5 Pieces of Technology to Add to Your Classroom
/How often do you use technology to support your teaching instruction? For me that’s an easy answer, everyday, throughout the whole day! As a STEAM teacher it’s my job to integrate design learning with technology instruction. However, it is about being meaningful and intentional in connecting technology with the engineering design process and not just handing students a computer or robot and saying go.
Too often teachers find themselves in one of two camps:
They are not aware of the technology resources that can successfully support their instruction.
OR
They are too afraid to dive into a technology they are not familiar with because of fear of failure in front of their students.
In order to help you break through these barriers, I want to share 5 pieces of technology that are going to help you teach meaningful lessons.
Scratch - This is a block-based visual programming language created by the MIT Media Lab. It is the perfect way for you to introduce your students to coding. They can easily see that the blocks of code chosen will have a direct impact on the event that occurs. You can start small with Hour of Code and build your way up to doing thematic projects.
Makey Makey - This kit allows you to connect everyday objects to computer programs, while learning about circuits. Students can bring inanimate objects like a banana to life as students can touch the banana and a piano will play from their computer! Students will be fascinated by the idea of circuitry and get hands-on experience.
Flipgrid - Let your students’ voices by heard with Flipgrid! This video recording tool allows students to respond to prompts given by the teachers. Students can watch their classmates’ responses, give feedback, and grow in their public speaking skills at the same time.
Lego WeDo - This hands-on learning tool allows students to build robots and learn scientific concepts along the way. It is the perfect introduction to hands-on coding as students also build the robot that will respond to the code. They learn about sequencing of events, processes to build contraptions, and the science behind it all!
Code and Go Mice - These are my favorite tools to introduce coding to my kindergarteners and first graders! The small mice come with cards that I use to have my students lay out their thinking of where they want their mouse to code from the start to the finish. They will allow them to see any errors that they may have in their code before the mouse just starts moving and they forget what they coded. We love to set up a variety of unique mazes to allow the mice to navigate.
Now I’m guessing one of these pieces of technology jumps out to you! I provided a range of FREE (hello, Flipgrid and Scratch!) to more expensive options. If you have the funds to splurge or you’re looking for ideas for a grant, I highly recommend these. I challenge you to just try something. Don’t let fear hold you back. Learn with your students. Remember it’s ok to make mistakes!
Are you looking for more ideas about some of these topics? Then check out the blog posts below!
Want to learn more about the basics of Flipgrid? Then checkout my blog post - What is Flipgrid?
You just want more STEAM ideas in general? Then checkout my blog post - 5 STEAM Things I Can’t Live Without.
