Teaching Automation and Robotics Class in a 1:1 School
My school district recently went 1:1, meaning each student receives their own district issued Chromebook for use throughout the school year. As an Automation and Robotics teacher, I was interested to see how this change would affect my classroom and students. Previous to this, technology had already been a big part of my curriculum which included teaching students computer programming with several different programs- most notably RobotC and LEGO Mindstorms NXT/ EDR.
Unfortunately RobotC and LEGO Mindstorms NXT/ EDR are not able to be downloaded onto the Chromebooks. Because of this, I had to find different ways to incorporate this tool into my classroom and instruction. After 2 years of being in a 1:1 school district, I have incorporated 4 different strategies to leverage the power of the Chromebook on student learning.
Flipping the Classroom with Blended Learning.
Students access different digital resources, including videos or interactive games, before they come into class. These resources introduce them to the next topic we will cover in class. Students also create these tips and tricks focused resources for future students in the class. These resources include videos and slideshows. Students access these resources on our class Google Classroom.
Personalizing Learning by Allowing Students to Work at their Own Speed.
Utilizing Google Classroom, I post all of the class challenges in order of completion. Students access these and then work at their own speed to complete. After demonstrating their knowledge on their current assignment , I direct them to read about the next real-life challenge on Google Classroom. I check in with them after about 5 minutes to answer any questions and provide support where needed. A hidden benefit of this is that I rarely print out or make class copies of the assignments- everything can be accessed digitally via Google Classroom.
Reflecting on their Learning via Digital Reflections and Check-Ins.
Using the Google Education Suite products, especially Google Forms, I am able to consistently have students reflect on their learning. Students complete 3 different check-ins/reflections during the course of a class assignment (class assignments generally take 1 week to complete). Once at the beginning of the challenge (after day 1), once in the middle, and then again once completed. These reflections are not all the same but are aimed at having students reflect on their learning along with assessing the group work dynamics of the assignment. Not only does this information help them as students, but helps me better tailor my instruction and support to each individual student, the groups within a class, and the class as a whole.
Creating Digital Products of Student Learning.
After each challenge, I have students create a video with their Chromebooks of their finished physical product. In the video, students explain what the challenge was, showcase their creation, and explain why they made it the way that they did. At the end of the semester students create a slideshow combining these different videos together. This student-produced creation not only relives their learning over the course of the semester to them, but students can show this slideshow to various community stakeholders including principals, parents, family members, classmates, and neighbors. This has been a great way to showcase the awesome things students are doing to the community.
This technology has become a great tool to help students’ learning, help me be a better teacher, and to showcase student learning to community stakeholders.
