I was a little sad when I realised it has been a whole year since I had last blogged about EduTech. I remember leaving the conference feeling totally inspired and motivated. This year I left feeling the same way. It is such a fantastic event to attend. I am crushed that it is moving to Sydney in 2017.
The best part of going to Edutech this year was getting to bring along three of my colleagues. Exposure to innovative ideas is great, but the chance to have professional dialogue about them and their application in your school context is even better.
Coding, STEM/STEAM, Maker Spaces and Robotics are all still the buzz words in the educational technology world at the moment and are still things I am very interested in. This year I have started my own Code Club at school and we have been working pretty heavily with Sphero. I was fortunate to attend some fantastic breakout sessions that focused heavily on this and learnt about some cool new robots and Apps to use with children to help them build their coding skills. A particular area I have been struggling to find a good tool to use was with Early Coders. I was really excited by these discoveries.
The best part of going to Edutech this year was getting to bring along three of my colleagues. Exposure to innovative ideas is great, but the chance to have professional dialogue about them and their application in your school context is even better.
Coding, STEM/STEAM, Maker Spaces and Robotics are all still the buzz words in the educational technology world at the moment and are still things I am very interested in. This year I have started my own Code Club at school and we have been working pretty heavily with Sphero. I was fortunate to attend some fantastic breakout sessions that focused heavily on this and learnt about some cool new robots and Apps to use with children to help them build their coding skills. A particular area I have been struggling to find a good tool to use was with Early Coders. I was really excited by these discoveries.
Dash and Dot
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Dash is an exciting, hands-on learning tool for students in grades K-5! Targeted at teaching creative problem solving and computational thinking, Dash helps students learn fundamental processes relevant for all 21st century skills. Students send commands to the robots to move them, light them up, and have them detect the world around them using 4 free coding applications available on iPad and Android tablets.
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Dash is an explorer who zips around the room, getting into mischief along the way. Using sensors, Dash can detect objects in front and behind, and hear where you are. This robot has quite the personality and becomes more capable as you program and play. You will find lesson plans and more useful information here: https://teachers.makewonder.com/lessons
Colby the Robot Mouse
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With the Robot Mouse set, you build your maze, and then use the coding cards to create a step-by-step path for Colby, the Programmable Robot Mouse. Program the sequence of steps, and then watch Colby race to find the cheese!
This set provide the perfect hands-on introduction to coding concepts. The set comes with 16 maze grids to create and maze walls, and tunnels for endless possibilities. |
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Cargo Bot App
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This App was created using Codea. As well as being a lot of fun it develops the type of thinking required for coding. The kids really enjoyed playing it in the classroom and continued to use it at home afterwards. They were keen to show me how they solved some of the more difficult puzzles.
It can be downloaded for iPad here: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/cargo-bot/id519690804?mt=8 |
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