DigIQ Module 3: Learning, play and the digital
Focus
We do not advocate for use of digital technologies to substitute a non-digital activity, if there is no tangible improvement over the non-digital alternative.
Integration of digital technologies should be purposeful, intentional and beneficial – not simply because we can.
While use of digital technologies when there is a tangible functional improvement is our minimum requirement, the ideal is using digital technologies to supplement or enable experiences and activities in ways that would not otherwise be possible. Digital technologies can transform learning and play:
- When educators use them in purposeful, intentional ways to support children’s learning and development.
- When used in novel, complementary and supplementary ways to help children learn and create in ways not otherwise possible.
- When digital technologies complement, extend and support children’s learning.
- When digital and non-digital aspects of the experience flow seamlessly.
Listen
Lisa and Steven discuss how to use digital resources to complement, supplement and enhance children’s learning.
They encourage educators to think about how and when digital technologies can transform learning and play, enabling experiences that are not otherwise possible.
Listen to Lisa and Steven in the Digital Interactions podcast episode Learning, play, and the digital.
View a practice example
In this practice example we share children designing bridges using Lego with the support of an on-site engineer.
View the experience from beginning to end. Consider:
- What aspects of the bridge-building activity and experience would not have been possible – or not possible in the same way – without digital technologies (e.g., connecting to an on-site expert for formative feedback, documenting their process in addition to their product, examining model bridges for inspiration)?
- Where and how did digital and non-digital aspects of the experience combine to spark children’s curiosity, wonder and/or exploration (e.g., discovering images of bridges, explaining their bridges to the ‘expert’)?
Action
Below are some ideas you might like to try in your own practice.
Transporting the children somewhere new with Augmented Reality
Digital technologies can take children places that would otherwise be impossible. For example, access a virtual tour (of a museum, aquarium or famous landmark as examples), educators and children co-view this resource and discuss insights, connections and new knowledge. Children could create their own “tours” around the service as they identify points of interest and personal connection.
Bringing Creations to life through Augmented Reality
- Engage the children in a group discussion that draws out their knowledge and questions related to their interests (this may be space, the ocean, sport, etc). This is also an opportunity to use intentional shared-thinking strategies that support children’s communication and questioning, and to understand specifically what they are interested in.
- Using these ideas, support children to create their own AR objects or scenes using an app like AR Maker. This can involve selecting from some of the available assets or scenes in the app (e.g., Great Barrier Reef) or children might like to design and create their own (e.g., a drawing that they bring to life and move around their setting). Or use an AR environment across a play scenario (e.g. an AR forest scene over a play fort). Use AR to bring their ideas, a story or a role play to life and create a new dimension to the play.
- Where a story or role play is pursued, this can be recorded (by children, with support as needed) using the iPad, and kept for group or individual viewing. Children may enjoy taking on specific roles such as costume designer and director. You might even co-edit the recording with the children using iMovie.
- Establishing a purpose for the recording (such as for sharing with families) can help children to think about the ways we communicate using digital technologies. Creating a bank of children’s visual stories that can be shared and rewatched is also a way to document and share children’s digital creations.
Explore
Some more reading on this area.
Reflect
Reflect on your own practice to self-assess to what extent you use digital technologies in the following ways?
Digital technologies are seamlessly integrated into children’s learning and play experiences. Digital technologies are rarely most effective as a stand-along activity in isolation from children’s non-digital learning and play. Instead, our aim is seamless integration of digital and non-digital aspects of the experience, with effortless and flexible transition in and out of digital.
Digital technologies are used to extend, supplement and/or enhance non-digital learning experiences. Our aim is not to use digital technologies simply because we can, or because there are now digital versions of our non-digital activities. Instead, we need to use digital technologies purposefully and intentionally, to enable things that are not otherwise possible – at least not in the same ways. For instance, digital technologies might be used to supplement an activity, adding new aspects that would not be possible otherwise. Or it might enable entirely new experiences and activities that would not otherwise be available to us.
Digital technologies are used to spark and pursue child/ren’s curiosity, wonder and exploration. Digital technologies also present an opportunity to spark curiosity, wonder and exploration with children. Ideally, it should be leveraged to each of these purposes – to spark wonder, pursue curiosity and evoke exploration.