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EdTech Show Daily 1 1 Friday, January 27, 2017 HOW ROBOTICS TRANSFORMS STEM IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS Julia Dweck's classroom in Macungie, Pennsylvania looks more like a produc- tion studio than your typical elementary school. Students from different grade levels work together in small groups, scribbling angles and math formulas on the whiteboard, writing a storyboard script for a video and creating code on their iPad for a robot named Dash from Wonder Workshop™. There are occa- sional heated debates and shenanigans, but they are all laser focused on solving challenges in the Wonder League Robotics Competition. STEM education is top of mind as high-paying jobs in STEM fields are growing with not enough American stu- dents to fill them. Many efforts are directed towards secondary schools, but research shows that introducing STEM early plays a key role in cognitive devel- opment and interest in the subjects later on. Elementary school teachers are paving the way to look for meaningful ways to bring STEM to life in their class- rooms. Robotics in the Classroom In elementary school, students learn with their eyes and hands – drawing, molding and manipulating objects. They are start- ing the tough transition to learning by reading, and robots make it possible for them to work through problems visually and experiment with concepts they are learning. Ms. Dweck's students have designed mazes, produced geometric shapes, cal- culated perimeter, tested probability, composed music, recorded dialogue and even retraced the voyage of the Mayflower with Dash. "Millennials have been raised on technology," Dweck says. "They have no fear of it and are eager to jump right in and create. They are natural innovators who relish and need this cre- ative platform." Many teachers who focus on inquiry-based learn- ing try to integrate robotics into as many subject areas as possible. Robotics Competitions Last year, more than 1,000 teams coded in the first ever nationwide robotics com- petition for elementary schools. The Wonder League Robotics Competition provides an in-depth and structured way to teach coding concepts while also edu- cating the whole child. Students deeply engage in robotics and coding, work in teams and gain confidence and resilience. The competition missions tie back to real-world applications – in Fall 2016, the theme will be Saving the Environment. "I learned to always include all of my teammates, because it isn't fair if nobody else gets a chance to do things, and we can finish anything on time if we just work together," says one eight-year-old student on the Wonder Dash team that fin- ished third in the nation. "This opportunity helps students develop a respect for their own abili- ties. As students develop strategies to facilitate the learning process, they experienced growth in their meta-cog- nitive skills, too. Introduction to cod- ing and robotics is as relevant to our world as learning to write. Today's learner should experience opportuni- ties to practice coding and robotics in the classroom from an early age. This foundation will serve them as learners, digital citizens and world leaders," Ms. Dweck remarks. Visit Wonder Workshop at booth #1445. For information on Wonder Workshop's next robotics competition, sign up at clubs.makewonder.com. DO YOU HAVE STUDENTS WITHOUT INTERNET AT HOME? Schools and districts that are deploying 1-to-1 initiatives are most vulnerable to students falling into the Homework Gap. Although the intent of technology is to ensure students have access to the tools and technology to compete and learn in a modern world – if the district does not also have a plan for Internet outside the classroom, a number of students will actually fall further behind. More than just Internet One affordable way districts can offer home Internet access for students is with Kajeet Education Broadband™. Education Broadband includes a Wi-Fi hotspot called a Kajeet SmartSpot ® that is easy for students to use, connects to a lightning fast 4G network – with Verizon – and costs approximately $15 to $20 per student per month. Any Wi-Fi compatible Chromebook, Netbook, laptop or tablet they connect with is filtered specifically for school assignment use; inappropriate and non-education content is blocked and cannot be accessed. Increased Test Scores Providing connectivity to students at home with Kajeet provides them with more than just Internet. In Chicago Public Schools, it means increased math test scores for fifth graders. The final results from a three-year-long study, which evaluated the benefits of a 1-to-1 tablet implementation along with and home Internet through Kajeet, showed that students with Internet access at home had the highest percentage of fifth graders scoring at or above the national average RIT (Rasch Unit) in math compared to similar Chicago schools, according to the Northwest Evaluation Association's Measures of Academic Progress ® assess- ment scores. More Parent Involvement In District of Columbia Public Schools, Internet at home means parent engagement. Families are able to go online, check grades and communicate with teachers. With Internet access the parents know what their children are doing, so they can have informed conver- sations about book reports or math assignments and not wait until the report cards arrive. "They may not be able to explain the Pythagorean Theorem, but they can com- municate with their child's teacher and understand the learning process," said Marcia Cole, Technology Instructional Coach at DCPS. Higher Graduation Rates Better student engagement, more parent involvement and higher test scores all contribute to an increase in graduation rates. High school students who have broad- band Internet at home have grad- uation rates six to eight percent- age points higher than students who don't, according to a study by the Federal Reserve. Richland School District Two is tracking all these metrics in connection with their Kajeet devices. "We are able to look at test scores, grades and graduation rates to measure the results, and we've seen some good results so far. Using Kajeet SmartSpots gave these kids avenues to complete all their homework. We even had some students who were able to bring their grades up to honor roll status from so-so grades." Visit Kajeet at booth #613. For more information, go to www.kajeet.net.