CUE STEAMPunk
Only moments after the bell rang for 7th and 8th grade lunch to begin there was a knock at the door. Upon opening the door there stood several students wanting to know could they spend their lunch time programming the Sphero robot's that they had been working with earlier in the day during class. The teacher that was in the room at the time said she did not know how to work them and the students said 'We can teach you'.
How great is it when students are so engaged in learning that they come back during lunch because they can not get enough. Several have even talked their parents into purchasing Sphero's!They can just can not get enough.
So what is CUE STEAMPunk and how did this start? When reading the Summer 2015 issue of OnCue Journal this add caught my attention
I emailed Jon Corippo and he set me up with some Sphero 2.0's with start-up curriculum for a few weeks. Because I'm know a TOSA for Instructional Technology I worked with a couple middle school classes to get the STEAMPunk labs rolling.
Students started with the basic drive feature and then quickly moved on to using the Tickle app to challenge each other with more and more difficult patterns to program. They mapped out tracks with electrical tape on the floor and challenged each other to see who could move through it the fastest, slowest, stay inside the lines with most accuracy, change colors on turns, etc. Area of shape was calculated. Programming, math, artistic side with light show, what's next...
Students that would not always work together were helping each other. This is not just about programming or technology, it is teaching social skills and critical thinking all wrapped in one.
What is CUE STEAMPunk it is education at it best!
Who is next? Don't wait open up your email and contact Jon now. Because if you don't I'll take them back so they don't collect dust!!! You hear me Jon!!! No dust collecting if no one else wants them they will always have a home in room 11!
