Safe Sound Indicator in the centre

 Blog 2

 Our centre was given a Safe Sound Indicator (SSI) from the National Foundation for the Deaf (NFD) to monitor the sound level in the room. I thought it would be a good time for me to introduce different ICT to the children. I had a group of children who were showing their eagerness to see how it worked. I asked them about the different coloured lights on this indicator, which was green, amber, and red. I also  explained  to the children that this instrument indicates increasing sound levels, when the sound is soft it will be indicating green, when the sound level is increasing it will be flashing the amber light and  when the sound level is high it will be flashing the red light. Some of the children related that to the traffic lights. One of the children said that “this morning when I was coming my mum stopped when the light was red on the road.” It was good to see children relating this to the people, places, and things around them. They were also making sense of the world through this small instrument. I gave children turns to see how it worked by increasing their voices and looking at the lights flashing. We also showed and talked to children about the importance of this instrument during our mat time. I also showed the children how this instrument operates with batteries and used rechargeable batteries. J wanted to see where was the on/off switch was so that he could do it by himself. 

 I as an educator supported these children’s learning in ICT by providing stimulating resources that encourage and support children’s interest and enthusiasms. This is further supported by Sayeed and Guerin (2000) as cited in O’ Hara (2004) “the adult arouses care, curiosity, and alertness in the child and helps the child to understand the activity so that they can be successful in it” (p. 73). In this experience, children were also encouraged to foster co-operative and collaborative work.

  Furthermore, by providing opportunities like this in the early childhood setting, children became more aware of different technological tools that are available to them in today’s world. Te Whāriki suggests, “Children should experience an environment where they learn strategies for active exploration, thinking, and reasoning. The ability to represent their discoveries, using creative and expressive media and the technology associated with them” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 88). Talay-Ongan & A.Ap (2005) further support by saying that “the use of technology can assist in the development of the rudimentary spatial representational skills of young students” (p. 229).  Since then we have placed this indicator in the classroom and children are being careful of their voices and on some occasions correcting each other that we need to use inside voices.

      

Reference

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o    Aotearoa. Wellington: Learning Media                                                                                                        

Talay- Ongan, A., Ap, E. A. (Eds.). (2005). Child development and teaching young children.           Southbank, Victoria: Thompson Social Science Press.