Tech Tuesday at South Perth

Students in grades one/two and three/four at South Perth Centennial School have been engaged in a program called Tech Tuesday for the past few months. Lead teachers Nicole King and Brenda Pincombe have been working with students on mastering three different technologies: Ozobots, Mini Spheros and Code & Go Robotics Mice. One of the focuses of this project was to increase students’ application and thinking components in mathematics. “The students are engaged and excited about learning about the technologies, and without them realizing it, it is starting to transfer over into their math with a better understanding of executive functioning skills”, said Nicole. Students were also simultaneously looking to support problem solving questions in innovative ways to help them to think critically. This project helped students to create a foundation of problem solving that engaged them through experiential learning. Throughout the project, students learned about the technologies, taught other students about what they had learned as well as demonstrated this learning through an independent challenge each student created that was showcased at the community Open House on February 5th at South Perth. Experiential Learning Coordinator for Avon Maitland District School Board said “Seeing students at this age learn how to code through these various technologies is not only about coding, but also about teaching them how to apply critical thinking to various other subject areas such as math.” The next step in this project is for students to see robotics and automation in an industry setting.