In January, Technology Instructional Assistants (“TIAs”) got to go back to school with BEF for a special morning of training. TIAs are responsible for weekly tech specials classes that reach all elementary school students across Beaverton schools. The morning session focused on design thinking and a show and tell about how TIAs are making use of some of the new learning tools available in the Innovation Lending Library.
TIA for William Walker ES, Jonathan Cortez was selected as an early adopter and peer leader. That meant he got to experiment with some of the new equipment added to the Lending Library. His charge was to create lesson plans that peers could use in their classrooms. He used Beebots which don’t require literacy to operate and therefore can be used by younger students or by students learning English. One lesson plan he created was to challenge students to follow coding instructions to spelled out words that would lead them to find a hidden prize in the classroom.
Jose Garcia from Analog Devices took part in the TIA training and remarked on how tech education is evolving from what used to be called STEM then began STEAM and now is transitioning to STREAM, an integration of Science, Technology, Robotics, Engineering, Arts and Math to “propel student learning and help prepare them for the workforce of the future.”
The TIA for Chehalem ES, Joan Pape, was another early adopter who tested ways of using mBots. She shared both during the training day about how mBots allow students to learn the basics of block coding through built in drag and drop features, with advanced coding options with lots of variables. In her classroom, students practiced driving the robots, traversing obstacles, and testing different ways to cross under and over bridges. “What I really like is the tutorials built in to walk students through step by step. They might see another classmate get a robot to rotate after clapping and wonder how to do that. They can use the tutorials and figure out how to do it themselves, building skills around finding information themselves.”
Adriana Haro from KLA TENCOR visited this classroom. Last fall, she and her fellow employees built the robots for the classroom. They tried out some of the basic functions, but she shared she was blown away by what the students were finding to do with them in the classroom. “Their ingenuity seems to know no limits.”
Professional development and the expanded Innovation Lending Library were possible through BEF’s partnership with the district and from contributions from Analog Devices, First Tech Federal Credit Union and KLA Foundation.
