Winning the Mindshare contest created great excitement here at Roslyn School, in Montreal Quebec! Being winners validated that thanks to the media literacy and computer programming that our public school offers, Roslyn students are well-equipped for the 21st century.
I’d like to think that teaching practices don’t change with technological equipment (the equipment merely helps the teacher make learning differentiated and relevant), but if precious teaching time is not spent having students waiting for machines to load, then that in itself is a major advantage!
Although we never went under water, the Go-Pro camera and the extra tablet that my classroom received allowed for more cameras (with more features), which meant more hands-on work per student during group editing projects.
The pre-school Bee programming will make next year’s transition into even more deeper coding easier, and it is always fun to come up with creative ways to get six year olds to understand what coding is.
There are so many sensors that we make use of everyday, and the children now better understand the computer science behind them, namely “Boolean” or “if” conditions in programming. IF the sensor under the faucet detects motion, water comes out, but the water stops when movement is no longer detected. IF movement is detected in the dark hallway, the lights automatically turn on, but only for a programmed amount of time, and then the lights shut off again. It’s unbelievable to watch young children learn to understand the world around them by creating code.
Even without sensors (yet), Roslyn School’s youngest too make use of “Boolean” or “if” conditions in their programming: IF the answer is correct to the math question they ask, their character will say, “Bravo!,” thanks to them having programmed that condition.
The prizes were dispersed around the school, on an as-needs basis. They helped update each of our classrooms, so that Roslyn School’s classrooms each now proudly house Smart Boards and projectors, as well as many other technological goodies!
We are feeling very grateful for the equipment!
With much appreciation,
Miss Julie Marcus
Roslyn School Technology teacher
