“Collage involves Technology” by Vandhana Prakash
Technology in early childhood is prevalent in a variety of ways. It can be in the form of telecommunications such as phones and computers or incorporated through the use of creativity and problem solving (Grant, 2010). However, another form of technology is constructing with the use of joining materials (Smorti, 1999). Collage experiences are available to children at all early childhood centres. It is surprising to know that the processes involved in creating a piece of artwork with collage pieces are actually part of technology. This is because glue, tape or any other object used to hold two pieces together denotes construction and creativity which are integral parts of technology (Van Scoter, Ellis, Railsback & Northwest Regional Educational Lab, 2001). The children at my centre engage in art experiences every day. One morning, I observed a two year old child, who was new to the centre, using various materials to create a wonderful piece of collage work. She is called D and had started at the centre three weeks prior to this experience.
I put out some glue, glitter, scissors, crepe paper, pipe cleaners, small cupcake cups, tape, felt pens, fuzzy craft balls and different coloured paper for an indoor art experience. D chose to create an artwork. I asked her whether she wanted to choose a yellow, orange or blue piece of paper to work on. She chose the yellow paper. Then, D looked at her options of materials and selected ones that she liked. She put these on her paper, arranging them in her desired pattern. Unfortunately, when she picked the paper up to show me, the pieces fell off. Then, she thought of observing other children at the table. For instance, she picked a cupcake cup and then observed another girl gluing her cup to the paper. So, D chose to use the glue as well to stick the cup to her piece of art. Then, she chose a few pipe cleaners and fuzzy craft balls to decorate her work. She used glue for this purpose as well. D also spent time using the felt pens to draw on her paper. It was fascinating to watch the children influence D along the experience. For example, a boy decided to use the tape and tore it off the holder. This appealed to D and she tried to do the same. I could see that she needed assistance and so I asked if she wanted my help. She agreed so I showed her the steps to tearing off a piece of tape. Following this, it took her a few tries but she finally managed to tear off a piece. She used more pieces to stick materials onto her work. Throughout the experience, D enjoyed creating a collage made of materials that she chose. I also interacted with her and the other children at the table by discussing their artwork. It was also a learning process for her as well.
The technology involved in this experience aided D in her growth of knowledge. For instance, D learnt that in order to stick two objects together you need to use either glue or tape. She opted for the glue when she saw another child pasting the cup to the paper. Following this, D wanted to try tearing the tape from the holder. However, I had to model the correct way of tearing tape. This allowed D to learn the method correctly. This shows that she was thinking about the process of getting the collage bits to stick on the piece of paper. This was evident when she initially lifted the paper up and the fragments fell off. She used her observations to learn to use the glue and tape. In both instances, the joining materials made D realise that two objects could be attached together. This example signifies cognitive development as well because D built on her schema of objects that can be used for the purpose of connecting things. Furthermore, cutting and pasting the bits and pieces are good for her physical skills. Moreover, my interaction with the children at the table provided D with a chance to have a conversation with me about what she was doing, even if they were short phrases rather than sentences. Such interactions will build on her social and language skills (Ministry of Education, 1996). Thus, technology takes many forms in an early childhood centre.
References
G Grant, M. (2010). Technology integration in early childhood and
primary classrooms: access, use and pedagogy remain
criticial components to success. Memphis, Tennessee,
USA: University of Memphis.
Ministry of Education.(1996). Te whāriki: he whāriki mātauranga
mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington, New Zealand:
Learning Media.
Smorti, S.(1999). Technology in early childhood. Early Education,
Autumn (19), 5-10.
Van Scoter, J., Ellis, D., Railsback, J., & Northwest Regional
Education. Lab., P. R. (2001). Technology in early childhood
education: finding the balance. By Request Series. Retrieved
from EBSCOhost.
(It was unfortunate that I could not retrieve photos of the experience from the centre camera. I have used images from the web instead)
Vandhana it is nice to see that technology is described in so many ways. Who will ever know that scissors, paper and glue are tecnology unless you tell them. You have chosen a good activity to observe child D and extend her learning in technology of collage. You gave a chance to choose whatever she wanted to make. This has given her a great opportunity to come to a finished product. I also believe that when children are busy doing things, we should not interrupt their play, as this will distract them from concentrating. I can see that you were scaffolding when she needed your help. Child D not only completed her collage but she learned alot during the process. For example you encouraging her when cutting the sello tape. She made the difference between glue and sello tape. When the glue was not working she observed other child and tried to use sello tape to put things together. You not only encouraged but extended her fine motor skill,build a relationship with a new child and also build her social and language skills. During this process child D was introduce to technology which she was not aware, but now she knows how to use them. This is the time to introduce her to other technology so that her learning is extended. We do not realise that when observing a child we do so much but it is not always worth putting on a paper because this things happens for a reason which we can only describe with words.
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