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Digital Technologies – Multimodality 23/01/18

Within this week’s class of Digital Technologies we focused on multimodality, through this I gained a great deal of knowledge about the importance of multimodal presentations. We also worked in pairs to complete an ActivInspire flipchart, the opportunity beforehand of seeing a few examples and to watch tutorials on how to work it was very […]

Although I was first introduced to multimodality in the Literacy module in semester 1, I was glad we got to reiterate our knowledge during the lesson today as I feel as though it is a very important part of teaching. This is backed up by (Beauchamp, 2012, p100) when he states, “The ability of ICT to present ideas in a variety of ways can help to structure new experiences but only if you as the teacher have sufficient understanding on the area yourself.” Due to this, I am very pleased that my understanding surrounding multimodality has increased significantly. Multimodal texts include two or more semiotic systems, which include; Linguistic, Visual, Audio, Gestural and Spatial. As a student teacher I see the true importance of multimodal presentations, as they will captivate, engage and motivate children, this ensuring lessons stay memorable. This is something that I am very passionate about, as in future years when teaching I always want the children to remember the lessons that I have carried out, this letting me know that they have got the most out of what I have taught them.

Myself and my partner created an ActivInspire flipchart based around Literacy, which covered the Curriculum for Excellence outcome ‘Throughout the writing process, I can check that my writing makes sense”- LIT 1-23a. I thoroughly enjoyed the idea of this flipchart being child led if it was to be carried out, this meaning the children would learn by doing (Prandstatter, 2014). Our flipchart had a jungle theme and the animals included could be dragged into the middle of the screen and have an adjective wrote about them. After this, the last two pages contained lines where all the children would come up individually and write a sentence about the animals and setting, along with including the adjectives that they had wrote. All the sentences would have the flow to make one story, this meaning children would have to thoroughly check their writing to make sure that what they were saying fitted in well with what others had wrote – this matched with the outcome that we had used perfectly. From creating an ActivInspire flipchart I am now able to identify how much the Curriculum benefits from multimodal presentations. This is because of all the different ideas it gave me from mathematics to art lessons, this showing me that learners can benefit from multimodal presentations in any subject.

Therefore, I am now aware how important multimodality is within education, and how it can fit into any area within the Curriculum. I am excited for future placements and years of being a teacher to be able to prepare lessons on resources such as ActivInspire as I feel as though it will captivate all learners through the pictures, sounds, text etc that can be used on it. From my last placement I identified how much children like to be in control of their learning through seeing their excitement of writing on the smartboard or the whiteboard. From this I am going to ensure, where appropriate, that a lot of my lessons are child led.

References:

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. Pearson.

Prandstatter, J. (2014) Interactive Displays in Early Years Classes. [Online] Available: http://connectlearningtoday.com/interactive-displays-early-years-classes/ [accessed 24 January 2017]

ActivInspire Presentations 23/01/2018

Today in Digital Technologies we explored the ActivInspire software as a class and individually by viewing tutorial clips online and working in pairs to create a lesson directed for either an early, first or second level outcome. The online tutorials gave us a virtual experience allowing us to be guided through the software, by giving hints and tips on how to use the software effectively and to maximise the usage of this valuable tool in classrooms as a student teacher and as a qualified practicing teacher in the near future.

ActivInspire software allows for information that requires to be communicated to learners, become multimodal. Multimodality is the term which describes a set or forms of texts to adopt two or more semiotic systems; linguistic, visual, gestural, spatial and audio. Using digital technologies within the classroom allows for information to be communicated to learners in a variety of different, attention grabbing ways and by making texts multimodal, enhances the learners experiences in education whilst keeping in line with technology in society today.

The Scottish Government set out a strategy to implement the use of digital technologies in Scottish education for both learners and educators. The four objectives it is focusing on are:

1. Develop the skills and confidence of educators in the appropriate and effective use of digital technology to support learning and teaching.

2. Improve access to digital technology for all learners.

3. Ensure that digital technology is a central consideration in all areas of curriculum and assessment delivery.

4. Empower leaders of change to drive innovation and investment in digital technology for teaching and learning.

By using technologies in the classroom, it allows for children to be introduced and immersed in digital technologies that they may otherwise not be encompassed in at home or in other areas of their educational journeys. It is stated by Beauchamp (2012, p.8) that ‘The multimodality of technology is another reason to use it, as it allows teachers to present ideas in a variety of different ways to help pupils understand it.’ By delivering young learners lessons involving multimodal texts it has the capability to further enhance their understanding of lessons across curricular areas such as literacy, numeracy and science amongst others. It also allows for children and young learners to understand that ‘texts’ do not just come in printed form, but instead they come in many shapes and forms and can in fact be multimodal. Further supporting this suggestion, ‘pupils need to be equipped to view language as ‘metamode’ that enables them to access the meanings of a wide variety of texts, images, sounds and information.’ Beauchamp (2012, p.81). The use of ActivInspire today gave us the opportunity to create a lesson for a first level outcome in a Modern Foreign Language lesson.

My partner and I decided we would combine both our ideas and once we completed the online tutorial videos of how to effectively use the ActivInspire software, we proceeded on to the task and got to work on creating our multimodal lesson plan. We made various flip charts which included sound clips, images and interactivity through use of the smart board pens and various tools such as the spotlight and revealer. We created a Spanish lesson which allowed children to work in individually and with peers and allowed for the children to come up to the smart board to write down their answers and ideas.

Using the ActivInspire software excited me as it gave me an insight into a resource that is used widely across Scottish schools and gave me a quick glance into the different tools and aspects that the software has to offer. At first we found the software a great resource as it allowed us to create an extensively interactive lesson that would grab pupils attention and included all of the semiotic systems across the many Flipchart pages we made. When it came on to using different ‘wow’ factors of ActivInspire I personally really enjoyed the fact there were different attention grabbing tools that children would find exciting and would further encourage their investment and interest in the input being given. However, upon near completion of the lesson plan, when using the revealer tool we encountered an issue whereby the revealer would not stay on the Flipchart page we required and instead went onto the other pages and we could not in turn remove it off of the areas we did not need it on. This really frustrated us and put us slightly off course as we invested more time in trying to fix this issue than completing the task in the time given.

Overall, the use of ActivInspire in the two hour time slot we were given really impressed and excited me. I find it really encouraging to see that there are these resources in place for teachers to use whereby enhancing their lessons and I am very eager to use it in my own class as a student and professional educator. I will most definitely be revisiting the online tutorials and spending more time exploring the software in free time to get more familiar with it and also experiment by creating more lessons and sharing resources with peers in order to gain more knowledge and in depth experiences of the ActivInspire software.

References

Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/Digital%20Learning%20and%20Teaching%20Strategy%20for%20Scotland (First accessed on 23/01/2018)

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice Pearson.

Digital Technologies- Programmable Toys 16/1/2018

As part of our second lesson of the digital literacy module we explored the use of programmable toys in education and the many benefits of its use. The use of […]

As part of our second lesson of the digital literacy module we explored the use of programmable toys in education and the many benefits of its use. The use of programmable toys was first introduced to education in the 1960s when the programme Logo was created. The game allowed children to learn very complex programming in an entertaining and engaging way. However, since the 1960s the use of technology in the classroom has continued to rapidly increase. Beauchamp, G provides evidence to this statement ” the walls of the classroom and the home have been expanded by social media, the cloud, wikis, podcasts, video- conferencing etc”. (Beauchamp, G. 2017, p.2) Thus, with the ever-growing popularisation of technology in society and in education it is vital to myself as a student teacher to continue to educate myself on the ways I might incorporate the use of programmable toys into future lessons and the benefits that I will see when doing so.

The use of programmable toys in the classroom has multiple advantages for both educators and learners. Programmable toys encourage interactive responsive learning which heightens the learners understanding and enjoyment of the activity while allowing both learner and teacher to clearly identify instantly if the learner understands the activity. The programmable toy we focused on throughout the lesson was Bee-Bot. Educator Alison Lydon detailed her thoughts and findings after she introduced Bee-Bots during a lesson, she wrote that the children “gained independence faster than I anticipated. Twelve out of twenty-eight were able to use the Bee-Bot without any adult help after the initial instructions.” (Lydon, 2008, p.2).

In addition, Bee-Bot as well as other programmable toys can be linked with literacy and numeracy lessons. The National Centre for Technology in Education found that the use of floor robots in classrooms contributed to the development of the children’s skills such as ” logical sequencing, measuring, comparing lengths, space orientation and expressing concepts in words”. (2012, p.1). This relates to the lessons task where all students were instructed to design an activity for young learners that incorporated the use of Bee-Bots with a numeracy lesson. My group designed a treasure hunt game (see attached photos) which challenged learners to take their Bee-bot on their boat one space at a time to find the treasure while answering questions on the 3 times table, they may only progress if the answer is right as each card with an answer that instructs them where to go next. Our activity follows the suggested outcomes in the Curriculum for Excellence (TCH-101a) ” I can explore and experiment with digital technologies and can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts” as it encourages the young learners to practice their math skills while also familiarising them directions such as north, south, east and west.

Prior to the lesson I had no knowledge of programmable toys or their significant impact on education and was not educated on the many ways Bee-Bots could be used in numeracy and literacy lessons. However, after completing the lesson, I feel I have gained the knowledge and skills to use programmable toys when appropriate to enhance my learners’ enjoyment and understanding of the content I am teaching.

References:

Beauchamp, G (2017) Computing and ICT in the primary school : from pedagogy to practice. Second Edition. Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge.

Lydon, A (2008) ICTopus Article – Sharing Good Practice: Robots in Early Education. https://oponoa-programmeertalen.wikispaces.com/file/view/BeeBot_article.pdf

National centre for Technology in Education (2012). NCTE ICT in the Classroom: Floor robots- focus on literacy & numeracy lessons (Primary). http://www.ncte.ie/media/NCTE_Floor_robots_focus_on_literacy_numeracy_primary_12-06.pdf

Digital Technologies Week 3.

The intentions of todays digital technologies class was to learn about and use multimodal texts. Alongside this, we used ActivInspire to create slides that we can use within a classroom setting to introduce mathematics within the topic of Egyptians. A multimodal text is where its creator will use two or more semiotic systems to create …

Continue reading “Digital Technologies Week 3.”

A multimodal text is where its creator will use two or more semiotic systems to create the text. There are five semiotic systems, these are as follows:

Linguistic
Visual
Audio
Gestural
Spatial

Prior to creating our ActivInspire slides, we also discussed that using a yellow background with blue writing and comic sans font is good for helping children with dyslexic tendencies, as this makes it easier for them to read. Beauchamp (2012, p8), further emphasises this by saying multimodal texts often make the lesson easier to understand, “the multimodality of technology is another reason to use it, as it allows teachers to present an idea in a variety of different ways to help pupils understand it”.

My partner and I created our slides to link numeracy in with the Egyptians topic. We created a key where number would equal to different hieroglyphics. The aim was for the children to be able to add up simple sums with the hieroglyphics, rather than numbers. Once the children understood how to add with the hieroglyphics, we moved on to multiplying with the hieroglyphics. When the children have finished their work, they can come up and retrieve their answers by moving the revealer. The CfE level that we created this lesson for is second level.

I will definitely use ActivInspire within the classroom, this is an exciting and fun way to present lessons to children. As a result of ActivInspire, I believe the children will be very engaged as they can use the smart board.

References

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. Pearson.

Digital Technologies – 23.1.18 Week 3

In our third week of Digital Technologies, we looked at using creating multimodal presentations by using ActivInspire. A multimodal text is the combination of two or more semiotic systems. In total there are five semiotic systems in total and they are: linguistic, visual, audio, gestural and spatial. Beauchamp (2012,p.8) states that “The multimodality of technology is another reason to use it, as it allows teachers to present an idea in a variety of different ways to help pupils understand it.” I think that the use of multimodal texts are vital in the classroom as it allows children to be interactive and is a fun way of learning. Using multimodal presentations can be captivating, engaging and motivating. However, I think the most important reason to use multimodal presentations is that it should be memorable for children. It is beneficial for teachers as it helps bring a lesson to life by using the IWB which encourages interaction. Although, as a teacher it is important that we have an understanding of the programmes we are using (Beauchamp, 2012,p100).

Today we looked at support videos of how to use ActivInspire and its features. The aim of today was to create an ActivInspire slide with a partner by using a variety of tools. The aim of our activitywas to learn how to tell the time, identify when/where we use time and also the different ways of telling the time. We would encourage children to write on the IWB where they see the time and when we use it. Then we would introduce how to tell the time using the 12 hour clock and we would then explain that this is an analogue clock. As part of our slide, we had an analogue clock where the hands could move. We would then move onto a slide with the 24 hour time using the digital clock which we could also move. I think this is a great tool for children as they are able to physically change the time themselves. This would be interactive and stimulating for children as they are doing the work. Our activity was targeted mainly at 1st level. Our Curriculum for Excellence experience and outcome is: MNU 1-10a “I can tell the time using 12 hour clocks realising there is a link with 24 hour notation, explain how it impacts on my daily routine and ensure that I am organised and ready for events throughout my day.” (Education Scotland, 2009).

References

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. Pearson.

Education Scotland (2009). Curriculum for Excellence: Numeracy and Mathematics. Experience and Outcomes. [Online] https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/Experiences%20and%20outcomes [Accessed: 23rd January]

Digital Technology Week 2

16/01/2018 Programmable Toys During our second session of digital technology we began to look into the world of programmable toys, what they can be used for and how they effect … Continue reading →

16/01/2018

Programmable Toys

During our second session of digital technology we began to look into the world of programmable toys, what they can be used for and how they effect and influence children in schools. “The curriculum introduces programmable toys as a good example for developing knowledge and understanding of the contemporary world.” (Janka, 2008, p.2).

Using programmable toys with children in schools helps them develop important skills to progress into independent individuals. Such as problem solving, concentration level, creativity and interactive responsive learning. Helping children progress in their confidence and independence results in them developing into the four capacities; confident individuals, effective contributors, responsible citizens and successful learners. Programmable toys “encourage group interaction, conversation and collaboration” (National centre for Technology in Education, 2012, p.1).

Our task during the session was to create an activity using the Bee-Bot programmable toy and make links to a numeracy topic. My peer and I decided to base our activity on times tables and created a board where a child could programme the bee to make a times table question from any times table from 1 -10. As we created and designed our activity and board we also had to consider the Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes. We looked at the Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes for technologies and numeracy and mathematics and felt the following points linked to out activity:

“TCH 1-04a / TCH 2-04a – I explore and experiment with the features and functions of computer technology and I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts. ” (Scottish Government, 2017, p.4)
MTH 2-03c – Having explored the need for rules for the order of operations in number calculations. I can apply them correctly when solving simple problems.” (Scottish Government, 2017, p.3)

When creating the activity we made it so one child would programme the toy to make a question and another child would calculate the answer and then they would switch roles. Therefore helping us keep the views and effects of programmable toys positive for the children such as giving them a chance to be in control of their learning and have experience in hands on learning. While also getting the chance to communicate and work with other children as well as develop their confidence and independence.

Reference List:

Janka, P. (2008) Using a Programmable Toy at Preschool Age: Why and How? [Online] http://www.terecop.eu/downloads/simbar2008/pekarova.pdf [Accessed: 22nd January 2018]

NCTE (National centre for Technology in Education) (2012) NCTE Floor Robots – Focus on Literacy & Numeracy. [Online] http ://www.ncte.ie/media/NCTE_Floor_robots_focus_on_literacy_numeracy_primary_12-06.pdf [Accessed: 22rd January 2018]

Scottish Government (2017) Curriculum for Excellence Technologies Experiences and Outcomes, [Online] Available at: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/technologies-eo.pdf [Accessed: 22nd January 2018]

Scottish Government (2017) Curriculum for Excellence Numeracy and Mathematics Experiences and Outcomes, [Online] Available at: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/numeracy-maths-eo.pdf [Accessed: 22nd January 2018]

Learning through Animation

This week’s input focused on learning through animation. I was able to develop my knowledge, understanding and skills in relation to animation and the various ways it can be used within the arts and within education. Animation can be described in numerous different ways, the main one being “the process of making films in which … Continue reading “Learning through Animation”

This week’s input focused on learning through animation. I was able to develop my knowledge, understanding and skills in relation to animation and the various ways it can be used within the arts and within education. Animation can be described in numerous different ways, the main one being “the process of making films in which drawings or puppets appear to move” (Collins Dictionary, 2018).

I was very amazed and interested to find that some of the first discoveries of animation were traced back to the Egyptian times, where there were sequences of images used to decorate the walls of Egyptian tombs. Since then, capturing motion has been a main search and theme for artistic endeavor and with the advancement in technology it has allowed for animation to become diverse. Animation can range from motion pictures and games to medicine and scientific stimulation. As a child, some of my earliest and favorite movies were created through the form of animation, Walt Disney and Dreamworks are some of the twentieth-first century animators that created animated film cartoons such as Mickey Mouse, Shrek, Donald Duck and the Jungle Book. From my own experiences with animation, I enjoyed the fact that it gave life to the characters, it allows you to explore your own imagination and experience a different form of art.

Through my own research and discussion in class, I was interested to discover the ways in which animation can have a positive effect in education. I was able to find that animation gives pupils the opportunity to develop their literacy and visual literacy skills, build problem-solving skills, discriminate and interpret action and images, encourage critical thinking (e.g. which looks better, why does that one look better) and encourage collaboration and co-operation with their peers. As a student teacher, it is vital to appreciate how relevant and important it is to teach children about animation. I believe it should be used across the curriculum as a creative resource for pupils to explore and stimulate a wide range of themes and ideas and create their own animations.

I was fascinated to find the many ways to explore animation in art without the use of technology. During this input we discussed a form of moving image called flick books. It was interesting to discover that from the invention of flick books and other early animated toys, inspiration was found and gave the idea of moving pictures based on real life which in turn created the cinema. I found that flick books are an easy, enjoyable and exciting way to create a series of animations. When creating my own flick book, I decided to start with a simple idea of a stick man waving. For this all I needed was post-it notes and a pen. On reflection, I found that the post-it notes were difficult to flick and therefore in the future I would try to use index cards as they are thicker and therefore would be easier to flick.

This is my first step in my creation of a flick book.

This is my second stage in my creation of a flick book.

This is the third step in my creation of a flick book.

This is the fourth step in the creation of my flick book.

This is the final stage in my creation of a flick book.

Video (4)

From having the opportunity to develop and create my own flick book, it gave me the knowledge and inspiration in creating an activity, similar to this one, throughout my placement. As an aspiring teacher, I can appreciate the difficulty in finding the resources and time to accommodate more advanced, creative activities. However, I do believe that the expressive arts is a vital subject within the curriculum and therefore should be treated with the same respect as literacy and mathematics. For this activity, I only needed some post-it notes and a pen and it took me roughly 10 minutes to create. Therefore, lessons can be created to discuss the progression that technology has had on animation and children can sketch and make their own flick book to see where animation first began, be imaginative, have fun, be creative and work alongside their peers. Through my own research, I discovered that creating an activity with animation not only correlates with the ‘Expressive Arts’ subject within the curriculum but also ‘Technologies’. I found that there are numerous experiences and outcomes that would provide the desired learning for the pupils through an activity like this one.

This input allowed me to further develop my knowledge, understanding and skills of animation through the arts. It highlighted to me the importance of providing children with creative opportunities as they find excitement, enjoyment and wonder through their own creations. I have discovered various ways to demonstrate and teach children about the progression of animation throughout the years and provide learning experiences for them to develop their own knowledge and skills of animation in the arts. I was able to reflect on my areas of strength and areas for development in creating my own flickbook, which in turn showed me that in the future if I was creating a flickbook, with children, index cards would be the most suitable resource to use.

References:

Collins Dictionary. (2018) Definition of animation. [Online] Available: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/animation [Accessed 21st January 2018]

Fractus Learning. (2017) 5 Real Benefits of Using Animation in the Classroom. [Online] Available: https://www.fractuslearning.com/2013/12/06/animation-in-the-classroom/ [Accessed 21st January 2018]

Moving Image Education. (2018) Moving Image Education. [Online] Available: https://movingimageeducation.org/ [Accessed 21st January 2018]

Digital Technology Week 2- 16/01/2017 (Programmable toys)

This week in our Digital Technology module we are looking at programmable toys, specifically Bee-Bot. We began our lesson by looking at our learning intentions and success criteria before moving on to a brief history of programmable toys. Here we looked at Logo which is an online programming opportunity where children type various pre-composed directional commands to move around an arrow head which then draws lines (Transum, 2018). This system is similar to one I used in Primary school, without the addition of an animal to move around in place of the arrow head. Even this small advancement from an arrow-head to an animal shows the ways in which technology is constantly improving to new and engaging heights. Reflecting on how far programmable toys have come, children can now physically programme a colourful, engaging toy themselves which also has an app with the same Bee-Bot children can use, making the toy more accessible to all the children as whilst some are using the Bee-bot toy others can be playing the Bee-bot game on their tablet.

We were given some time to explore the Bee-bot app for ourselves which is similar to the Bee-bot itself however with obstacles on-screen to avoid and a goal to reach. Having forgotten the basics of reseting Bee-bot every time you input more directions I at first found this task surprisingly challenging however after being reminded of the rest button this task was a lot more enjoyable although still required a high level of concentration. I was therefore surprised when I read Alison Lydon’s Sharing Good Practice article which discussed using Bee-Bots in the nursery setting. I found it especially interesting when she discusses how 12 out of the 28 children after the initial instructions were then able to use the Bee-bot without any adult help (Lydon, 2008). For children of nursery age to be able to understand and use a programmable toy such as this the benefits for learning, development and confidence would be extremely beneficial. In the British curriculum practitioners are encouraged to use programmable toys particularly as a way of both developing knowledge and an understanding of the contemporary world (Janka, P, 2008).

After looking at the background of programmable toys and more specifically at Bee-bot itself we operated into small groups to being our assessment task. We had to create a mat for Bee-bot which we could use for an activity specifically focused on mathematics. We had a chance to look around at some other examples from previous years and were then given resources and time to think and create our own Bee-bot activity. Emily, Emma and myself began thinking of what sort of activity we wanted to do. At first we decided on a fun shopping activity incorporating Spanish where we would give the children various coins so they had real-world materials to use and ‘spend’ as Bee-bot went shopping with the items labelled in Spanish. However, as much as we liked this idea it became clear rather quickly that it was quite complicated to set up and explain to children in early level as subtractions became involved if they only had a certain amount of coins to spend so we decided we would look into this further on another day but that for the assessment we would focus on daily routine and time. ‘I can tell the time using 12 hour clocks, realising there is a link with 24 hour notation, explain how it impacts on my daily routine and ensure that I am organised and ready for events throughout my day- MNU 1-10a’ (Curriculum for Excellence 2004). This is one of the first level outcomes we decided to focus our Beebot activity on. We wanted our activity to be fun and engaging as well as a meaningful learning activity which really would help towards children being confident in telling the time, in 24-hour, using analog clocks alongside their daily routine. As well as the clocks we also put words beside each clock and one option for the activity is children would have to find their way around their morning routine. So they would take Beebot to the square which was the time for them waking up, then getting dressed etc. Another option for running the activity, we created cards with instructions on as can be seen in the pictures below. Some of the cards said ‘the time school starts…’ and so the learners would take Beebot to the clock that said 9 O’Clock so they would have to recognise the time whilst also linking this to their routine and remembering what time their school starts at. Alongside set times we wanted to make our activity more interactive and so some parts of the daily routing, e.g. ‘I brush my teeth at…’ has hands for the children to place on themselves. This could help the children understand that everyone has their own routine and so not everyone does everything at the same time. It also allows the children to place their own hands on and can then explain to you at what time they have chosen, this may also help check for further understanding of how the hands on the clock work the tell us the time.

I found this class really enjoyable and invaluable for use in the future. It was really good to work with others and share ideas which can be used in our future teaching.

References

Curriculum for Excellence (2004) Experiences and Outcomes [Online] Available at: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/all-experiences-and-outcomes.pdf [Accessed: 16 January 2018]

ICTopus Article (2008) Sharing Good Practice: Robots in Early Education by Alison Lydon. [Online] https://oponoa- programmeertalen.wikispaces.com/file/view/BeeBot_article.pdf [Accessed: 16 January 2018]

Janka, P. (2008) Using a Programmable Toy at Preschool Age: Why and How? [Online] http://www.terecop.eu/downloads/simbar2008/pekarova.pdf [Accessed: 16 January 2018]

Transum. (2018) Logo [Online] Available at: http://www.transum.org/software/Logo/ [Accessed 16 January 2018]

Digital Technologies 18/01/18

Today’s lesson focused around the use of programmable toys used in education, in particular Bee-bots. From this, I gained knowledge on when programmable toys were first used in education, what the benefits of them are and I also worked as part of a group to create our own numeracy lesson using a Bee-bot. Throughout this task, we had to think about Curriculum for Excellence outcomes, this gave me good insight into what creating lessons will be like in future years of being a teacher.

I was surprised when I learned that programmable toys were first used in education in the 1960’s when Seymour Papert created Logo. Logo allows children to participate in complex programming as they can control an arrow which allows them to draw shapes, symbols etc. Ever since then, the use of programmable toys within education has expanded and children continue to get more out of technology as time goes on. This is stated by (Janka, 2008, p2) when he states “The curriculum introduces programmable toys as a good example for developing knowledge and understanding of the contemporary world.” As well as this, programmable toys have numerous amounts of benefits. As technology such as Bee-bots allow children to see if they are correct or incorrect quickly, they can gain instant feedback. Through this, the children are always in control and learning hands on, this allowing time for them to engage and get the most out of their learning. Children are often able to pick up how to work them quickly, this is backed up by Lydon (2008) as she introduced twenty-eight nursery children to Bee-bots and twelve were able to use them themselves without any further help after only being told how to use them once. This shows the active engagement children have with independent learning and how much they appreciate a challenge through using programmable toys for the first time.

After working as a group using Bee-bots, I am aware how engaging and active learning with programmable toys is as I loved creating a game using them. From this, I can understand why children get so many benefits out of using them and how much of an important role they play within the curriculum. My group created a numeracy game with the Bee-bots, in which compass bearings and the three times tables were used. We made it fun by giving it a treasure hunt theme, in which there was different obstacles to get through on a boat such as sea creatures, anchors, coins etc. The start box had the question “3×1”, from this, there was a card with 3 on it which gave the direction to go in to get to the next question. Eventually, the right answers led to a key, which enabled the treasure hunt box on the last square to be opened. We even gave the Bee-bot an eyepatch to match with the theme! This learning game which could be used in future years as a lesson was the curricular outcome first level TCH-101a ‘I can explore and experiment with digital technologies and can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts.’ We choose this outcome as the game we created allows the opportunity for mathematical skills as a whole to be improved, through working on times table and direction skills. Therefore, if children were to ever engage with this, they would be able to take what they have learned into maths lessons and the outside world.

Overall, this class enabled me to recognize the importance of programmable toys and although they were first introduced in the 1960’s within education, as time goes on they are getting more engaging and allow children to be creative and learn hands on. I thoroughly enjoyed creating my own learning game with my group and it has made me even more excited to become a teacher and plan lessons to see how much children learn and get satisfaction out of using technology.

References:

ICTopus Article (2008) Sharing Good Practice: Robots in Early Education by Alison Lydon. [Online] https://oponoa-programmeertalen.wikispaces.com/file/view/BeeBot article.pdf [Accessed: 17th January 2018]

Janka, P. (2008) Using a Programmable Toy at Preschool Age: Why and How? [Online] http://www.terecop.eu/downloads/simbar2008/pekarova.pdf [Accessed: 17th January 2018]

Programmable Toys Workshop (16/01/18)

Today in our digital technologies workshop we were learning about the use of programmable toys, in particular the Bee-bot programming, within a classroom setting. I had prior knowledge of how these could be incorporated into a child’s learning as I had previously used the devices throughout my years in primary education, and also in semester … Continue reading Programmable Toys Workshop (16/01/18) →

Today in our digital technologies workshop we were learning about the use of programmable toys, in particular the Bee-bot programming, within a classroom setting. I had prior knowledge of how these could be incorporated into a child’s learning as I had previously used the devices throughout my years in primary education, and also in semester one we had an input surrounding these robots and we got the chance to use these to their full potential.

After further investigation it was clearly identified that Bee-bots could be used by all levels, in many settings, covering a variety of different outcomes from the Curriculum for Excellence. In particular we focussed on numeracy outcomes from the CfE and how the Bee-bots could be used by the children for educational purposes.

We were set the task of creating our own Bee-bot mat in groups, incorporating a numeracy element into the game. We created the theme of a trip to the grocery store in which the children would follow a shopping list and send the Bee-bot to each appropriate item. Once they reached the item, they had to collect the correct sum of money from the purse and make their way to the checkout using their Bee-bot. During this example lesson, three main outcomes of the CfE could be achieved. These included; TCH 0-09a “I am developing problem-solving strategies, navigation and co-ordination skills, as I play and learn using electronic games, remote control or programmable toys”, MNU 0-09a “I am developing my awareness of how money is used and can recognise and use a range of coins” and also MTH 0-17a “In movement, games and using technology I can use simple directions and describe positions”.

The use of programmable toys within the classroom has many benefits to enhancing a child’s learning for many different subjects. The use of Bee-bots can be incorporated into literacy as it gives them the ability to create a story from following directions eg treasure, keys etc; maths as it gives them the ability to calculate a route and improve following directions; and also art as it gives them the ability to draw and create maps for the Bee-bots to follow. The use of the Bee-bot also improves a variety of other skills such as teamwork, problem solving (ie going from A to B without passing C) and also directional skills (ie left, right, forward, backward, north, south, east and west).

The National Centre for technology claims that “Floor robots in the classroom help with the development of skills such as a logical sequencing, measuring, comparing lengths, space orientation, and expressing concepts in words”. This shows that the use of these robots allows children to develop vital skills in a way that is engaging and allows participation for all pupils as it may be seen as a fun exercise for many.

Alison Lydon also claims that “[The children] gained independence faster than I anticipated. Twelve out of the 28 were able to use the Bee-Bot without any adult help after the initial instructions”. This shows that the use of programmable toys allows many children to work amongst themselves with very limited help from teachers. this allows them to work together and enhance their learning by working out sequences and patterns for themselves.

Overall, through investigating how these programmable toys work and how they can enhance the learning of a child, I was surprised as to how these toys can be incorporated into many different situations. It was a great opportunity to get to see other groups ideas for the design of their mats and how different aspects could be adapted or added to their mats depending on the age and stage of the children. The idea to make our mat slightly more challenging included having the shopping list in a foreign language which would then test the child’s knowledge of other languages. These robots are a very good way to engage pupils in enhancing a variety of skills, and is something I believe to be very useful in a child’s development within a classroom situation.

References

NCTE (National centre for Technology in Education) (2012) NCTE Floor Robots – Focus on Literacy & Numeracy.
[Online] http://www.ncte.ie/media/NCTE_Floor_robots_focus_on_literacy_numeracy_primary_12-06.pdf [Accessed: 15th January 2018]

ICTopus Article (2008) Sharing Good Practice: Robots in Early Education by Alison Lydon.
[Online] https://oponoa-programmeertalen.wikispaces.com/file/view/BeeBot_article.pdf
[Accessed: 15th January 2018]