An entire class can work on a playlist simultaneously, or they can be the focus of one station in a station rotation lesson. As students work on a playlist, the teacher must be available at a help desk to work directly with students who hit a stop sign. These short conferencing sessions allow the teacher to partner with students to ensure each child is getting the support, scaffolding, instruction, and practice he/she needs to develop.
Before students begin conducting research, they should ask themselves, What type of information am I looking for? Do they want to collect data in the form of numbers to understand the extent of a problem? Are they trying to explore why something happens or understand a behavior? The answers to these questions will inform the types of research techniques they will employ.
Use voice memos or another audio recording app to capture data collected in interviews.
Once students learn a clear strategy to develop questions, they must become researchers able to find answers. In most classrooms, the closest students get to research is using the Google Search engine, but that is only one strategy for gathering information. As a doctoral student in the middle of what feels like endless research, I believe it is valuable to teach students to extend their data collection beyond an online search.
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The coding part was the most challenging for her, but she was delighted when her whale shark began to wiggle its way across her desk!
I was also pretty pumped that she did not have to call me up to her workstation every five minutes to ask me a question. Often with STEM projects, I field a lot of what do I do next? questions, but the KOOV app was clear and easy to use.
In a previous post titled Learning Beyond the Classroom, I wrote that my daughter reported not enjoying science. This concerned me because she is curious by nature and loves a good project. Both of these attributes seem perfect for STEM subjects!
My playlists mix the following elements:
These are questions every educator should be asking. As Schwartz points out, good questioning may be the most basic tenet of lifelong learning and independent thinking. The Right Question Institute published aresource on the Question Formulation Technique™that teachers can access if they want to learn how to support their students in generating questions to drive research and learning.
The step-by-step directions made it possible for her to work on her own without needing help from me. The app even let her manipulate the images zooming in and out and rotating them to get a clear sense of how to put the pieces together.
It increases interest in the topic and investment in the quality of the report, infographic, or presentation on findings.
Skype, Google Hangout, or Zoom with people who may not be able to meet face-to-face for an interview.
Train Your Students to Think Like Researchers
When I presented my daughter with the kit, she was hesitant to dive in. Ironically, it was the ability to create an avatar using the app that grabbed her interest first. Then she watched the video on the KOOV homepage of several completed robots. Then she was hooked! She decided she was going to make the whale shark.
It requires that they learn how to leverage tools beyond a simple Google search to understand a problem, issue, or phenomenon.
My latest attempt to get my daughter developing STEM skills was withSonys KOOV.
Now that my daughter has completed her project, my son is starting his own KOOV robot. It is the type of project set that can be used repeatedly by siblings or by students in a class. Below is an example of a station rotation lesson where KOOV could be a collaborative makerspace station with small groups of students working together to build and code a robot.
Click hereto view my argumentative writing template. It will give you an idea of how I lay out the activities. You are welcome to make a copy and customize it to use with your students.
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It demands critical thinking and analytical skills.
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One reason I am such a big advocate for blended learning is that using the various models allow me to spend more time on the aspects of my job that I enjoy and feel are most valuable for students. I dont want to waste precious class time talking at my students. I want to sit next to them and coach them as they develop skills and apply new information. I want to provide real-time feedback and conference with students about their progress. I want to engage in side-by-side assessments so students understand where they are excelling and where they need to spend time practicing to improve their skills. Using playlists is one strategy that allows me to accomplish all of these goals!
KOOV appkids can create a personalized avatar, access multimedia project descriptions and step-by-step directions, and code to make the robots move
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Playlists pull together a mix of activities designed to build specific skills. Students control the pace of their learning and teachers can customize individual learning paths with the playlist model.
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As a teacher and blended learning coach, I see exciting possibilities to use KOOV to create a makerspace STEM station where students tinker to learn. The best part of the KOOV kit is that it is reusable and has a growing collection of robot recipes.
The playlist concept stems from the Individual Rotation Model in which each student works from an individual playlist of activities. Ive used playlists for formal writing, grammar, and projects. The goal of the playlist model is to allow students some control over the pace and path of their learning.
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As I watched her work, I was struck by the range of skills she had to use to bring her creation to life. She was building the actual structure of her whale shark around the KOOV core microcontroller, wiring the KOOV core, and arranging the code on the app to ensure her whale shark would be able to move when her project was complete.
Design surveys Google Forms, Survey Monkey, or Zoho.
Its summertime! For those of us with children, the summer break presents some challenges.
Thanks to technology and the internet, it is easier than ever for students to collect their own data. Students can:
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How can we keep them learning and exploring during the break?
How do we encourage them to engage in mentally stimulating activities?
TheKOOV educator kit is a financial investment, but the reusability of the kit makes it an attractive investment for parents, teachers, and schools looking to make STEM more interesting and engaging for younger kids!
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Too often students rely entirely on someone elses research, data, and analysis. They do not feel empowered to collect and analyze their own data. However, if we want our students to think like researchers, we need to provide them with the tools necessary to conduct real research. Gathering their own data to complement online research has the following benefits:
If students learn how to generate questions and conduct research to answer those questions, they are more likely to take that researcher mindset into the world and continue learning long after they have left our classrooms.
The KOOV corea microcontroller that connects code with the robots
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How do we keep our kids entertained?
When I design a playlist, I always start with a template. I include all of the activities that I believe MOST students will benefit from then I customize individual playlists to ensure that students who need additional scaffolding receive it and those who are ready for next challenge get it.
It develops technical skills (e.g., learn to use an online survey tool) and soft skills (e.g., practice interview skills).
It actively engages them in the research process as collectors of data.
While reading Katrina Schwartzs article titled How Helping Students to Ask Better Questions Can Transform Classrooms, I was struck by the line many older students have forgotten how to ask their own questions about the world, afraid that if they wonder they will be wrong. When do kids lose the curiosity that drives them to ask so many questions as children? Why are they so afraid of being wrong? How do we inspire older students to take risks, ask bold questions, and seek their own answers?
KOOV: Robotics and Coding Projects for Kids