Adventuresome teddy bears are being caught on digital camera for a unique project devised by Esther Gooch
The Beryl and Barney home-school link was established last year at Aboyne Nursery in Aberdeenshire where I work. It was designed to enable the children to take a teddy bear home and 'have adventures'. The children would retell the adventures to staff who would scribe their story, and the children would be encouraged to draw pictures of their escapades.
When I began my current post as nursery teacher in August 2002, I was made aware of the Information and Communications Technology Innovative Awards Scheme that had just been funded by the Scottish Executive for the second year. The National Grid for Learning (Scotland) was organising the awards and was inviting applications from educational establishments with ideas for innovative small scale ICT projects.
I applied for 2,500 of funding for two digital cameras, a laptop computer and printer, along with associated software and additional ink cartridges. The cameras were to go home with the bears. This would enable the children to use the camera themselves to take photos of Beryl and Barney, and to let parents get involved too. The parents would then be encouraged to come into the nursery the next day with their child and use the simple downloading and printing process.
This project is now up and running and the children and families are enjoying it immensely. Beryl and Barney have been spotted buying chocolate spread and honey in the local shops, riding bicycles (wearing helmets and reflectors, of course) and even getting measured for a kilt. The bears have promoted the nursery positively in the area more than we could have ever anticipated. The strengthening of the parents' involvement in their child's education is evident in the feedback and in the photos. If parental involvement can be harnessed at this stage of a child's education, then it should continue into primary school and beyond.
Other outcomes that have been realised include the development of ICT skills and the creativity and aesthetic expression of the children. Language and conversational skills have noticeably improved because the children have visual reminders of their adventures, which they can revisit. In an area that has been especially rewarding and warrants more study, we have seen children who have special educational needs show distinct language improvement, stimulated by a subject in which we all have an infinite amount of interest - ourselves! Finally, we use the cameras to take photographs in the nursery to display to parents and as quality evidence for HMI. The simple 'one touch transfer' works by placing the camera on a special dock that is attached to the computer via a lead. You then press a button on the dock and the pictures automatically download and are displayed on the computer. For more information contact: esthergooch@37.com
