Rethinking EdTECH in the Early Years

Re-thinking EdTECH in the Early Years

Date:08/09/2018  Saturday

This post is inspired from my recent dive into an Online course  about the  Early Learning & Pre - School Education 2.0 - Child Centered and Playful Learning in Finland offered online by ALO Finland. I am extremely thankful to my course Instructor Pirjo Sohunen for the opportunity to explore and learn from the Finnish education system. The course helped me understand the meaning of child centered and playful learning in the early years. It also highlighted the process through which the Finnish system ensures that every child gets equal opportunity to grow to their full potential. It further provided an insight about use of various strategies, tools and education technology in the early years. 

I will begin by sharing how learning takes place in the early years in Finland and then move to discussing in detail the role education technology plays  in the early years.

Lets start by looking at a few good ideas that I really liked  about early education in Finland and can be implemented in schools in Pakistan. In the Finnish education system schooling does not begin before the age of 7 years. So they do not expect kids to read or write. Instead kids from the early age are taught basic life skills and social skills which include healthy eating habits, being independent, self service, take care of hygiene, helping others, table manners , exercise, taking rest etc. Kids also get to discuss ethical and behavioral matters during circle time in class.

During lunch time, the learning areas are turned into eating areas, kids wash hands before meals, taste every food, know how much to eat, and therefore make sure no food goes wasted. We have often observed adults taking additional food in dinners and lunches and it all goes into waste. A habbit which needs to be inculcated in kids at a very early age be it at schools or homes.

The second thing I liked about the Finnish education system is the importance given to outdoor activity.  Kids play outdoor amidst cold weather, provided they have appropriate clothes, even if the clothes get wet, schools have dryers available. Kids get to do plenty of exercise. They get to walk to the park, know about the traffic signs, street signs, and safety measures to take during road crossing. They get every opportunity to interact with the environment and learn from their surroundings.

The third thing I liked about the Finnish education system is that pre-school and primary schools get to collaborate with each other which in turn benefits both teachers and students. This is useful where both pre and primary schools are situated in the same building. This can definitely encourage joint activities between pre school and primary school kids, a great opportunity to share ideas and work together, get to know their teachers, visit their classrooms etc

The fourth thing I liked is the competency framework followed in the early years. This focuses on the development on five key skills in early child hood, which includes Thinking and learning skills (learn about problem solving and critical thinking), ICT and multi literacy (learn coding and use of technology), life skills (learn about healthy eating habbits etc), cultural competence and self expression (opportunity to express through art, dance, music etc), and active participation (get opportunity to plan and implement daily activities).

I find this interesting and worth pondering, we can also develop our own frame work for the early years in Pakistan, define our own strands inspired from the Finnish education system and ensure its implemented at all schools whether public or private. There is a mass difference observed in education imparted in schools in Pakistan. Broad set of guidelines could be developed and shared with schools for feedback and implementation.

Moving on, the next thing I really liked about the Finnish education system is how the classrooms have been set up. They seem like cozy places, where kids feel comfortable and happy, books, games, colors, paints, blocks, soft boards, smart boards etc are all easily accessible to kids, enabling kids to interact with them easily. There are shelves placed in the classroom where kids can dry their art work. There is simple wooden furniture placed in classrooms, includes couches and poufs, walls are painted with light pastel colors. Student work is displayed on walls. Classes are equipped with resources that support all kinds of learning styles whether kinesthetic, visual, audile etc

Daily routine in Finnish Early Years...

Day begins in a pre school with breakfast, followed by circle time where kids discuss news of the week, get to know about new numbers, seasons, month etc. They go out for play, have lunch later, take a nap and get enough time to play with their fellow pre school kids before going home. Tuesday is outdoor activity and they have a puppet theater on Wednesdays.

Overall it seems as a relaxed and stress free fun learning environment for kids in the early years in Finland. Emphasis is on learning numbers, reading, writing and science through play and doing. Kids learn math using concrete materials which help them understand abstract concepts. An interesting thing is that kids learn math, alphabets etc by integrating them with daily activities and not in isolation, which makes it more meaningful and fun to learn. Kids can learn counting by taking a walk in the forests, counting the trees etc learning can take place even outside classrooms.
 
EdTECH in the Early Years  

It was so good to read about the use of tablets and smart boards in the early years. It was actually a huge relief to see kids in pre - schools using education technology comfortably with ease. Since I had the chance to visit early year classrooms during the implementation of ELE Enhanced Learning Initiative taken in the early years a few years back in Beaconhouse Northern Region schools.  I now feel that introducing technology at that level in schools was an excellent idea. Kids should know how to use technology because they are the digital natives (term coined by Mark Prensky in 2010). The classroom set up and resources in early years at Beaconhouse give a similar look as the Finnish classrooms. They are equipped with all kinds of resources including tablets, desktop computers, multimedia, toys, blocks, colors, paints, books etc. There are different learning areas or corners namely creative development, mathematical development, reading, construction , kitchen and writing area.


Kids in the Finnish pre schools use tablets on a daily basis. Teachers consider tablet as inspiring and motivating tool and important for individualized learning.  An interesting term that I came across was "pedagogical keys", which means teachers get to choose the apps suitable for the kids according to their learning needs and requirements. Teachers look for apps based on user experiences and good references. Kids have been using apps mostly for drawing, coloring, learning phonetics, alphabets etc.  Tablets are basically used for children's learning, content creation and self expression. Kids in pre school also practice writing skills using the key board. Another important digital tools used in the Finnish classrooms is the smart board. Kids enjoy working on smart boards, use it to practice numbers, letters, drawing, coloring etc. They work individually as well as in pairs. Google Earth has been used to explore Earth, presentations have been made in PowerPoint to give a live effect to celebrations, Skype has been used to make live calls etc

Teachers at Beaconhouse went through a tedious exercise to look for most appropriate apps to install on the tablets , that would provide kids effective learning experiences. Together they came up with a number of apps related to different learning areas, subjects and these were installed on all tablets. Teachers reviewed lesson plans and integrated technology wherever it was appropriate. Teachers were trained to use the tablets, search for apps, install apps etc.

This was way back in 2013. Teachers here in Pakistan too have the what the Finnish call the "pedagogical keys". But the lesson plans are structured , activities are aligned to objectives and teachers have less autonomy to make changes to the curriculum. What though needs to be reconsidered is the structure of the activities and the autonomy teachers have in designing and implementing the curriculum.

I had a chance to use tablets with the early year kids at the SOS Children's Village during my project "Technology For a Cause - Enhancing Skills Empowering Kids". It was observed that the kids enjoyed coloring, drawing, practice numbers and spellings, alphabets tracing, puzzle games , connect the dots like games a lot. It really helped improve various skills including  pronunciation, letter and number recognition , reading, writing etc. Kids learn best when they have the freedom to learn, are engaged in the learning process, feel relaxed and not pressurized or pushed to complete tasks.

I tried changing my strategy a little with the kids at the SOS Children's Village , instead of structuring activities and going by the book, I let the kids do the tasks at own pace. We watched alphabet songs on the laptop, kids were free to draw objects beginning from different letters, they could use block to make objects or letters, choose to read a book. I tried not to force kids to do the activities and encourage resource sharing among kids. Through questions I tried to link their learning with their daily life. It seemed difficult in the beginning but kids left happy at the end of an hour session.

While skimming through an article about the Reggio Amelia approach I really liked a few lines by researchers and Reggio teachers who state that children learn more effectively when they are able to use a wide variety of materials in a wide range of activities and in cooperation with adults who help them ask questions. This seemed very true in my class a day back. Kids had the opportunity to interact and learn from different material. They were able to make meaning of what they were doing.

I really liked the animation project by the Finnish teachers where kids and teachers together designed a whole animation project. The basic idea came from the kids. Every one was involved from the beginning till the end of the project, kids took part in planning, filming, preparing the material, evaluation etc. They enjoyed the whole process a lot. Since they were involved and engaged, they were able to build deeper understanding of the project. They learnt different skills including creativity, movie making, speaking etc.

I could think of a similar project with the early year kids at the SOS Chilldren's Village , re- imagine a classic fairy tale and come up with their own new version,  we could use PhotoStory or MovieMaker, tablet or camera to take pictures , play dough to create characters, blocks to make houses and the list is endless. Worth trying !

Important take away's from the course thus are relaxed, stress free environment , play based, hands on experiences, less structuring, use of variety of teaching and learning resources, letting kids learn at own pace, connecting learning to real life, environment and the surroundings, will always yield amazing results in schools. 

Last but not the least, kids can use edtech in the early years with teachers having the pedagogical keys, they can work on Tablets !! use the smart board, make movies and animations etc. EDtech can be used as a tool to support personalized learning experiences and as a tool to develop higher order thinking skills in kids including creativity, design, analysis etc.

Your turn to explore now. Happy Reading till my next blog soon Inshallah :)

Regards & prayers

Sheeba Ajmal

References
1. ALO Finland
Weblink: https://www.alofinland.com/
Accessed Online

2. ELE - Enhanced Learning Environment
Weblink: ele.beaconhouse.net
Accessed Online 6th Sep 2018.

3. Basic Principles of the Reggio Emilia Approach
Weblink:http://www.stcuthberts.school.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Reggio-Emilia-Approach1.pdf
Accessed online 6th Sep 2018

4. Finland is getting education right, and we should take notes, Sara Farrel Baker.
Weblink: https://www.scarymommy.com/finland-schools-get-education-right/
Accessed Online 8th Sep 2018

5. Finland reforms its method for restructuring
Weblink: http://thisislivingnews.net/index.php/2018/03/30/finland-reforms-its-method-for/
Accessed Online 8th Sep 2018