The newest TechStars curriculum by technology education provider Computer Explorers is Minecraft: Desert Island Survival. In the course, students ages 8 and up will be fully engaged as they work collaboratively on a private server to build and expand upon a 3D immersive world exclusively designed for Computer Explorers.
“Minecraft is an open-ended tool that can be used to effectively integrate technology into the classroom. Current thought is that nearly 80% of future careers will require some science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills. Every possible means must be used to cultivate the interest of our youth in these fields. We believe Minecraft: Desert Island Survival is an effective means,” says Computer Explorers Curriculum and Program Development Director Elizabeth Marion.
Students will work in Survival Mode which requires them to take into account resources, hunger, tools and more. They have to explore in order to collect resources and process what they find, such as smelting ore to create metal. As they develop their world, the students gain insight into the various elements of survival, settlement and exploration in a way that keeps them constantly observing, hypothesizing and testing. “Our course fully engages students while promoting individual creativity and building teamwork skills,” says Marion.
Minecraft: Desert Island Survival aligns well with the National Educational Technology Standards for Students(NETS-S) by creating original works as a means of a personal group expression, using models or simulations to explore complex systems and issues, promoting communication and collaboration with project teams, and allowing students to plan and manage activities to develop a solution.
By Renee Young
Technology has forever changed our world, and our children are getting their hands on technology as soon as their little hands can push a button or swipe a screen.
The rise of mobile devices means children can have access to learning anywhere and at any time. There are more than 80,000 applications for education written for iOS and Android device, on every subject and for every grade level from preschool through college.
Accessibility is the most obvious of the many benefits of technology education for children, but what are some of the benefits being observed in the classroom?
They’re More Engaged
Students who are engaged in their classes due to the use of technology are no longer passive learners, but ones who have an active role in the classroom. Children are able to make choices where to find information, how they will use it and how they will present it. The teacher is still ever present as a coach or a facilitator who will set goals, and provide guidelines and resources, but is no longer the center of attention as a dispenser of information.
They Get More Individualized Attention
Technology in the classroom means no more one-size-fits-all approach to education. A great advantage of today’s technology is that lessons can be personalized according to students’ needs. A teacher can track in real time the progress of individual students, allowing the teacher to focus on the student who may be struggling while others work at their own pace.
”A teacher can instantly know who is able to do the long division, and who is getting stumped, compared with having to wait to correct 30 students’ assessments,” said Tracy Gray, the managing director of the Center on STEM Education and Innovation at the American Institutes for Research, told Patch last week.
They Work Better with Teachers
Students and teachers are becoming partners in their education and technology is helping them work together for better results.
“We need teachers who are able and willing to become side-by-side learners with their students. Teachers who are not afraid to acknowledge, ‘I don’t know’, and then can turn around and say, ‘Let’s find out together,'” wrote Al Rogers of the Global School Net Foundation. “These teachers need to know how to use various technologies which can not only answer questions, but create questions as well. We need teachers who understand that learning in today’s world is not just a matter of mastering a static body of knowledge, but also being able to discover the rapidly changing ideas about that knowledge itself.”
They Build Skills for Life
Students use technology to access the Internet, enjoying the benefits of a global classroom where information is gathered and shared — one that extends beyond four walls. When students use technology they develop a number of skills for life, including critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration. Technology will enhance and add to the learning experience and foster a life-long love of learning so that students can continue to develop their minds when their formal schooling ends.
At Computer Explorers, we are committed to helping students prepare for the future while having fun today. Our vision is to help children reach their full potential by using technology as a tool to engage students, enhance the educational process and prepare them for the future. We welcome preschool and elementary administrators to contact us to find out how to bring our TechStars programs into your schools. Parents are invited to use our program locator to find TechStars programs close to home.
By Renee Young
Technology is a valuable resource for teachers to incorporate into their classroom experience. Not only do teachers have the ability to engage their students with interactive learning applications, they also have access to tools that can support classroom management.
Technology for teachers includes applications that help with classroom behavior management, grading assignments and monitoring group assignments. There are also tools teachers can use to allow students to share their work both with their peers and their families, promoting better communication between parents and teachers.
Behavior Management
ClassDojo, by ClassTwist, Inc., is a free application that assigns each student an avatar and allows teachers to monitor their behavior with a point system. Positive behavior such as staying on task, helping others and participating in class earn students one point, and is reflected on the screen with a green bubble. Negative behavior such as not having homework, talking out of turn and bullying will show up in red, and one point will be subtracted from their total.
Real time behavior monitoring results in a reduction of time that class is disrupted. ClassDojo is equipped with a feature that will randomly select students, and the teacher can observe behavior at that moment, ensuring that students who quietly go about their work can also gain points and recognition.
This app also comes with the capability to track attendance, and has a built in timer for timed activities and test taking. At the end of the day, ClassDojo can generate a report showing trends in students behavior that can be sent to parents. Students and parents alike will have a log-in, and can check on daily progress.
Grading Assignments
Flubaroo by edCode.org is a free app written by a teacher for teachers, and makes grading assignments almost effortless. It works in conjunction with Google Drive, but is not a Google product or service.
Teachers can create tests and assignments by following the step-by-step instructions included in the app. Once the questions are entered and Flubaroo is installed, it will appear in the menu on the spreadsheet. Flubaroo will ask a few questions, and in less than a minute, the lesson will be graded for the entire class. Then results can be emailed to students and parents, and a summary is generated for the teacher.
If there is a question that is marked incorrect by less than 60% of the students, it will be highlighted in orange to alert the teacher. Students will be happy to have instant feedback, and teachers will love the time saved grading assignments.
Monitoring Group Projects
TitanPad is a free app that allows teachers can host and record student group project sessions with a real-time platform for project collaboration. Teachers can invite their students to work on a project by sharing a URL provided by TitanPad. Each student is given a unique color to highlight their contribution to the project. Teachers can follow the progress of their students, and monitor each student’s contribution.
At Computer Explorers, we are committed to helping students prepare for the future while having fun today. Our vision is to help children reach their full potential by using technology as a tool to engage students, enhance the educational process and prepare them for the future. We welcome preschool and elementary administrators to contact us to find out how to bring our TechStars programs into your schools. Parents are invited to use our program locator to find TechStars programs close to home.
