Over the past few weeks, I have been taking a class focused on exactly what I need, technology in STEAM. When I found out this class would be a part of my Technology Endorsement, I was super excited because there is so much I still need to learn when it comes to supporting my students in this area. Now that I halfway through my course, it makes sense to reflect on some of my learning thus far.
During my time in the class, I have been introduced to quite a few new tools while also getting reacquainted with some older ones. One of the tools I am most excited to use with my students is Scratch, a free online resource which uses coding to create interactive stories or games. What I found when I was working with Scratch is there plenty of educator supports and ideas for implementing it in the classroom. The team working on Scratch provides themes and teacher resources through video clips and PDF files. The ScratchEd team even provides regular Twitter chats to discuss Scratch in Practice and Curriculum Connections. When using the program, it definitely provides students with an infinite amount of creative possibilities. Students will need an ample amount of time to explore in order to get acclimated with the coding options, but once they get a hang of it, they will have the opportunity to create some pretty awesome projects.
Scratch is definitely a technology that can foster the 4 C's of education- critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. These skills are what has been deemed essential to 21st century learning. Throughout my class, we have focused much of our learning on these skills, and this learning has had a big influence on my instruction in the STREAM Lab. Much of the work we do in the STREAM Lab revolves around the design process, which goes hand in hand with the 4 Cs. Students need to be able to think critically to define problems and develop solutions to problems. Thinking critically is also a large part of improving and redesigning. Collaboration and creativity are also necessary when working with peers to develop plans and making those plans come together. And communication is needed throughout the design process, but particularly at the end when sharing our learning and designs. Depending on the design challenge, I have discovered a variety of technology tools to implement with my students to improve these skills. You can check out some of the new tools on my website found here.
Even though we have focused on many technology tools during the course, I would like to continue expanding my knowledge in the areas critical thinking. This is such a vast skill set, and it can be overwhelming trying to find an all-encompassing tool to practice critical thinking. What I am really looking for with my students is a tool to provide my students with enough of a challenge that they need to develop and evaluate multiple solutions. I'm hoping for a tool that forces my students to persevere when they approach difficult tasks because they genuinely want to figure something out. A tool that makes them practice deploying critical thinking strategies at the right time. Maybe there is something out there that does something along those lines, but I quite stumbled upon it yet. And maybe it doesn't have to be one tool but instead a collection of tools working together to help develop these critical thinking skills. Whatever it is, I would love to find it.
While I am still so new to the STEAM classroom, I think the area where I am most comfortable implementing technology is in the area of creativity. I am by no means a technology expert, yet 😉, but I am definitely not afraid to teaching risks. Being in the role I am now, I feel an even greater opportunity to try new ideas with different groups of students. This approach has allowed me to express my creativity in my teaching which can easily translate when using technology. Familiarizing myself with technology that can expand the creative minds of my students is what I look forward to utilizing the most in the STREAM Lab.
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| Image Source |
During my time in the class, I have been introduced to quite a few new tools while also getting reacquainted with some older ones. One of the tools I am most excited to use with my students is Scratch, a free online resource which uses coding to create interactive stories or games. What I found when I was working with Scratch is there plenty of educator supports and ideas for implementing it in the classroom. The team working on Scratch provides themes and teacher resources through video clips and PDF files. The ScratchEd team even provides regular Twitter chats to discuss Scratch in Practice and Curriculum Connections. When using the program, it definitely provides students with an infinite amount of creative possibilities. Students will need an ample amount of time to explore in order to get acclimated with the coding options, but once they get a hang of it, they will have the opportunity to create some pretty awesome projects.
Scratch is definitely a technology that can foster the 4 C's of education- critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. These skills are what has been deemed essential to 21st century learning. Throughout my class, we have focused much of our learning on these skills, and this learning has had a big influence on my instruction in the STREAM Lab. Much of the work we do in the STREAM Lab revolves around the design process, which goes hand in hand with the 4 Cs. Students need to be able to think critically to define problems and develop solutions to problems. Thinking critically is also a large part of improving and redesigning. Collaboration and creativity are also necessary when working with peers to develop plans and making those plans come together. And communication is needed throughout the design process, but particularly at the end when sharing our learning and designs. Depending on the design challenge, I have discovered a variety of technology tools to implement with my students to improve these skills. You can check out some of the new tools on my website found here.
Even though we have focused on many technology tools during the course, I would like to continue expanding my knowledge in the areas critical thinking. This is such a vast skill set, and it can be overwhelming trying to find an all-encompassing tool to practice critical thinking. What I am really looking for with my students is a tool to provide my students with enough of a challenge that they need to develop and evaluate multiple solutions. I'm hoping for a tool that forces my students to persevere when they approach difficult tasks because they genuinely want to figure something out. A tool that makes them practice deploying critical thinking strategies at the right time. Maybe there is something out there that does something along those lines, but I quite stumbled upon it yet. And maybe it doesn't have to be one tool but instead a collection of tools working together to help develop these critical thinking skills. Whatever it is, I would love to find it.
 |
| Image Source |
While I am still so new to the STEAM classroom, I think the area where I am most comfortable implementing technology is in the area of creativity. I am by no means a technology expert, yet 😉, but I am definitely not afraid to teaching risks. Being in the role I am now, I feel an even greater opportunity to try new ideas with different groups of students. This approach has allowed me to express my creativity in my teaching which can easily translate when using technology. Familiarizing myself with technology that can expand the creative minds of my students is what I look forward to utilizing the most in the STREAM Lab.
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