The stimulus

Our current topic book is Little Red Riding Hood. I decided to use the book as a stimulus for learning and linked it with Computing. I used programmable toys (Bee Bots) to deepen the pupils understanding of the book as well as their understanding of technology. I chose to work with Bee Bots because ‘during the preschool years… children become increasingly able to think about routines and sequences.’ (Plowman 2016: 98) Bee Bots allow the children to focus on this concept of routine and sequence as Bee Bots rely on algorithms; a sequence. The focus of the activity was to understand the concept of algorithms by deepening the pupils understanding of positional language.

The activity

The activity consisted of programming the Bee Bot to follow the path in the ‘forest’ to get to Grandma. The pupils could choose which character they would like to be – Little Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf, or the Woodcutter. Each Bee Bot represented these characters and I took small groups of 4-5 pupils, due to the limited amount of working Bee Bots and the classroom space. Plowman suggests that ‘technology should be integrated into playroom practice so that it relates to other aspects of the early years curriculum.’ (Plowman 2016: 106) By using the Bee Bots in this cross-curricular way, the pupils can see that technology can be used not only for leisure, but also for educational purposes.

Before the activity, I discovered that the children had little-to-no understanding of correct positional language. To counteract this, I ensured to model the correct use of positional language with visual cues (arrows). These visual cues were accessible throughout the whole activity.

The response

The children responded to the activity and the technology well. They were excited to get stuck in as they were all familiar with the story and found it intriguing to explore the book in a new, unfamiliar way. Some pupils recognised the Bee Bot from nursery but almost all pupils had little understanding of how to move the Bee Bot correctly. Nonetheless, they were able to do so after I had modelled how to use the Bee Bot.

Some pupils continued to struggle, so I modelled this again, encouraging them to tell me the instructions as to which direction to move next. As Plowman suggests, pupils may struggle with ‘the operational features of certain technologies but [are] capable of meaningful interaction if they benefit from guidance.’ (Plowman 2016: 98) Just become some technologies are difficult, doesn’t mean that pupils cannot achieve ‘meaningful interaction’. In fact, children should be encouraged to use technology that is unfamiliar and new as it allows them deepen their understanding of the world around them.

Strategies for supporting learning

I used a variety of strategies to support the pupil’s learning. I ensured that I repetitively used the positional language so that pupils could become familiar with it. I sat with the pupils during the activity and commented on their direction e.g. ‘I can see you turned left – be careful, the wolf is close by!’ This encouraged the pupils to use the positional language themselves. I also used lots of specific praise and encouragement, especially for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (hereby SEND) and ‘low ability’ pupils. This encouraged the pupils to keep trying to reach their goal. By having a learning objective and goal for this activity, the learning had a purpose i.e. to save Grandma from the Wolf. This ensured pupils were engaging with the task at hand.

Another strategy I used was to ensure that my approach was multi-sensory – by using Bee Bots that not only move, but make sound, the pupils were engaging with their auditory and visual senses. I also ensured that the characters pinned to the Bee Bot were textured e.g. Little Red Riding Hood’s cloak was soft so that pupils could engage with the activity via touch as I am aware that some pupils enjoy sensory objects. I built the learning on the pupils’ interests (i.e. enjoying sound, touch), which is probably why they engaged so well with the activity.

Overall, the activity was successful. All pupils were able to achieve the learning objective – to move the Bee Bot using its buttons – and some pupils were even able to recognise the new positional language I introduced to them. The pupils were self-reflective in their learning during the plenary and were able to remind me of their learning objectives and whether they completed this.

References

• Plowman L. (2016) Learning technology at home and preschool. In N. Rushby & D. Surry (Ed.) Wiley Handbook of Learning Technology (pp. 96-112), Chichester, Wiley.