Glen Education Orrong Road
Balancing the use of technology in the curriculum with the rights of children
By Glen Education Orrong Road Team
Online environment nowadays is always changing, and with access to modern technology, it is the educators’ responsibility to ensure online safety and the appropriate use of service technology at kindergarten so we can create a safe online environment for all the children.
At Glen Orrong Road kindergarten, the educational team has always worked in compliance with Child Safe Code of Conduct and Glen Education Organizational Risk Assessment that outline the policies and measures we need to follow and implement to safeguard online safety.
According to CSCC standard 9: all educators need to use a child safe lens to identify and mitigate risks for physical or mental harm to Children in online environments without compromising their right to privacy, access to information, social connections and learning opportunities.
The educational team sets up clear expectations for all the educators and the children at the beginning of the year that only service iPads and cameras are allowed to be used for online information and photos. The only chance that children are allowed to get access to online information through iPads is solely to support and extend their learning and interests, with educators’ supervision during the entire process. The following is an example of a group of children who got to experiment with an app called ‘Garage Band’ due to their interest and learning in different musical instruments:
The three of them first built a music shop that sells various musical instruments with the outdoor wooden blocks. They started having discussions with the educator regarding what their favorite instruments were and how they would like to play on them. To extend children’s learning, educator brought the iPad out and showed them how to play different instruments, including piano, guitar and drums, on ‘Garage Band’. Each child got to experience this new learning opportunity fully and properly for about 10 minutes in total. During the whole process, the educator kept close supervision and ensured the authentic use of this app.
After this, the educator and the children also had a conversation about how different apps can help us gain different knowledge and learning experiences, however, we always need to remember that the time limit of the use of technology should be kept within appropriate amounts at kindergarten.
Glen Education Organizational Risk Assessment also outlines the risk factors for the online environment and the measures we need to take to ensure online safety. Every family is given information that children’s images are only used for kindergarten reflections and children’s individual portfolios. Glen Education also asks for families’ written permission for the use of children’s images on social media and Glen websites. In terms of the use of modern technology, Glen ORK educational team always carefully considers the way our service shares information about children with families to ensure that it keeps children safe and is not shared widely (GE Organizational Risk Assessment, Online Environment). For instance, each year our educational team uses smart TV to do slide shows for all the families and children at the end of year celebrations. We always inform all families who attend the celebrations not to record or take photos of other children’s images during the slide shows, and they will only be shared at this special event.
What’s more, according to the new regulations regarding restrictions on personal devices in early childhood services, only service-issued electronic devices should be used when taking images or videos of children for documentation, and personal electronic devices are not being used in the program at any time by anybody, including relievers and parents/families. Glen ORK educational team strictly follows the regulations by using ONLY kindergarten-issued iPads and cameras to take photos and videos of children and by keeping our personal electronic devices in the offices during the whole sessions.
Ensuring safe online environments is such an important part to protect children’s mental and physical wellbeing. It helps ensure that children experience digital technologies to enhance their learning and growth rather than putting them at risk.