IT equipment

[AnonyMouse_31752]

Hi all

 

We are desperate for some new IT equipment. Essentially by the end of last term our laptop, bee bot, microphone.... they had all gone wrong. I also feel in this technological age keeping up with what children are doing at home can be a challenge, lets be honest most children have far more technology experiences available to them than the laptop could ever provide (especially seen as we have no internet connection)

So can I ask what IT equipment would you recommend or would not want to be without? and also does anybody know of any funding available to help restock?

[AnonyMouse_39602]

Personally I think IMO that children have so much offered to them outside the setting ie at home that they don't need so much at preschool nursery etc , a laptop is great with mouse for hand eye coordination, cause and effect and motor skills rather than flicking across a screen with a finger. Our children are occupied with these so much at home they forget how to go out for dinner and talk or think everything with a screen can be slid across.

 

We have laptop, we got a refurbished one from charity in Essex reuseit.org but on the other hand will will be getting 2 tablets , one for children and one for staff as we now have wifi , our children are fascinated by how things work and amused at how things have changed , let them have an understanding of the world .

[AnonyMouse_14688]

I agree with lashes 2508 and tend to use a lot of cause and effect toys including hand held egg whisks, torches and wind toys etc.

Joanne

[AnonyMouse_19762]

We have an 'ancient' lap-top which we use from time to time - if it 'broke' would i replace it - no probably not :1b

We use a Bee-bot on a regular basis with a letters mat and a shapes mat and with a numbers mat - we made that one ourselves! Personally I think that the children gain so many skills via the Bee-bot and mats - so that's the one I would replace :1b we plan to make some different mats this term too - perhaps one with children's photos - I'm thinking this could be useful for learning new names........perhaps a mat with children's names on.......possibilities are endless really!

We also have torches, whisks etc as already mentioned :1b

[AnonyMouse_14688]

Like the idea of the children's faces for bee-bot mat, think I'll try that :-)

[AnonyMouse_19762]

Like the idea of the children's faces for bee-bot mat, think I'll try that :-)

Blast - should have patented that idea!

Only joking - go for it :1b

[AnonyMouse_12960]

in the past Ofsted seemed to be obsessed with us all having computers in the classroom. Because the children drive me bonkers constantly crashing the programs, deleting half the desktop In this day of touchscreen portable devices I am thinking of removing the computers completely as we now have 2 tablets for them to use. I find the tablets much easier to manage. Would Ofsted have an objection??? It would also free up quite a lot of space, which would be great.

 

Any thoughts?

[AnonyMouse_31752]

thank you all for responses. This is really where we are at too.

We have been the whole term without a computer and beebot broke at the end of the term. We have whisks, torches and those kind of things but I am stuck between feeling like can we ignore the It aspect in this day and age? and they get loads of that at home we could/should stick with the other types of technology which supports different skills sets?

[AnonyMouse_14268]

We have a normal computer (no internet) and run simple games on it. The children learn to operate the mouse, find the programme they want etc. I too have been worried that we are incredibly outdated with this kind of system. Had never really thought about it before, until I saw one of our children using his mums tablet like a pro!! I am going to stick with what we have, as I think all the children probably have access to tablets and mobiles at home.

Our Bee Bot broke years ago and we never replaced it, are they really a worthwhile resource to have, would love some feedback.

[AnonyMouse_1490]

We have a laptop without internet access but have lots of games. we rarely use it though because children are outside whenever possible. They use the camera a lot and When I update their records on the PRAMS with parents I ask the parent if the child can use technology at home. We spent a lot of our time getting certain children to socialise and I don't think that using iPad etc promotes this.

[AnonyMouse_9650]

We do love our BeeBot and when Tesco's were doing the vouchers supplemented the activities with the directional arrows and the children particularly enjoy "finding the treasure box" on the pirate island mat. If you can raise any money I think I would choose a BeeBot first.

We do have a very old laptop - no internet access and some child friendly software which was purchased from TKMAXX - no a reliable source but when they have the stuff in I tend to grab it. Having said that children have access to much more up to date technology at home - and given the woeful lack of funding in early years now there is no way that we can afford to match it.

I take the tack that we don't have to have "first hand" knowledge of the children using ICT in our setting with the latest technological gadgets we find out from parents what the children do at home and also from the children telling us.

I have uploaded a leaflet from the Learning Together series which might help give you some pointers for other less expensive ICT stuff that you can have and use in the setting

Young children and technology (13).pdf

[Guest]

We have a basket on our ICT shelf full of old phones, cameras, computer mic, microphones, TV remotes etc for the children to explore too.

[AnonyMouse_14268]

Thanks for that SueJ, very interesting. :1b

[AnonyMouse_48339]

A lot of defunct equipment such a mouse' s and keyboards and phones etc. Talking postcards are great especially for children with English as an additional language. Could ask parents to record message in their home language. Or great for children settling in- get parents to record a message on them. I also think a digital photoframe for children to watch is brilliant. A talking point for photos of themselves and the activities they are doing.