Our children are growing and learning in the digital age where technology is used in every facet of their lives to manage tasks, seek out information and entertainment, and to communicate with others. At Harbor we use interactive technology to enhance learning, provide new background knowledge, make abstract concepts more accessible, and to support creativity and exploration. While Preschoolers are learning about the rainforest, we can use media to show them what the canopy layer looks like, or what a howler monkey sounds like. Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten students can play a game on the iPad where they match animals to their habitats. As 1st through 3rd Graders explore biomes, they use websites to research different regions that we could not experience in person, and present their learning via google docs, slides, videos, and animations.
Educators should provide a balance of activities in programs for young children, and technology and media should be recognized as tools that are valuable when used intentionally with children to extend and support active, hands-on, creative, and authentic engagement with those around them and with their world.”
The appropriate use of technology can provide opportunities for cognitive, linguistic, physical and social growth. SmartBoards are used to present information and display media, and also have countless interactive functions, where students follow movement activities, manipulate phonemes and numerals, respond to math problems, practice handwriting, and even FaceTime with people in other parts of the world.
Our Kindergarten through Grade 3 students have access to one-to-one iPads and laptops, developing greater literacy as they conduct research and create presentations and videos to share what they have learned in compelling formats. They use programming software to control their Dash Robots and Lego Robotics creations, and Scratch programming to create their own games, stories and animations. Children even use Tinkercad to design objects to fabricate on the 3-D printer, and use MineCraft to demonstrate mathematical concepts of coordinates on an axis, perimeter, area, and volume, in a venue that is engaging and motivating!