Plantasia
During last term as a group we decided to go to Plantasia for a trip so we could see how this type of educational visit helps towards educating children. Plantasia is an environment where tropical plants and animals from around the world are situated and it was very colourful, Creative and encourages you to go and explore the many different areas. I know that this is a good trip to take children on as it encourages children to go and explore the different areas. In the many areas children are encouraged to use their thinking skills to answer questions, find out what different animals and plants are and also look for places on the maps and find out where the specific animals and plants have come from. We also thought it was good that children are able to contribute to their trip by writing their own poems and they can be placed up on the walls. We saw other schools visiting Plantasia and we could see that the children were really enjoying themselves and engaged in the activities prepared. This type of visit is good for getting children to develop upon their Knowledge and understanding of the world and developing upon their self esteem and confidence by having their work put up on the walls. We really enjoyed this activity and thought about taking this trip to the classroom to develop children's learning and understanding further by writing sentences about their trip, their favourite animals and their preferred places around the world, knowing where different food comes from.
Ape's Blog =D
Thursday, 20 February 2014
Technology being the enemy of an outdoor childhood.
Technology being the enemy of an outdoor play!
Recently over Christmas
my brother got a new phone and an Xbox, I was concerned as I noticed
that because of these new gadgets he got that he was spending a large
amount of time playing with these and he was not engaging as much
with the family or friends or doing social activities. After thinking
about this I found a blog online talking about whether technology is
the enemy of an outdoor childhood. This blog talks about childhood
being the time where we learn best about the world and develop in all
areas, meaning children need to be engaged with the world,
socialising and gaining first hand experiences to gain new knowledge
and develop skills to reach full potential. As new gadgets are being
brought in to young children’s lives it has been seen that they
spend very little time doing activities that help with this.
Technology is helping lead to childhood obesity as children are not
using their gross motor skills by being out in the physical world as
much as they should be, socialising and learning with others. It is
seen that technology is very god for helping children’s problem
solving and challenging them to use their thinking skills. I believe
that these gadgets can be used to give children educational
experiences such as Apps to help maths or English development. So
these gadgets can be seen to be good for children but I think that
they should be given the correct amount of time to use gadgets and
still be provided with stimulating social and physical activities
within the environment as this will help with their development and
also lower the risk of obesity. By making it aware that too much time
spent using gadgets can be potentially harmful to children’s
health then it can be made possible to provide them with the
appropriate stimulation to learn new skills and gain new knowledge.
Technology being the enemy of an outdoor childhood [Online] Available at:http://rethinkingchildhood.com/2013/10/23/technology-outdoor-childhood/[Accessed 14th January 2014]
Technology being the enemy of an outdoor childhood [Online] Available at:http://rethinkingchildhood.com/2013/10/23/technology-outdoor-childhood/[Accessed 14th January 2014]
Tuesday, 4 February 2014
Outdoor play!
I have recently after
playing simple games with my nephew looked into play and how much
outdoor play actually helps stimulate a child’s development in all
areas. I came across a website with various blogs from people talking
about the different types of play and the impact on children. I was
able to see that after watching a video on a little boy at a
playground that play has a great impact to the way children learn and
develop in all areas. I was ale to see children communicating,
socialising with each other and learning by sharing, observing and
helping each other. Outdoor play helps develop mathematical skills by
counting for example whilst playing hopscotch. I know that this type
of play helps also with imaginative and physical development and it
gets children moving and using their fine and gross motor skills and
I know this helps with children exercising and becoming engaged with
the outdoor environment. As obesity is rising more outdoor play will
help towards keeping this down for some good time. By simple outdoor
playing I know is very good towards many areas and children are
enjoying whilst learning.
Here is a video just showing how much play can make children's learning that much happier and more engaging.
Here is a video just showing how much play can make children's learning that much happier and more engaging.
PISA Test results.
Whilst recently
Browsing the web and talking about the Educational systems in various
countries across the world, I decided that I would like to look into
the PISA Test Results and to see where Wales and are placed on the
scales. PISA Tests are basically the results of how well children are
doing in their core subjects in schools and this is then placed on a
scale to see if they are reaching the average goal for achievement.
It is possible to say that it was quite shocking after looking at
these results because Wales was seen not even to be in the top 20
countries and are not achieving as well as they should be, Countries
that are a lot poorer and have less money to spend on educational
tools are still achieving higher results where I found difficult to
understand why this could be, As massive investments have been made
in schools and the results did not shift. After thinking about this I
think it is possible that more training could possible be done in
schools and pupils should be given more challenging and meaningful
activities. Many pupils in secondary schools Believe that there is no
reason to want to learn as there are minimum jobs and hard to find
work so they feel its not really needed. I think That if children
want to learn and feel the reason for it then they will become more
involved in activities of learning.
Below is a table showing where various countries are at on the scale according the mathematical development scores.
Below is a table showing where various countries are at on the scale according the mathematical development scores.
Pisa test results UK[Online] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25187997[Accessed 03 February 2014]
Monday, 20 January 2014
What is education?
An education is where one gains a general knowledge and understanding in order for them to develop their skills to be able to carry out simple everyday tasks independently such as tying up a shoe lace for example. We need to be able to adapt to the environment we live in and in order for this to happen we need to be educated to make sense of the world, problem solve, gain even better understanding to provide our own roles in society such as getting a job to earn money to live. To enable one to require these skills a stimulated educational environment is essential. We also need to be educated so that we can teach others the skills to live life that we have been taught by others. Education is seen to happen in many different contexts as people believe in different ways to teach others and it is now necessary in the following posts to describe some of the various types of education today.
Here is a video explaining what an education is and why its important to be educated.
Here is a video explaining what an education is and why its important to be educated.
Tuesday, 14 January 2014
The goods and bads of using facebook.
Facebook is an online network used for many around the world to connect and socialise with friends and family. In 2004 Mark Zuckerberg who was an attendant at a university in America, Mark along with the help of his room mates came up with the idea of using Facebook within the university, this then led on to other universities and colleges and then eventually it was allowed to be used by anyone over the age of 13. The user would be able to create their own profile, add friends and update their own statuses whilst receiving replies and likes of friends. I enjoy using Facebook because I am able to talk to friends via a group message for assignment information and also to help friends if needed. I find Facebook very easy to understand and I enjoy sharing my feelings with friends and family. Many more people use Facebook than any other online social networking site and I know that its got nearly 6 billion users in the space of 6 years. Facebook has many advantages but then this site may also be used inappropriately and could lead to trouble. Many young children try to use Facebook and will put their age to 13, these children are vulnerable and there are many others who make fake profile pictures just to get in touch with this kind and these children may be too young to understand and think the people they are talking to are just friends they have met online. Also as Facebook gets easier to use their are more ways and thoughts of making groups such as to bully and harass a certain user that is disliked by a group and many of these instances have led to suicide of the victim. It has been seen that some students results in school and exams have been affected by over use of Facebook as they are not concentrating as well as they should be and instead using the site. I think the intention of Facebook in the first place was for a good purpose and I use it as the way it was made, But to make this more of a safe site I think that maybe people should only be allowed a certain amount of time spent on the site and proof of age should be asked for so that less young children can get themselves into bad situations via the site. If this site is used for the right reason in the correct way then it could be seen as a good site to use.
Advantages and disadvantages of using Facebook: http://www.blueskyresumes.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/is320.jpg [Accessed 14th January 2014]
Thursday, 9 January 2014
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