The Maker Movement is a hands-on approach to engage students in problem solving using technology.
One component of the maker movements is 3D printing where machines build 3D models based upon blueprints. The high school within my district has recently acquired a 3D printer, as has the local library, which speaks to the excitement around this new technology and the drive to get young people excited about this emerging software.
Although coding has been around for much longer than the 3D printing movement, only more recently, have educators started incorporating coding and programming basics into primary and secondary curriculum. The following aps have all been used as resources to help students even in primary school; learn how to code: Scratch, Diary and Dinosaur, Kodable Pro, Cargo-Bot. In an earlier blog post I shared about my experience coding through Khan academy and it’s “Hour of Code” campaign where in only one hour I learned basic HTMl and CCS, showing that people of all ages can learn coding.
When a teacher is deciding on the right apps to use in their classroom to support coding initiatives, one of the factors when making software selection policies is whether the software is open to public use or not. Software that is open to the public at little to no cost is considered open-source software as this software can be edited, copied and modified by the general public.
Alongside regular programming, students can also be taught through educational aps, how to compose and calculate in programs like Excel and Word. Composing and calculating skills are normally hard skills that are taught in math or writing classes but these same skill sets can be applied across word processing and spreadsheet software. In a writing class, students can be taught digital writing which combines traditional writing skills (grammar, conventions, punctuation, voice, tone) and newer skills like learning how to write for a blog, wiki or email. Tone and voice are skill being taught but using more modern platforms.
The last element I’m going to talk about regarding emerging technologies and integrating those technologies into the classroom and curriculum is the use of digital games and game-based learning. I know from personal experience how much my students loved playing Kahoot to help them study for finals, use Waggle to practice foundational knowledge components and I’ve seen them play the same math games over and over. Games are now available on every browser and every network and can be based around any content. Teachers who are not using technological based games in their curriculum really are missing out on great opportunities for fun learning.
ITS Summer 2017 Blog 