Amirah Assignment 4 Reflection

It is the end of Capstone Project 2018. Looking back, I have grown so much as an individual throughout this module. I went through various stages during this project. At every stage, I gain different experiences that shape the way I work and how my mind thinks in relation to the early childhood industry.

During the planning stage, we were given the freedom to pick any topic that we want to focus on during this project. During my year 2 practicum, I noticed that my preschool centre did not integrate much technology in their classroom. This got me thinking during the planning stage, why does our course teach us to use technology in our lessons? Why do we learn about the benefits of technology in children’s life but in real life, preschools don’t really practice the use of it? These questions got me thinking of the technology usage trends in the early childhood industry. I want to find out why are preschool teachers are not using technology in their curriculum.

After confirming on the focus topic, we formed a group of 3. I personally do not know my team mates. I did not even know their name. My head was filled with concerns and worries during our first group discussion. Can I work along with them? Will we be able to accept each other’s opinions and comments? Can we even do this project? Nonetheless, we did not put our differences get in between our communication as a group.

I learnt how to listen to what people have to say and acknowledge that their comments have value. I learn how to appreciate constructive feedback. An example would be when I was designing the website. To me, the colour scheme of the website looked great but when I asked my team mates, they told me they would prefer another colour scheme. To others, it might seem as just a colour scheme and I should just accept the feedback and amend it accordingly. To me, it was my best effort in making the website look good.

Wix website was new to me, and to make more changes to the website that was already ‘perfect’ to my eyes made me disheartened at first. Soon after, I realise that that people are able to see flaws in your project that you can and might tend to oversee. I learn to be more receptive to feedback through this project. Not forgetting, I also learn how to create an aesthetically pleasing yet easy to follow website. Creating the website give me an opportunity to develop my digital competence. It took a lot of hard work and time to understand the functions of the website, but I did it.

Apart of that, I also learn how to listen to people’s words and not assume anything. I tend to have the habit of assuming what people mean. This is probable because I am not patient enough to take the time to think through about what they said, hence I make assumptions. Through the needs analysis in this project, I learnt how to take the time to break down what people said and categorize and read the interview response as it is. This allowed me to think critically and be objective about what their needs really are.

Lastly, I learn how to think for innovative ideas to problem solve based on the needs assessment. It was not easy for my team to think of a solution that will fit the principal’s, teachers’ needs and interest. There were many factors that we have to considered. This definitely challenged our organizations skills of information. I had to know how to make use of all the information that we have collected throughout this while process and develop an idea that will benefit the school.

To sum it up, Capstone Project allowed me to grow as in individual and as a professional. I’ve learned how to communicate effectively with other professionals and my team mates. It also gave me plenty of space to do some critical thinking. It also gave me the opportunity to think of my own unique idea to tackle real life problems. Capstone Project 2018 was indeed a fruitful one for me.