarios for the physical set up of computers in schools. Some schools have one computer lab, other schools have only small banks of computers in the classroom, and other schools have a combination of both. This section will focus on a computer lab situation and a one computer in the class situation.

• Computer Laboratory A computer lab is an ideal situation to teach about how a computer works, learn about software application skills, and develop keyboarding skills, all in a large group setting. Generally the teacher presents and demonstrates the skills to be worked on and then students are provided with time to practice and develop the skills. It is important for students to develop basic computer skills but it is easy to spend an enormous amount of time focusing on the computer and software applications in the computer lab. In order for technology to be integrated into instruction the goals and objectives that have been identified in unit planning need to be extended into the lab. It may mean looking at the lab in a completely different manner than the typical traditional setting. Students do not have to be all working on the same activity in the computer lab. This may be an effective strategy for some lessons but not for others.

• One Computer in the Classroom The dynamics of integrating technology will change greatly with one computer in the classroom versus a lab of computers. The obvious difference is that only one person or a small group will be using the computer and the rest of the class will be engaged in another activity. There are basically 4 situations that can be arranged to accommodate one computer: ✓ One computer for personal productivity ✓ One computer as a presentation tool ✓ One computer and a group interacting with software ✓ One computer as a learning center

Integrating technology isn't about using complex technology programs but rather simplifying technology choices and focusing on how technology connects to learning.

*COMPRESS AND UNCOMPRESS FILES (ZIP FILES) Compressed files take up less storage space and can be transferred to other computers more quickly than uncompressed files. You can work with compressed files and folders in the same way that you work with uncompressed files and folders. You can also combine several files into a single compressed folder, making it easier to share a group of files, since you only need to attach one folder to an e‑mail message instead of several files. To compress a file or folder: 1. Locate the file or folder that you want to compress. 2. Right-click the file or folder, point to Send To, and then click Compressed (zipped) Folder. 3. A new compressed folder is created. To rename it, right-click the folder, click Rename, and then type the new name.

To extract files or folders from a compressed folder: 1. Locate the compressed folder that you want to extract files or folders from. 2. Do one of the following: • To extract a single file or folder, double-click the compressed folder to open it. Then, drag the file or folder from the compressed folder to a new location. • To extract the entire contents of the compressed folder, right-click the folder, click Extract All, and then follow the instructions.

*ELECTRONIC MAIL - sometimes written as e-mail. - a system for receiving, sending, and storing electronic messages. - is the transmission of messages (emails or email messages) over electronic networks like the internet. - is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. -
Three Components: ✓ Message Envelope ✓ Message Header ✓ Message Body

How It Is Used:
Messages sent by electronic mail normally reach a recipient’s account within seconds. They frequently include more than just text; images and numerous types of formatted documents are now easily included as attached files. Moreover, it is no longer necessary to be sitting in front of a PC to send or receive an email. A variety of mobile devices, such as tablet computers and smart phones, make it possible manage correspondence on the go.3
Email clients - such as Outlook Express, shown above - typically have four main fields: From:; To:;Cc:; and Subject:. The From: and To: fields are somewhat self-explanatory; the Cc: field is used to send a message to multiple additional addresses; the subject field is used to describe what is included in the body of the message.

Making sure to spell the email address correctly is critical; like with a normal postal letter, if you get the address wrong it won't go to the correct person. If you send an email to an address which doesn’t exist the message will come back to you as an "Address Unknown" error.

OTHER MULTIMEDIA EQUIPMENTS
Laptop Computers LCD Projectors Digital Video Cameras Digital Cameras

Smartboards

• Smartboard interactive white boards. interactive whiteboards with a touch-sensitive display. When using the SMART Board with the classroom PC or a laptop (PC or Mac), the user’s hand becomes the computer mouse. Faculty can write notes, draw diagrams, and highlight information on the SMART Board, then save this information to a computer file for later use or to disseminate to students. The interactive display allows a faculty member to work as naturally at a technology board as at a chalkboard.

Digital Voice Recorders

• Digital voice recorders allow you to record interviews, lectures, presentations, multimedia projects, etc.

Other Equipments: • Headphones • Webcams • Microphones (tie-clip, USB, conference) • Portable stereo • Synthesizer • Speakers • Tripods for cameras • USB floppy drives • Instruction manuals • Graphing calculators and CBR • Extension cords • Miscellaneous cables and adaptors (AV and computer) • LCD panel for overhead projector

C. TRADITIONAL MEDIA TRADITIONAL MEDIA - The old media or legacy media are traditional means of communication and expression that have existed - Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, tax press and other print publications. - Also referred to as an 'old media', this sort of media includes vehicles introduced before the use and advent of the internet, such as magazines, books, newspapers, and radio and television broadcasts.

Examples: Printed Materials- were visual aids supplementing oral instructions a. Text books/ Course books ➢ is a manual of instruction in any branch of study ➢ It is a systematic arrangement of subject matter designed to assist the instructor in teaching particular content to students at a specific grade or year level. ➢ It is the one book used by the entire class ➢ Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions

b. Supplemental Materials ➢ These are the various printed materials used to supplement/ enhance regular class work. • Newspapers- is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features, editorials, and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint.

• Journal- A newspaper or magazine that deals with a particular subject or professional activity. - A daily record of news and events of a personal nature; a diary.

• Magazines- A periodical publication containing articles and illustrations, typically covering a particular subject.

• Newsletters- A bulletin issued periodically to the members of a society, business, or organization. - is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers.

Non- Projected Materials- are those which require no projection material or any electric power. a. Real Objects - Real Objects such as coins, tools, artifacts, plants and animals are some of the most accessible, intriguing and involving materials in educational use. - Real Objects helps an individual to elucidate the obscure and stimulate the imagination. - Real Objects are the instructional aids most closely associated with the experiences at the bottom of Dale’s cone of experience: direct purposeful experiences. - They are ideal media for introducing learners to a new subject. Used as a part of concept learning, they give meaning to otherwise merely abstract. b. Models - Models are three-dimensional representations of a real thing. - Models can provide learning experiences that real things cannot provide. - MOCK-UPS which are simplified representations of complex devices or processes are prevalent in industrial training. c. Pictures - Pictures are photographic representations of people, places and things. The still pictures most commonly used in instruction are photographs, postcards, illustrations from books, periodicals, catalogues, and so on. d. Graphic Materials - Graphic materials are non-photographic, two dimensional materials designed specifically to communicate a message to the viewer. They often include verbal as well as symbolic visual cues.

OTHER TRADITIONAL MEDIA: • Radio- is the wireless transmission of signals through free space by electromagnetic radiation of a frequency significantly below that of visible light. • Television- is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome (black-and-white) or colored, with or without accompanying sound. - A system for transmitting visual images and sound that are reproduced on screens, chiefly used to broadcast programs for entertainment