Digital Technologies – Week 2, 15 Jan 2018 Programmable Toys

January 18, 2018 by User deactivated | 0 comments

Today’s session was focused on learning how to use programmable toys and how this technology can be linked to the Experiences and Outcomes of Curriculum for Excellence.

The programmable toys that were our focus today were Bee-Bots; a small, lightweight robot that children can interact with from pre-school age. It is believed that there is a place in the curriculum for young children to interact with programmable toys, as children are faced with programmable technology in their everyday life. The use of programmable toys can encourage children to develop more general abilities to think and learn. There is an argument that the use of digital technologies can be inappropriate for such young children and that they should be involved in hands on experiences, however Bee-Bots provide both. Children experience hands on play using these robots as they are tangible, easy for the child to handle and can stimulate problem-solving in real conditions of the child’s environment. It has also been found that compared to other European countries, Britain recommends and encourages the use of programmable toys in the curriculum. It is believed that the help develop knowledge and understanding of the contemporary world the child inhabits. (Janka, 2008, P2)

On my recent school placement I experienced the use of Bee-Bots in both nursery and P1 classes. In nursery the children played some simple games with the Bee-Bots becoming accustomed to how they could control the movements. In P1 the Bee-Bots were used as part of a maths lesson, teaching children directional language. The use of the Bee-Bots helped the children greatly with learning left and right. As part of our task this week, we worked in small groups to develop our own lesson that would achieve the experiences and outcomes set by Curriculum for Excellence for a maths/numeracy lesson. The outcome that we chose was MTH 1-17a “I can describe, follow and record routes and journeys using signs, words and angles associated with direction and turning”. To achieve this, we designed a grid decorated with flags and landmarks of the world. In a lesson, children would be asked to record how they would move from one position to another. The lesson could be adapted for different stages over the curriculum from using the language of left and right, progressing onto North, South, East and West and then finally co-ordinates could also be used. We found that this lesson could also be cross-curricular. It could incorporate an art lesson where children themselves would draw the flags and landmarks and it also incorporates social subjects with the children becoming familiar with flags and landmarks from across the world.

The use of Bee-Bots can also support pupils with Special Educational Needs in the following ways:

Allowing non-verbal pupils to participate in a class activity
Provides an engaging, fun way to learn and asses understanding of basic concepts such as letters and colours
The large buttons and simple design facilitates pupils with poor motor skills
Useful for re-enforcing daily routines i.e Where should the Bee-Bot go for P.E

(National Centre for Technology in Education, 2012, P3)

After today’s session and further reading, I have a better understanding of how programmable toys can be used to enhance learning. I feel as if we have only scratched the surface in the use of programmable toys and in particular Bee-Bots. Going forward, for future school placements and my career I intend to research further uses for this technology and how I may be able to incorporate it into my own lessons.