Week 2
In today’s session, we looked at programmable toys. We looked at the different types of Programmable toys and their different benefits within the classroom. Programmable toys have been used in the classroom since the 1960s. The first programme was “Logo” which was created by Seymour Papert. Papert said “I see Logo as a means that can, in principle, be used by educators to support the development of new ways of thinking and learning” (Papert, 1993). This shows that even back then, digital technology was being used to develop the quality of learning. This also reiterates how important it is that the Curriculum for Excellence includes the use of digital technology. It is clear that they are including it, as they have included individual experiences and outcomes for programmable toys.
Programmable toys are still being used to this day. This shows that there has to be benefits to their use. Some benefits include:
- Interactive learning
- Instant feedback for the learner and teacher
- Challenge and enjoyment
- Cross-curricular links
These all clearly show that programmable toys can be very useful in the classroom setting.
For this session, the class were told to work with Bee-Bots. Bee-Bot is an educational tool that is very simple to work. It has four buttons which dictate where the bee should go, Left, Right, Forward and Back. The bee is then placed on a mat that can be homemade or manufactured. Once the correct directions have been input the bot will travel to the desired square on the mat. As it is very easy to work, I feel that it would be a very effective tool to use in the classroom.
After becoming capable to manoeuvre the bot we were set a task. The task was to create a mat that would develop one Experience and Outcome (Es & Os) that matched the activity we created. After my group and I had spent some time thinking about what activity to do, we decided to create a task that included a literacy aspect. In particular the Phonics sounds used in the early years stage. The Es and Os that we used were:
LIT 0-01a
“I enjoy exploring and playing with the patterns and sounds of language and can use what I learn.”
LIT 0-13a
“I explore sounds, letters and words discovering how they work together, and I can use what I learn to help me as I read or write.”
After identifying the outcomes we wanted to use, we set out creating the mat.
For the mat, we felt that it would be original to draw every image and put it onto the mat. This made the mat very appealing as we used bright colours. However, this was very time consuming. In the future if I was preparing for a class, I would print off the images to save time.
The next step was to create a spinner to make sure that the pupil would be challenged and not pick the easiest phonic. Again, this was homemade which made it more original. However, it was very easy to break. So, if it was used in a classroom setting it would almost definitely be broken. So, an alternative is to use a manufactured spinner and print the phonics onto it.
After having a few colleagues test the activity out it was seen to work well. The aesthetics of the homemade mat and spinner were the aspect that stood out the most. This showed that putting in a little extra work engaged the user more which is another benefit of using the Bee-Bot.
Overall, using Bee-Bot was thoroughly enjoyable and it is clear that it would be very useful in the classroom. On a personal level I feel like I could step into a class and deliver a lesson using Bee-Bot. Reflecting on our mat, I know that if It was a full class activity more mats would be needed, thus making everything homemade might be too time consuming. I enjoyed this session a lot, as it managed to engage me and get me thinking about different experiences and outcomes.
Matthew
References used:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9a46/b85cd26a8d3b9b1c551e3cbd39a5c269ccb2.pdf
https://education.gov.scot/Documents/All-experiencesoutcomes18.pdf
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1084886
