Early Childhood Digital Learning
BbP's IT & DL Team Leader, Richard Bridger, with students happily displaying the BbP App on tablets.
Buk bilong Pikinini (BbP) has today celebrated International Digital Learning Day and students enrolled at BbP’s Library Learning Centres have kick started their Digital Learning program for the year with fun activities.
As children are increasingly exposed to online games, apps and content on the internet via parents’ phones, tablets and computers - from a very young age, it is vital to ensure that the material they engage with is both safe and age- appropriate.
BbP's IT & DL Officer, Ruth N'drewou, showing the students how to read BbP's reader flip books on tablets.
The students started with the very basics, learning all about the functions of computers and tablets, how to navigate the BbP App, flipbooks, audiobooks and more but also what not to do with technology. They also did fun pre-coding colouring-in activities, learnt about making calls and what wi-fi is.
BbP also took the occasion to thank ExxonMobil PNG for their sponsorship of the organisation’s digital learning program, which includes both content development and teacher training.
Buk bilong Pikinini (BbP) students from BbP's UPNG library learning centre (LLC) celebrating Digital Learning Day.
To support children enrolled in the organisation’s Early Childhood Education program to gain digital skills and use technology to support their learning, the students learn on tablets and spend around ½ hour a week on digital learning.
The program includes the BbP app, which supports the children’s curriculum learning via games and contains word recognition, phonics and spelling. The app features children looking just like themselves, having fun as they go through the games. The app has been designed to closely align with the BbP syllabus and the games and levels of reading become progressively more difficult each Term.
The children can also find audio books, stories and flipbooks of BbP’s own published readers and picture books, which have been developed especially for cultural appropriateness and to ensure the children can recognize themselves in the books they read.
BbP students posing with their completed pre-coding activity sheets.
All content on the app and tablets, has been vetted and created by BbP to guarantee the children’s safety and which allows them to develop good digital skills and practices in a safe learning environment, carefully guided by the organisation’s teachers. BbP’s teachers receive on-going training in the Digital Learning program.
In addition to the early Childhood Digital Learning program, BbP has also developed a website www.bbpdigitallearning.org , which seeks to support teachers with their digital skills so they can use online learning platforms and the internet as part of their teaching. The website contains step-by-step guides and links to great learning platforms used by teachers in classrooms across the world on a daily basis.
BbP student, William, showcasing a tablet with BbP's phonics videos that feature phonics lessons that is a part of BbP's curriculum.
