Depiction of an Torres Strait Islander story

For this week’s blog assignment I had to review a website. The website I chose is: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/ 

While reviewing the website I found some interesting research topics pertaining to early childhood education. Some of those topics were:

Respecting diversity: Articulating early childhood practice

Learning and teaching through play

Capture the moment: Using digital photography in early childhood settings

Managing change with infants and young children

Active children: Healthy now and later

One thing that I found on the website that surprised me was a “Statement of Regret”. It was apologizing to the original inhabitants of Australia for the oppression that these people (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) have experienced over the years.  I had never heard of Torres Strait Islanders before so I decided to research them. I learned that they are an indigenous people who live on the Torres Straight Islands which is located in Queensland, Australia. They have an elaborate culture and language system which have slight variations depending on which island they are from. They are well known for creating stories, games and crafts. 

Another depiction of an Torres Strait Islander story

 Through my research I found an interesting website that has information and stories about Torres Strait Islanders. I found it intriguing and informative. Here is the website:

http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/find/online/retold

Torres Straight Island Flag

Positive Effects of Research

Several years ago I witnessed the positive effects that research can have. Even though the research project was very small scale, it made a big impact on the local community. 

About the research project:

Topic: Do enough people use the Children's Books Section in the Library to purchase more books?

Participants: Early Childhood Education College students, Parents & Children from the community.

Purpose: Determine how much usage the Children's Books Section in the library is getting, and present results.

Results: Researchers found that many people in the community used the children's books section, and that most of those people wished there were more books to choose from.

I believe this research project was a success. Awareness was raised about the lack of variety in the Children's Books Section. People were inspired to donate books and funds to the Library for new books.The Children's Books Section nearly double in size within a year of the study.  This research project effected the children in the community by providing an increase in children's books in the local community.

Research Topic

I was given the task of developing a research question for a research simulation project. The topic that I chose to use for my research simulation is “Specific uses of technology in the classroom.” I would like to learn about new and innovative ways that teachers are incorporating technology in the early childhood classroom. Today children are very familiar with technology because it is an everyday part of their lives. I believe that there are ways that technology can be incorporated into the classroom to make the learning experience for fun and interesting for students. 

So far I have found three articles that were very interesting. These articles had a lot of useful information about how technology can be used in the classroom. I hope to find more resources pertaining to my topic. Does anyone have any good resources about technology and its place in the classroom that I should look into for my research project?