Pioneering work by two Wolverhampton nursery schools using the latest technology to help their children learn has been praised by a Euro MP. Ashmore Park Nursery School and Phoenix Nursery School, Blakenhall, are taking part in a three-year, Europe-wide research programme to test different ways of using digital media to help children interact with the latest technology, and Ashmore Park Nursery was visited by West Midlands MEP Sion Simon recently to find out how the project was going.
The research programme is funded by the European Union's Erasmus scheme and began in October. It sees the two Wolverhampton nurseries work closely with four other West Midlands schools and five pre-schools in Stockholm, with educators from Ashmore Park and Phoenix nurseries also set to take part in exchange visits with their Swedish counterparts.
Ashmore Park Nursery Headteacher Sue Lacey said: “We are trying to move away from the usual approach of using computers and tablets to play educational games or complete electronic worksheets.
“Instead, we are investigating ways of using digital technology in more creative ways, so that children are not sitting passively and simply consuming technology but are using it more interactively.
“For instance, we use digital projection which the children can respond to through movement, and digital microscopes to investigate things hidden from their view – they are encouraged to think what it may look like before discovering the reality.
"We also use carefully selected apps that add to the complexity and diversity of what is already offered to children, such as Puppet Pals which help them develop their story-telling skills.
