The purpose of this essay is to research a technological toy, I focused on Bee Bots, which I use in my setting, evaluate and critically analyse the effectiveness of that toy in promoting children’s learning. Later I will demonstrate my personal use of ICT and a record of use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) over a period of one month as a professional role in promoting children’s development in my setting. Finally, I will reflect on my tracking sheet and identify the opportunity to develop ICT in communication with parents.
According to Siraj-Blatchford, Whitebread (2003) in supporting children in their development of an early understanding of ICT we are concerned to support them in learning about a wide range of …show more content…

literate at an early age” (Keating, 2007, pg.126).
According to DATEC (No date) any application introduced to children in order to develop understanding and experience of ICT should not just be enjoyable, although this is important but more importantly should be educationally effective. Children need a variety of applications which encourage a range of development, including creativity, self-expression and language. From analysing my tracking sheet which recorded the use of ICT in my setting (details in Appendix A) I must admit that I was quite impressed with the amount of ICT equipment we use with children each day without even realising. From the tracking sheet I understood how important modelling and collaborative play is in Early Years. Programmable toys and many screen based applications offer the possibility of collaboration but adult intervention is frequently needed to gain the most from the ICT ‘equipment’. According to the UK Effective Provision of Preschool Education (EPPE) (Sylva et al, 2004), and Researching Effective Pedagogy in Early Childhood (REPEY) (Siraj-Blatchford et al, 2002) studies have found that the most effective foundation stage settings combined the provision of free play opportunities with more focused group work involving adult instruction. This approach appears to be most desirable model to promote ICT and I must proudly admitted that we are focusing on small group activities to meet all children’s needs, especially with EAL children.