Over the last few weeks, we've had the incredible opportunity of working with the Highlander Institute and a number of Rhode Island-based teachers on a very unique pilot program made possible by some of our vendor partners. Collaboratively conceived by Eduporium and Highlander, this program has allowed students at three Rhode Island elementary schools to use new STEM solutions in their classrooms. Those technologies? A lot of them were generously donated to the teachers by our partners at companies like Ozobot, Modular Robotics, Sphero, E-Blox, and Microbric as well as others donated by us at Eduporium!
More than 130 students have had the opportunity to experience meaningful, STEM-driven learning so far as the 6-week pilot program is about halfway through. It will culminate with a conference on April 7, at which select students from participating schools will discuss how the tech products they worked with helped enhance their education. Among the teachers taking part in this program are second grade teacher, Heather Breton, from Cranston, RI, fourth grade teacher, Dayna Safran, from Barrington, RI, and four fifth grade teachers from Barrington, RI, including Melanie Martino, Julie Romano, Gabrielle Harwood, and Dionna Gajdowski. Here are some of the highlights the teachers have reported on so far!
So far, Heather and her students have used the Sphero SPRK+ to learn more about programming and robotics. Their in-class activities have even seen them merge those two STEM disciplines with another one—learning about coding while getting introduced to new geometrical shapes!
Melanie has had a great amount of success so far, especially in engaging her students with Stikbots. These little toys help incorporate an adventurous side of learning and allow students to use technology to create stop motion animations with ease. She's also had a great deal of success with the EdCreate Kit and the Edison Robot. Students have been using the Edison barcodes and tape to create lines for the robot to follow, borders for it to bounce around inside of, and light for it to move towards—all while they learn about fractions!
Gabrielle has also been able to introduce her students to an exciting form of coding using the Ozobots donated to her. Her students have been getting very creative with their new tech tools, even creating cursive words with built-in color codes for the robots to navigate. According to her, it's a great way for them to practice spelling, vocabulary, cursive, and coding all at once!
Finally, Dionna has been working with the Makey Makey GO in her classroom and, so far, she says her kids have loved it! They've created some innovative inventions using their own conductivity and the Makey Makey piano program. According to her, they're having a blast figuring out the new things they can come up with every time they take it out! Her students will also be exploring the Ozobot and Circuit Stickers at some point during the program.
Everyone at the Highlander Institute, Eduporium, and especially the teachers involved are incredibly thankful to each one of the companies who donated products as part of this fantastic program! We can not stress enough that it would not be possible without each of these generous donations! As the pilot program continues, students will keep working with these EdTech tools as they prepare for the Blended and Personalized Learning Conference on April 7 in Providence. To follow along with their discoveries and all the happenings surrounding this program, click below!