Introducing technology to children is a wonderful concept, but it can be an overwhelming proposition. Whether you’re a teacher who would love to get their young students into programming, or a parent with kids who adore inventing new contraptions, you’ll be keen to foster their interest in technology. However, you face an age-old problem: where do you begin?
Eduporium’s revamped Resources Portal, which has evolved from a general collection of resources, gives you a great place to start. In addition to a brand-new look, it now contains Product Pages, Project Pages and Voices Pages as well as a General section. We feel these defined sections much better address the practical aspects of introducing technology to K-12 students, from choosing suitable and affordable products to completing advanced projects. We’ve been busy gathering a collection of written and visual guides and ideas, helping both teachers and students to creatively use technology to solve practical problems.
The Product Pages
Eduporium’s Resources Portal is anchored by a collection of product pages, which are ranked by their level of difficulty. Covering topics as diverse as conductive paint, HTML + CSS, microcomputers, graphics tablets and environmental sensors, we put these pages together to create a comprehensive overview of each product, group of products, and different programming languages. On each page, you’ll find getting started guides, exciting projects, interesting and educational uses of the technology in question, lesson plans, and links to tutorials and manuals. We’ve also included a calendar of upcoming events related to each technology, such as competitions, conferences and webinars.
Beginning with the resources that an absolute newbie would need to get started, we’ve carefully selected introductory guides, FAQs and explanatory videos that will help you to get a handle on what each technology does. When we were putting these together, we searched for the resources that would explain the technology in the most jargon-free, concise and practical way. We wanted it to be immediately obvious what each technology is used for, and how it could be adapted to experimental projects.
Practical projects range from easy to advanced levels, and in the “Education and Creativity” section of each product page, we link to articles, videos, lesson plans and ideas that demonstrate the most inventive and innovative uses of each technology we could find. When we started creating this section, it was the “miscellaneous” area, and it was difficult to figure out what to include. However, when creating the Raspberry Pi page, we came across a video of a young child, Philip, who had created his own game on his Pi. Then, it clicked! This section should show off the creativity of other users of the technology—and especially, it should showcase projects created by kids. As much as possible, these sections include inventive projects that were conceived and created by young students.
The “Manuals and Tutorials” area of the product pages allows you to delve deeper into the more advanced aspects of each topic, with links to relevant video guides and books, while the “Calendar” indicates ways to get involved in national and international events dedicated to innovative uses of technology. We’ve also included all sample code and links to software downloads that are necessary for products to work, ensuring that you have absolutely everything you need to start learning, creating and inventing with your students straight away—no need to wait!
The Project Pages
For those who already have a grasp of a particular technology and want to get stuck into a practical project, our Projects pages provide detailed instructions for creating technological devices that are fun, educational and have real-life applications. From talking clocks to RFID attendance systems, you’ll find everything you need to complete a project, including a full parts list and step-by-step instructions. When we were putting together the Project pages, we had to put ourselves in the shoes of somebody who was approaching the task with no components and basic technical knowledge. Whether this meant figuring out the best type of resistor to use or making sure that each original instruction made sense, our team ensured that our unusual collection of interesting projects are easy to follow from start to finish.
The Voices Pages
Our fascinating Voices section shows how professionals of all kinds use technology in their everyday work. Bringing the products and concepts that are introduced elsewhere in the Resources Portal out of the realm of the classroom, these pages provide real, inspiring examples of ways that technology helps us in our work and lives. In a series of interviews with people from different walks of life, we demonstrate how technology is used in any job imaginable. Each Voices page has a detailed collection of resources, providing a pathway for students and teachers to investigate the main technologies, knowledge and skills mentioned in the interview.
Our new Resources Portal illuminates the breadth of products and concepts that fall under the umbrella of educational technology, and provides accessible and lively ways to get started with unfamiliar or complicated topics. From children building weather stations to people making prosthetic hands with 3D printers, we’ve come across some wonderful, inventive and amazingly ambitious uses of technology while creating this section of the Eduporium site. We hope it sparks your imagination too!