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| Baby steps towards technology - part 1
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By Fahim Khondaker
Co-founder of EYLF Apps |
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In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the professionalism of work done within the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector in Australia. However, we all agree that there is still some way to go. It is thus important for those of us involved in the sector are constantly looking for areas which we can improve upon.
One such area is the use of technology within our sector. Unfortunately, to many educators, technology is often too far out of 'the comfort zone' to be considered for implementation within the centre. The consequences of this include:
- Educators miss out on a lot of tools and methods which can reduce their increased administrative and paperwork burden. We have found that many educators around the country constantly feel under time pressure and often do paperwork at home in their own time; and
- This attitude towards technology is witnessed by the children in our care. Given children will be growing up in a world full of technology, is it not imperative that our excellent educators are involved in their introduction to this important aspect of their future?
Perhaps a more effective approach to implementing technology is to consider implementing bite size pieces which address only one or two issues at a time. This will ensure that all educators within a centre come along on the journey and before you know it, the reluctance will be replaced with enthusiasm. This is exactly what happened within our centre when we developed a programming and documentation app for our educators. There was initial reluctance, then acceptance and finally excitement. We are now at a stage where our educators are constantly giving us new ideas on how to improve the app!
Over the next 6 months or so, I will be writing an article with each edition of this newsletter on a simple technological aspect you may wish to implement in your centre. I will provide:
- an overview of the solution,
- how to implement it,
- benefits of the solution, and
- amount of effort and/or cost required.
I will cover solutions in the areas of Administration, Communication, and Education (ACE). Today’s tip is set out below.
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| Centralised Document Repository
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| Overview & Implementation:
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We often find that only a few staff know where to find the latest version of a particular document, especially if it is one that is not used too often. This solution solves this issue by creating a folder (e.g. 'Latest Admin Documents') on a computer which contains the latest version of every admin document in logical categories (e.g. Forms, Policies, Key Documents).
Any updates to the master documents are to be made with director’s approval on the master computer and subsequently copied onto any other computers in the centre.
If you have multiple computers, it may also be worth considering installing a free software like Dropbox, which allows you to share folders across many computers. So if you make a change to the master folder - all the other folders are automatically updated. Dropbox offers Directors more control and eliminates the risk of multiple versions across different computers. (Tip: Name all documents with a Version number and date updated, e.g. QIP_v4_July 2015)
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Having a common place to find the latest version of all administrative documents such as policies, forms, procedures, etc. saves a lot of time and also eliminates the risk of using the wrong form or referring to the wrong version of important documents such as the QIP.
If the Dropbox version is used, you can also create folders for each room (with consent) which parents of children in that room can access at any time via a link.
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Minimal effort required to setup. What takes time is adopting mindset of storing and maintaining all documents in a single location. I recommend using multiple folders.
If you already have a computer, there is no cost associated with setting up a folder in a commonly used location.
Dropbox offers 2GB of space for free, if you find that you will need more photos (usually happens if you upload videos and photos) – you can purchase more storage at around only $100 per year. |
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About the Author:
Fahim is a Chartered Accountant by profession and is a Co-founder of EYLF Apps, a company which focuses on making software to assist childcare educators with their day to day tasks. Fahim is also part owner of a Brisbane based early childhood education centre. |
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