fun cycling!

It was such a nice day outside and as soon as we opened the door, M was the very first to get out and quickly hopped onto a bike. The children were all really fond of cycling and they always tried to have turns on the few bikes that we have. Whoever got the first turn on the bikes felt so good about themselves and as if they were the winner.

M started her bicycle trip and she was so confidently going here and there. She could completely master the direction and knew exactly where the bike was going to. Some times she pushed herself with both legs and some times she just waited the bike to go on its own.

She was having lots of positive learning dispositions through this learning experience. For example, curiosity, experimenting and playfulness.

When I turned around, S was on a bike as well. He was totally enjoying the bike and he held the bike's front arms up high so that the front wheel was up in the air. It cracked me up and the way he did it was so funny. I was wondering that he must has seen those motorbike racers. He was trying to link his previous knowledge with his real practice or he might just be so creative and playful.

Those plastic bikes were products of the technology again. Through having experience on them, children were just gaining so much and they could under how things work, which is at the heart of technological practice (Dunn, 1999). Their learning also has been expanded through experiences and understanding of people, places and things (Ministry of Education, 1996).

They learned that technology is part of human activity, experience and exploration from a variety of contexts(Fleer, 1996).

 I wanted to extend and facilitate their learning through more meaningful scaffoldings. I would like to check out on youtube and show them some video clips on how to make a real bike. I want to talk to them and let them think why we need bikes. Bikes help us save time to get to the destination faster and make our life convenient at one stage. So the core of this is to let them know that technology is about helping people and save problems (Smorti, 1999).

Children could see the whole history of inventing bikes so that they could start making sense of the world by themselves. They gain their understanding through looking at the people, places, things and events.

New Zealand is part of a world revolution in communication, technology, work, and leisure. Change in these and other spheres is a feature of every day life (MOE, 1996).

Reflecting back on this whole scenario, I strongly felt the importance of technology has brought to our every day's life and to children's life in early childhood. Children were learning how to bicycle, why we have bikes, how they were made and they were linking old and new knowledge together. At the same time, they were also building lots of positive learning dispositions which would benefit them later on. The most important thing was that they were having so much fun.


References:
Dunn, A. (1991). 'How Things Work' Series.Lifting by Levers, The Power of Pressure, Simple Slopes,     Wheels at Work.   East Sussex: Wayland Publishers.

Fleer, M. (1996). Science for children: developing a personal approach to teaching. Australia: Prentice Hall. 

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whariki: He Whariki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No.19 Autumn 1999.