Technology as tools for creativity

Today I noticed M taking an interest in some shells.  She was holding them up to her ear and smiling.  I approached her and asked her what she was doing.  She told me she was listening to the sea and that she had lots of shells at home. Later that day I approached Mum and talked with her about the conversation I had.  She informed me that they loves to hang shells at their bach.  I thought this was a great idea so I suggested that we make some at the centre.  M said “Have we got a drill?”  hmm, good point!  We hadn’t!  The next day I bought in a cordless drill from home and set up an opportunity for all the children to have a go at shell hanging.

We started off by exploring the cordless drill and I talked to them about the battery, chuck, drill bit and demonstrated what happened when we pushed the button.  B said “My Dad uses that for wood.” We also discussed using the drill safely.  D went over to the carpentry table and got some earmuffs and goggles  “so our eyes don’t hurt” said D.  M was eager to go first as she had done this many times before with her family and was excited to share her knowledge.  I was also looking forward to see what would happen as I had never done this before!  She carefully selected a shell and I held it for her as she began to drill.  Other children became involved and this experience continued over a period of days using different shells, cones, wood and pumice stones. 

The children took turns in threading the items through some wire and together they decided where to hang them.  Our precious taonga have pride of place in the centre of the room and the children proudly tell anyone who enters our room “Look what we did!”

At first I was apprehensive about using the drill with children because of the safety aspects involved and the limited experience I had with drills myself.  M was so confiden

t and knowledgeable that she actually gave me the confidence to provide this experience for the other children and I am so glad I did.  It occurred to me that many of them may have seen this technology being used before perhaps at home but many may not have had the opportunity to try it for themselves with support.    B had seen his Dad use a drill with wood but this experience has helped B to build on his previous knowledge of drills to realise that it can be used with other materials too.  Te Whāriki states that “Using many materials for different purposes enables children to recognise that different technologies may be used in various places and settings” (Ministry of Education,  1996, p.95).   

Smorti (1999) describes technology not only as a way of solving problems but also being “a creative and purposeful activity aimed at meeting needs and opportunities through the development of products, systems or environments” (p.5)   The technological tools of the drill and not forgetting the wire to thread the shells on have both made it easier to allow the children to develop their creativity as they made these wonderful creations.

The Ministry of Education (1995) describe many different learning areas within the realm of technology.  In this experience, children had the opportunity to explore the technological areas of material, production and process.  This is because they were able to select suitable materials (hard or soft shell), change it in a way that was needed using a technological tool (putting a hole in it using a drill) and then designing how they wanted to arrange their materials  in order to produce the finished product.  As the project continued over several days, children began to explore different materials other than shells.  As they did this, together they were developing concepts about the properties of the natural world using the drill as a technological tool to assist them in this process. 

 I am still amazed that from what started as a simple conversation about shells with one child evolved into a project that many more children were able to contribute to, be curious about, build new knowledge and skills upon, have fun and be proud of their achievements.  Do you think this could have all been possible without the use of technology? 

Reference List

Ministry of Education. (1995). Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum.  Wellington: Learning Media.

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

Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No.19 Autumn 1999.