URDANETA CITY UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE SCHOOL AND ADVANCE STUDIES

San Vicente, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan

Course Code: ECEM 118

Course Title: Current Trends and Issues in Early Childhood Education
Submitted by: PHILIP ANTHONY M. CABATO
Professor : Dr. MARIO E. CAMPILLA

REACTION PAPER ON POPULAR EDUCATION TRENDS IN

ECE (5) VIRTUAL LEARNING, (6) VIDEO-BASED LEARNING,
(7) SLEF-CARE, (8) BLENDED LEARNING

VIRTUAL LEARNING

As the use of technology grows day by day, new modes of teaching and learning have
entered the world of education. The trend taking the spotlight currently is e-learning.
Without a doubt, online learning benefits children and teachers alike. While it enhances
children’s learning experience in the classroom, it also allows teachers to find an
unlimited supply of resources. Promoting and implementing e-learning at the
kindergarten level is crucial to shaping children’s educational prospects positively.

E- learning is mainly seen as a learning aid. This is because e-learning platforms and
software help children remember information more clearly, motivate them to develop
working schedules, support them mentally when winning or losing, and foster interaction
when working in groups.

Studies have shown that children learn by using their senses. It is assumed that the
sense of sight and hearing are the most important senses in the learning process. 

Given the fact that we use the Internet for almost anything that concerns our life, it is no
surprise that schools are deciding to invest more and more in learning through digital
media. It is highly likely that interactive whiteboards and other digital tools will replace
traditional blackboards in the future. Children who are already confident e-learners will
have an advantage in such scenarios.

Video Based Learning

The influence of digital videos on our everyday culture is undeniable. Online video
sharing sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, and Metacafe boast monthly audience numbers
in the millions.

With digital videos continuing to gain popularity, it seems only natural that this familiar
and widespread platform should extend into the education system.

Students today are using educational videos as a tool for learning everything: from
basic skills - like changing a tire - to the latest dance craze. Remarkably, millennials
make up 92% of the digital video viewing audience. Abstract topics that once seemed
difficult to teach and learn are now more accessible and understandable thanks to the
availability of educational videos for online learning.

The use of videos in teaching and learning serves to not only benefit students, but also
teachers, their affiliated institutions, and the entire school system. A 2015 study
conducted by software company Kaltura concluded that 93% of teachers believe that
the use of educational videos improves the learning experience. They also serve to
break down barriers, such as student and campus location, which were once
insurmountable.

SELF CARE
Self care has become an expected phrase in everyday conversation and for good
reason: Our lives are becoming even more busy and complicated by screens and social
media, and bogged down by a lot of work responsibilities. Because of that, self care has
become more and more important. But what about our kids? As we think about the
impacts of screen time on our adult lives, it’s important to consider the effects of screen
time on children. Additionally, as we become more busy, there’s a natural impact that
those cluttered schedules have on our kids. That’s why it’s also important to teach your
children about self care and how they can create healthy habits that will see them
into adulthood.

Self care is just as important as academics for growing, developing kids. When taught
correctly, self care will help kids identify their physical needs and begin to take care of
them, before emotions can ever get in the way.
Oftentimes when parents are in a hurry (and if they’re a parent, they likely are), they do
tasks for a child. When this happens, children aren’t taught to think independently,
problem solve or assess what their needs are.

BLENDED LEARNING

Blended learning offers an opportunity for an individualized learning experience for

students through the use of digital technology and data‐driven, teacher‐led instruction
(Horn & Staker, 2011). Given that many schools have expanded their integration of
digital tools, blended learning has gained popularity across grades, including
elementary classrooms (Staker, 2011). In a blended learning approach, students spend
time working independently with online activities and receive instruction tailored to their
own skill levels. To monitor the progress of students working at a variety of skill levels,
teachers are often provided with real‐time data through an educator dashboard
(Hilliard, 2015; Horn & Staker, 2011). They can then use the data to determine where
students need additional support, increasing their ability to differentiate offline, face‐to‐
face instruction with the goal of accelerated skill growth for students.

One key reason why elementary schools may adopt blended learning is its flexibility of
implementation models, where educators can choose a model that best fits their
pedagogical approach, as well as classroom and technology constraints. A station
rotation and a computer lab rotation are two popular models in which students can
receive individualized learning through a combination of online and offline environments
(Christensen, Horn, & Staker, 2013; Horn & Staker, 2011). Consistent with the use of
activity centres, in station rotation model, small groups of students transition from one
station to another in the classroom. By having at least one station include a digital
component that collects data that teachers can use to inform instruction, the model
becomes a form of blended learning (Powell et al., 2015). This type of model works
particularly well with younger students because educators can easily adjust a traditional
centres schedule to integrate digital tools (Evans, 2012). In a computer lab rotation
model, a full class (or partial set) of students is transitioned into a computer lab to work
on the online portion of the blended learning program. Educators can adopt a model,
which provides differentiated instruction for students of all ability levels (Freeland, 2015;
Powell, Rabbitt, & Kennedy, 2014; Powell et al., 2015).