We launched a 6-week pilot program in collaboration with the Highlander Institute, a few of our vendor partners, and six Rhode Island elementary school teachers back in February. Designed to provide students in second, fourth, and fifth grade with innovative learning opportunities, teachers were able to introduce new technologies into their classrooms thanks to donations from us and some of our premier vendor partners, including Ozobot, Modular Robotics, Microbric, E-Blox, and others. The results included hands-on exploration in engineering, coding, and inventing before culminating in students presenting their projects at the Blended & Personalized Learning Conference last Saturday in Providence.
After visiting each of the classrooms a couple of weeks prior, we were incredibly excited to see the students' final projects. They set them up in the Eduporium-sponsored EdUnderground, an area of the conference that functioned as a mini Maker Faire for educators to learn about coding, robotics, video production, and other things students had been working on during the piloting of these EdTech tools.
Among the most popular projects on display were the American Revolution video made by a fifth grader using Stikbots (below, right), the Under the Sea Maze (above, right) using EdPy and the Edison Robot, and the Cubelets Challenge created by a fourth grade student (above, left). The coded Ozobot map (below, left) was a nice touch as well, giving passersby the opportunity to see the functions of the robot and how it's useful for teaching coding!
The conference served as an opportunity for both students and teachers to showcase what they learned. While the kids were showing off their projects and discoveries, teachers were able to talk about the role the technologies played in engaging students in ways that were exciting for them. Whether kids were coding or designing different inventions, the creative innovation was on full display all day long and was reflected in their projects, posters, and presentations! And, not for nothing, their presentation skills were outstanding for elementary school students, as evidenced by the E-Blox house construction project (below, left) and the Maze Design for Sphero project (below, right).
Although it's now complete, we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work directly with these teachers, students, and the Highlander Institute. The goal of engaging students on new levels with real-world tools was certainly achieved and the enthusiasm these students displayed was, without a doubt, inspiring! Again, we thank the Highlander Institute for collaborating with us and our vendor partners from Ozobot, Modular Robotics, Microbric, E-Blox, and Sphero, who all donated EdTech tools for these students to use! For more on the conference, check out the #BPLC18 hashtag on Twitter and Instagram!