One down – 7 to go.
Well the first workshop of the week has gone well. It wasn’t huge but that made for much better interactions and I suspect better learning.
The first workshop was in Rotorua and was an introduction to robotics using the Lego NXT robots and mindstorms software.This was a full hands on play session, we had food provided from Toshiba, and they did not even stop – just grabbed a bit to eat on the run and back to playing with their robots.
The more time I spend using robots the more value I see in the potential for project based learning. As the teachers and I worked through the 5 activities (see the starter sheets http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/robotics+resources ).
The discussions about mathematics, science, physics, problem solving were pleasing and insightful. Teachers and students alike enjoy working in a project based environment. For the students, the ability to problem solve their way through problems gives them ownership of the knowledge, and for the teacher the carefully scaffolded exercises allow the teacher facilitate learning, extend and challenge the accelerants and support those who struggle. Using the accellerants, those who quickly grasp the concepts and processses, allow opportunity for them to have a leadership and menotring role within the class.
And its so engaging – it appeals to the kinesthetic, visual and read write learners, and when they discover the music component (I never mention this but they find it quickly and any chance of peace is ruined) – auditory learners to.
An Excellent day – nice one Mildie
