Updated!
Yes! the blog is up to date, after more than five years from the last post.
Young Children and Families in the Information Age
Heider, Kelly L., Renck Jalongo, Mary (Eds.)
Applications of Technology in Early Childhood
Series: Educating the Young Child, Vol. 10
2014, I, 363 p. 35 illus., 32 illus. in color.
This edited book presents the most recent theory, research and practice on information and technology literacy as it relates to the education of young children. Because computers have made it so easy to disseminate information, the amount of available information has grown at an exponential rate, making it impossible for educators to prepare students for the future without teaching them how to be effective information managers and technology users. Although much has been written about information literacy and technology literacy in secondary education, there is very little published research about these literacies in early childhood education. Recently, the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College published a position statement on using technology and interactive media as tools in early childhood programs. This statement recommends more research “to better understand how young children use and learn with technology and interactive media and also to better understand any short- and long-term effects.” Many assume that today’s young children are “digital natives” with a great understanding of technology. However, children may know how to operate digital technology but be unaware of its dangers or its value to extend their abilities. This book argues that information and technology literacy include more than just familiarity with the digital environment. They include using technology safely and ethically to demonstrate creativity and innovation; to communicate and collaborate; to conduct research and use information; and to think critically, solve problems and make decisions.
Keywords » apps – arts-based learning – computer games-based problem solving – critical pedagogy – cybersafety – developmentally-appropriate technology – digital disadvantage – digital literacy – diverse learners – early childhood – educational communication and technology – effective information managers – effective technology users – electronic books – electronic portfolios – information literacy – interactive media – language development – mobile media devices – multimedia – multimodal learners – popular media – teaching information management skills – technology in education – universal design for learning – virtual worlds – visual literacy – young children – youth culture
Part Two: Issues and Trends.- 9. Young Children as Multimodal Learners in the Information Age; Nicola Yelland.- 10. Universal Design for Learning and Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom; Craig Blum and Howard P. Parette.- 11. Developmentally Appropriate Technology and Interactive Media in Early Childhood Education; Olivia N. Saracho.- 12. Could Computer Games-Based Problem Solving Positively Affect the Development of Creativity in Young Children? A Case Study; Georgios Fessakis, Dimitrios Lappas and Elisavet Mavroudi.– 13. The Impact of Popular Media on Infant and Toddler Language Development; Melissa Calderon.- 14. Participatory Youth Culture: Young Children as Media and MOC Makers in a Post-millennial Mode; Marissa McClure and Robert W. Sweeny.- 15. Young Children at Risk of Digital Disadvantage; Genevieve Marie Johnson.- Conclusion: Cybersafety in Early Childhood: What Parents and Educators Need to Know; Kelly L. Heider.
Theory, technology and applications of the digital storytelling
Professional e-Learning training program in the University of the Aegean
In the framework of the “Life-long Learning” program (http://e-epimorfosi.aegean.gr), University of the Aegean announced a new e-Learning program, entitled “Theory, Technology and applications of the Digital Storytelling”. Trainees will develop the ability to create and publish effective digital storytelling for applications in the field of education, culture, communication, politics, public relations, promotion of products and services.
The program will take place between 6/10/2014-15/2/2015. Participation provides qualified certificates and ECVET credits. For more information read the attached newsletter or visit the program’s website: http://e-epimorfosi.aegean.gr/e-viewpr?prpd_id=83723
Laptop?
Many thanks to Rikke Larsen for the “strange” photo from the museum at the acropolis of Rhodes.
ROBOKILLERS made it to the top ten in Manila!
ROBOKILLERS team, of the 2nd SEK of Rhodes, made an impressive performance in the World Robot Olympiad (W.R.O). Vasilios Chatzimarkos and Konstantinos Nikolaides, coached by Professor Dimitrios Kladogenis ranked to the top ten in their category (48 teams from 33 countries). The team has the top performance among the european teams that participated. Read more details in coach’s press release: ROBOKILLERS AT MANILA.
Well done kids! You make us happy and proud!
Scratch Day 2010 in Rhodes
On Saturday, 22 May, an educational workshop took place under the Scratch Day event.
Almost 120 teachers attended the event and participated in the following workshops:
- Scratch applications in Physics and Mathematics teaching (N. Dapontes)
- Scratch applications in Special Education (P. Tragazikis)
- Implementation of educational Digital Storytelling with Scratch (K. Serafeim)
- Scratch applications in Computer Science teaching (Ts. Karakiza, El. Mavroudi, D. Vamvakas, G. Fesakis)
More information: http://scratchdaygr.blogspot.com/
2nd Pan-hellenic Educational Robotics Competition
On Saturday, June 12, 2010 at the Athletic Center of the Municipality of Athens at Rouf (Piraeus & P. Rallis), the 2nd Educational Robotics Competition will take place. Opening hours 9:30 am.
Students from Primary and Secondary Schools, High schools of our country as well as students from various universities, will compete in the event. The winning team of each category will take part in the World Robotics Olympiad in Manila from 5-7 November 2010.
At the same time, a seminar entitled “Educational Robotics-Benefits from its introduction to the educational process”. The seminar will be held in the amphitheater of the Benaki Museum, Peiraus 138. Registration for the workshop at info@wrohellas.gr or 210-6779800. Participation in the seminar is free.
More information: www.wrohellas.gr
Pilot training program: “Building Robots in Rhodes”
Training students and teachers of Rhodes Municipality in educational robotics, and preparation for participation in the Second Pan-hellenic Educational Robotics Competition (http://wrohellas.gr/).
20 FEB – 13 MAR 2010, at 2nd SEK of Rhodes.
- The project was granted by “Stavros Niarchos Foundation” and with the support of WRO Hellas.
- Curators of the project were the Learning Technology and Education Engineering Laboratory of the Department of Preschool Education Sciences and Educational Design and members of the Recreational and Educational Robotics Team (http://robotics4fun.blogspot.com/).
Familiarization with the SCRATCH educational programming environment
Training session (tutorial) at the 4th Pan-Hellenic Conference ‘Informatics Didactics’, Patras 28-30 March 2008.
Familiarization with the SCRATCH educational programming environment
G. Fesakis1, A. Dimitracopoulou1,
K. Serafeim1, A. Zafeiropoulou1, M.Ntouni1, V.Touka1,
1Department of Preschool Education Sciences and Educational Design
Abstract
The session concerns the training of young scientists and teachers in the MIT Scratch programming environment (http://scratch.mit.edu). Scratch is a new programming language designed for education. It allows the user to easily create interactive stories, animation, video games, music and digital art. The vibrant web-community created around the Scratch environment gives anyone the opportunity to exchange ideas and opinions with other creators and to be actively involved in a community of practice and learning. Scratch is an open software based on squeak. It is designed for use from the age of 8 years. Scratch designers aim to develop basic skills such as: creative thinking, clear communication, systematic analysis, efficient collaboration, iterative-progressive design and lifelong learning skills. Kids who program in Scratch come in contact with important mathematical and computational ideas, while understanding better the general process of design.
Structure and duration
In the proposed training session, participants will have the opportunity to:
- attend a demonstration of the basic features of the development environment and of the web-community
- examine ready applications with emphasis on educational
- try lesson plans for familiarity with the language that concern authentic micro-applications that they will implement themselves.
The duration of the session is estimated at about 2½ hours as follows:
F1. Introduction to Scratch as project, 5′.
F2. Introduction to the development environment, 45′.
F3. Introduction to the web-community, 10′.
F4. Application of learning scenarios, 90′.
The training will be implemented with the contribution of TEPAES students, who have already created appropriate educational and training material.
Who is involved – expected benefits
- New researchers: Scratch is surrounded by a group of scientists working on interesting issues of effective integration and exploitation of programming environments in education. New researchers will be able to better approach the theoretical ideas and research data produced by the scratch community. In addition, familiarity with the environment enables them to design and test research ideas by easily developing the prototypes of computational environments required.
- Teachers: The environment gives new opportunities for the teacher of Computer Sciences (Primary or Secondary Education) to engage children with introduction to programming and advanced concepts (‘object’, ‘fact’, etc.). Besides teaching of Programming, Scratch provides each teacher with an easy way to produce interactive educational material, micro-worlds, simulations, etc. In the training session, samples of various learning activities will be distributed, including activities required from the official curriculum.
- Children: Scratch environment brings innovations in the approach of obscure concepts and programming techniques and its spread in education and extracurricular involvement of children is believed to improve their relationship with Computer Science in general, while at the same time it will make programming more interesting for girls and students of theoretical sciences.
Word keys: scratch, educational programming, training.
Basic Bibliography
SCRATCH (2008), http://scratch.mit.edu, Last access 7 Feb 2008
Fessakis G., Dimitracopoulou A., (2006). Review of educational environments for programming: Technological and Pedagogical Dimensions, journal THEMES in education, 7(3), pp. 279-304 (in Greek).
Training material
Presentations: SCRATCH_WS_PRESENTATIONS
Manual: ST_DOC01_REFERENCE_GUIDE_GR_v1
Learning activities: