You may know what the start of the school year has in store for you, your students, and your school district as a whole. Or, like some educators, you might still be preparing for multiple scenarios while awaiting word on what the first day of school will be like and, more importantly, where it will take place. Finding engaging and academically stimulating solutions for students regardless of where they’re learning has become a priority for some and that’s certainly something we can support. In this week’s Tips & Tricks blog, we’re taking a look at two Tech Will Save Us kits that can be leveraged in hybrid learning—the Electro Dough Kit and the Gamer Kit. What makes them great is the option to use them in the classroom, at home, and in transporting them back and forth.
Let’s start with the Electro Dough Kit. It comes with a lot of different components that students can use in engineering, making, experimenting, and DIY creations. It’s designed for students in Grades K-4 and provides a great opportunity for social-emotional experiences as well, allowing them to connect with the projects they build on a more personal level. They even have the opportunity to make their own conductive dough if they want!
In the Electro Dough 15 Pack (available as a single unit as well), there are LED lights, dough units, piezo buzzers, jumper wires, crocodile clips, AA batteries, a USB stick, and a storage bin. If you’re going to be learning in the classroom this school year, the 15 Pack makes a great and affordable option for maker learning. And, in any districts in which remote or hybrid learning is a part of the plan, the components of the kit can be separated and equally distributed to students for their use at home.
Students can complete the activities that come with instructions included in the kit over time or tackle them all right away. If choosing to complete them over time, the kit can be used across all K-4 grades, giving teachers the option to introduce students to it in first grade, for example, and pick back up with it in second grade. The Edu 15 Pack comes with instructions for eight lessons and they progress in complexity as students move through them. In order, the topics of the lessons are Electricity, First Circuit, Parallel Circuit, Circuit Makers, Circuit Breakers, Dough Buttons, Buzzers, and Salt.
Students can follow the project examples or get creative and design their own models at home or at school. Wherever it is they’re making, the Electro Dough kits allow them to explore the conductivity found in everyday objects, create sound using electricity, and construct circuits in a safe way and in their own personal space. Some of the educational outcomes associated with the kit include complex circuit creation, naming basic electronic components, demonstrating opening and closing a circuit, recognizing common conductors, and exploring why metal is a good conductor—a very hands-on, maker-centered approach to remote or hybrid learning.
Then, there’s the Gamer Kit, which is a bit more involved than the Electro Dough Kit, but still a good option for home or hybrid learning. Ideal for students who also love gaming, the Gamer Kit is easy to build and offers something the Electro Dough Kit does not—the chance to try coding! With that being said, the Gamer Kit is definitely designed for students who are a bit older (Grades 5+) since it is a bit more complex. Through the activities and experiences, however, students can learn key computer science and design skills as they create programs for use in their own games on the online Tech Will Save Us platform.
Students start by exploring classic games and learn about the code needed to create them. From there, they’re empowered to create their own code and use it to power over 15 different classic video games. The kit comes with a very detailed manual and students can build the controller in as little as 15 minutes. The only thing they’ll need to supply is the required 9-volt battery. Also, the online Tech Will Save Us platform houses dozens of additional projects so students can find more ways to explore with the kit after completing some of the initial challenges.
Most of what comes in the Gamer Kit are the components students need to build their controller: The Gamer Board, the screen, the BRAIN Board, two chips, and nuts and bolts. It also includes a USB cable, an acrylic case, a strap, and instructions for how to access the Club Make platform. Once the game board is built, students can create code to control the LED lights on its face and recreate animations they make on their own!
To program with the Gamer Kit, students use the Arduino software platform and type their programs. This is part of the reason why the Gamer Kit is suited more for older students who have had experience with text coding in the past. In creating their code, students are given a ton of room for creativity and incorporating their own unique approaches to problem solving through programming. Using the USB cable can replace the need for the 9-volt battery if students don’t have one or are able to keep it plugged into the port throughout the time they spend using it. And, finally, the manual for the Gamer Kit can be found within the Club Make platform as well.
As school reopening plans (or schools-remaining-physically-closed plans) start to take final shape over the next few weeks, we wanted to make sure teachers, parents, and students were aware of a couple of the best STEAM tools for in-person and remote experiential learning. To learn more about the Tech Will Save Us kits or to check out some of the other options they provide for affordable maker education, click below to visit our store! If you have any particular questions, feel free to get in touch with us and make sure you’re following us on Twitter and Instagram for all of the latest information!