By Pana Asavavatana, KA-2 IT Integration Specialist, Leanne Rainbow, LS IT Coordinator, and Ramy Youssif, LS Art Teacher and Team Leader
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2015 Issue of The Window Magazine.
Technology use is an integral part of the curriculum in the lower school. Students in all grade levels learn how to create with technology. Laptops, iPads, 3D printers, and more allow students to extend their learning through interactive media, as well as document and showcase their work.
From Apps to Application
In just four short years, the iPad has opened up seemingly limitless new learning opportunities in early childhood classrooms. This tool's versatility lies in its exceedingly simple interface, which is easily manipulated by curious little hands. At the same time, the iPad opens up innumerable uncharted worlds for students to explore. With an experienced and tech-savvy approach to this phenomenal tool, teachers can act as guides for students as they expand the boundaries of their imaginations. Students from Kindergarten A to Grade 2 use their classroom iPads to show their understanding, extend their thinking, and explore their creativity.
The youngest members of our community are making great use of the iPad's photo and voice recording options to capture what they are learning. Using fun and open-ended apps such as Princess Fairy Tale Maker or Educreations, students can annotate their pictures and record themselves explaining their work. For example, Kindergarten A students have been working on recognizing initial letter sounds and positional language. They have practiced these skills by recording their voices saying letter sounds and describing objects in relation to their position around the classroom. Kindergarten students have been showing their understanding of numbers 11 through 20 by ordering them forwards, backwards, and comparing them using vocabulary such as 'more than' and 'less than'.
Our Grades 1-3 students have been using apps such as ThingLink and a coding app, Scratch Jr., to share their learning. Grade 1 students used ThingLink to share their knowledge on the characters they had read about in Reading Workshop. Students created video hot spots on a picture of their book characters; each hot spot shared a video of students reflecting on what their characters would 'think', 'say', and 'do'. Grade 2 students were given several options to share their knowledge of sand after their science unit on Pebbles, Sand, and Silt. Some chose to use ThingLink, while others used iMotionHD to show the story through stop-motion animation. Additionally, Grade 2 students have been reflecting on our TAS Values and learning to code at the same time! Using Scratch Jr., they have been creating short animations that show acts of kindness and courage.
Differentiating Instruction
phenomenal, new addition to the learning landscape at TAS is the recent addition of 1:1 laptops for all Grades 3 and 4 students. With 1:1 devices available in the classrooms, students now have convenient and immediate access to a powerful technology tool that can enhance, enrich, and improve student learning. Technology integration is no longer a contrived experience set aside for 45 minutes each week, but a natural integration into the school day when the student and their learning activity benefit from it.
The successful implementation of 1:1 laptops in Grades 5-12 at TAS has set the ground for an equally positive experience in Grades 3 and 4. In just a few short months, teachers and students have already noted many benefits from this new program. The ability to provide differentiated learning based on individual needs is one that comes up frequently. Walk into a classroom during a math period and you might find some students working with an online math program that individualizes the questions based on recorded strengths and areas for improvement, while others are engaged with the teacher in an individualized mini-lesson or working independently on an assignment. A similar experience can be noted next door during an English lesson, where some students are completing individual research for their nonfiction pieces, while other students, having found sufficient research material, have moved on to drafting, peer-collaboration, or formatting their writing pieces. In each case, the process of learning better meets the pace and needs of the individual student, as they are no longer limited to the minimal time they can book in the computer lab or utilize through a shared cart of laptops.
Another benefit that has been expressed by both teachers and students is the increased motivation and engagement that accompanies learning with laptops. Teachers have noted the enthusiasm students have for learning with laptops, and students have quickly and eagerly adopted this learning device. In a world where they thirst for opportunities to problem solve, express themselves, and communicate with others, the laptops give them the tool to do so. Earning a new virtual reward for success with their math program, persistently and powerfully programming an animated food chain with Scratch, or eagerly blogging about a recent learning experience in anticipation of the positive feedback of their online learning community are all examples of the type of high engagement activity our students thrive with that quickly translates into a truly meaningful learning experience.
Technology and Art
The lower school art department is very proud to have incorporated three-dimensional electronic art into the curriculum for the first time in TAS history. By introducing two different digital platforms to Grade 5 students, and having the exciting option to print student creations three dimensionally, there has been an increase in excitement and interest in art by our students. The results have been so well received that parents and teachers have even confused Grade 5 sculptures as middle school designs! In addition, all of our K-5 art students anticipate their opportunity to explore new creative outlets using computers, and of course, have their wonderful artwork come to life using 3D printing technology.
Groups of Grade 5 students were exposed to two different programs, SketchUp and MeshMixer. Students used their laptops during art class to practice and explore various tools in each of the programs, which allowed them to stretch, twist, push, pull, connect parts, and quickly build digital matter to create electronic sculptures. By teaching the students the various tools within each program, while also teaching art concepts related to three-dimensional design composition, they developed their artworks with consideration that all sides could be viewed. The ability to quickly see their ideas come to life on their screens, and be able to rotate their view around their creations as they worked, was an extremely engaging experience for our young electronic artists.
As electronic art and computer generated visual creations have rapidly evolved to inform and inspire our world, 3D printing provides enhanced learning opportunities. TAS students have access to such powerful and inspirational creative tools to complement the essential, traditional art skills and materials with which they are exposed. It is our hope in the art department to continue to extend the electronic art and learning experiences to other grade levels, and enable lower school art curriculum to evolve alongside 3D printing technology.
Whether it's in the art room or math class, on an iPad or laptop, technology has become a mainstay in the lower school. By exposing students to these tools at such a young age, they will have the opportunity to become tech-savvy individuals, prepared to tackle the challenges they will face in the middle school, upper school, and in a rapidly changing world beyond.