I work as an early childhood teacher in a municipal daycare. I have worked with children of various ages. Last two years I have worked with children under 3 years old. I work closely with children’s families and participate in various meetings every week. The digital tool I use most in my work in early childhood education is Daisy Manager. The application includes almost everything needed for recording and documenting daycare work. Daisy is downloaded to the groups’ mobile phones and computer.
The group’s and the children’s individual learning plans are filled out in Daisy. Daisy includes also children’s basic information forms. As an early childhood education teacher, I have access to review information related to children’s and family’s daycare agreements, the child’s health or allergies, and needs of support. I also use Daisy to communicate with the children’s guardians. Guardians can also report occasional delays or absences by text messages to the group’s mobile phone.
Kindergarten manager or deputy director of the kindergarten or administrators of Daisy Manager have extended access to the applications, to plan work rosters, to make changes in work shifts and to make placement for children into the groups.
Other digital tools I use in early childhood education are Henkka, Osku and Teams. Henkka is a human resources management program where absences, days of sick leave and vacation requests are reported and confirmed. On Osku you can check past and future educations. On Osku you also register for training courses. Teams is used for remote meetings and educations. In Teams, there are folders for various learning areas of the early childhood education plan, education materials, and notes and memos from of meetings and educations. Releases and announcements are also available in Teams.
In addition to the previous ones, I also use in my work E-mail (Outlook) for communication, Zoom for remote communication and educations, Windows office tools for office work, Pinterest for seeking ideas and Papunet for making images and various apps designed to support children’s growth and learning. I am not allowed to use WhatsApp for communication or Facebook to show our group activities.
Teaching digital and media skills has been a part of the national early childhood education plan since 2016. The local higher authority has issued guidelines on the digital applications we can use with children in the group’s activities. The functions on are limited due to safety reasons. When considering the use of digital tools and applications with children, in my hometown, the opportunities to utilize them to support children’s learning, depends on which kindergarten you work at (new or old one) and on children´s age which kind of digital tools or apps you can use with them.
Positive and negative sides of the use of Social Media
Positive things are the possibilities of communication and networking. Social media can help you make new friends or find a job. It’s an easy way to keep in touch with people regardless of where you live. It provides up-to-date information and announcements about events and training. It gives possibility to learn new things. it can also help people who suffer from loneliness or other difficulties in dealing with people face-to-face.
Many social media activities are engaging, and it is easy to spend a lot of time on them without noticing. Using social media can lead to addiction, which can negatively affect social relationships, work and studies. Another negative aspect is that it can be used for harassment, bullying, and spreading false information. Using social media requires media literacy. Social media can cause anxiety if the content is not critically evaluated or related to properly.
More and more small children have their own mobile phones. Parents need to be aware of what apps their children have on their mobile phones. It is the parents’ responsibility to ensure that the child’s phone has restrictions in place so the child cannot access inappropriate websites.
Currently, there is intense public debate about the connection between children’s and young people’s use of digital devices and the decline in literacy, as well as the increasing challenges in children’s concentration and self-regulation skills.
Digital tools, which I could use in my work in the future:
Instagram: In that kindergarten I work, we do not use social media apps to show our activities. I think we should use it in the future. I have registered in Instagram in my free time, but I have not published anything there. Instagram would be a good digital app to showcase our group activities. The children in our group must not be identified by the posts that we make if they don’t have photography permit from their guardians.
ChatGPT: In this digitalized working environment course I used first time ChatGPT. I am amazed at its speed in producing the information or text requested. I must pay special attention and take a critical attitude searched information from ChatGPT, because the reliability of the information that ChatGPT produces cannot be guaranteed. I think that using ChatGPT It will save my work time. Mainly I could use it in my work to edit texts, for example weekly letters to children´s guardians or texts I have written for children’s early childhood plans. Certainly, for many other purposes as well, once I learn more about it.
DeepL: I have just recently become familiar with DeepL, through studying in Savonia University of Applied Sciences. I used it first time to help me translate the abstract of my master’s degree programme in social services thesis. That kindergarten where I work, we have many immigrant families. In my group there are several children which speaks different languages. Some of the children’s parents do not speak Finnish or English. DeepL translator application could help communicate with the parents. I could use it face to face communication and translating a weekly letter to children´s guardians own language.
Issuu: Issuu is a completely new digital tool for me. I think that in early childhood education I could use Issuu to make children´s growth folders digitally. A flipbook would be an immersive online version compared to the traditional cut-and-paste growth folder. With Issuu I could convert a PDFs, links, videos and images into a child´s personal digital flipbook. It also seemed easy to share the flipbooks, like sending link to children’s parent’s emails or turned into personally QR codes. Certainly, I could use Issuu for many other purposes as well, once I learn more about it.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a networking service. I’ve been planning to create my own profile there for a long time. Many of my friends and some of my colleagues have profile in LinkedIn. With this assignment, I got a kick of creating a profile for myself there, which l still have to finished. I am graduating from my Savonia University of Applied Sciences studies on November. I see that LinkedIn could be useful digital tool to search a new working possibilities and networking with people in the same field.. LinkedIn offer also networking opportunities and information about events, research and education.
The elements of successful of digital application
The successful digital application is easy, clarity and quick to use, works properly and has comprehensive data privacy. It is also reliable, easy to understand, and it saves the user’s time.
Self Evaluation
This assignment provided a great opportunity to get to know new digital tools and social media platforms. It was interesting to go through different platforms and tools. I got many new ideas of how I could utilize them in my work. It is too easy to get stuck to the way you are used to working, even when you know there would be easier and more efficient ways. This course has encouraged me to try new things.
It was very interesting to read the number of digital platforms, tools and applications that other students reported using in their works. It has a big impact on which field you work in how much or many digital apps and platforms you use.
I noticed that in my own digital skills have a lot to improve. On the other hand, it was also nice to notice those skills that I already have. This course gave me a good starting point to continue developing my digital skills. It felt great to share what I learned about digital applications and platforms with my colleagues at work.