NORFOLK — A future leader in science and technology may be within the Berkley-Campostella Early Childhood Education Center as pre-kindergarten students are using tablets, laptops and more to learn computer coding and programming.
At the start of 2016, the school received funding from Apple, joining the list of 113 schools nationwide under Apple’s ConnectEd initiative, which provided iPads, Macbook Airs, Apple TVs and other devices to the school to integrate into the curriculum.
Educators at the school underwent an initial professional development to learn how to utilize the new resources with the students.
According to Principal Doreatha White, since receiving the funding and equipment the school has fully implemented the use of tablets and smart tech in the classroom, making way for students as young as three to learn the basics of coding — the computer language used to develop apps, software and websites.
“The program has been embraced by every stakeholder — our parents, students, and staff members — We are definitely a tech-driven school,” she said. “Our students were able to use the iPads in [January] 2016, but this was our first full year of the program and we decided that not only do we want to integrate technology throughout the curriculum, we also wanted to expand and enhance our children’s technical skills and their STEM skills so we created our Teddy Bear Tech Lab.”
While the entire school has implemented the use of technology throughout the curriculum, the Teddy Bear Tech Lab, White said, is where students take it to another level.
Advanced learning students that are four years old spend 40 minutes every day in the lab, using devices and interactive programs in a collaborative space.
While in the lab, students get to work with programs that provide a basic foundation of coding and how to program mechanical objects to move in a variety of ways.
Using programs like ScratchJr and The Foos, students learn to input directional programs to move digital avatars on screen.
Teddy Bear Tech Lab Coordinator, Antwoin McAee, said that the students have seamlessly transitioned into using the program.
“What we had to do [as a school] is meet them, not them meet us. Our job is to expand on the knowledge that they already have. What we are basically doing is taking them off of their parents’ devices and providing them ones from school that have lessons.”
According to McAee, his students’ prior exposure to smartphones and tablets has allowed for the school to appeal to them by using game-like apps and programs to teach them the foundations of coding, which ultimately transitions into students programming devices like Sphero, an interactive ball that they can maneuver through obstacles.
Students can input codes to move Sphero in specific directions, but as they advance in the class they learn how to input entire programs to make the ball go through a maze autonomously.
With the integration of technology in the classroom, the school has also reduced its paper usage by about 60 percent, White said. Homework is administered to students via iPads, which they can take home with them to do their assignments.
As part of the Apple ConnectEd partnerships, teachers were trained to use the smart technology as well as programs like ScratchJr.
According to McAee, the faculty undergoes regular professional development every Wednesday per in order to stay up to date on the latest techniques and best practices.
“They [the kids] were born in this age, however, all we are doing is expanding on what they already know and giving them more tools and resources,” McAee said. “It’s the students who are really teaching the teachers.”
Although the school year has come to an end, the school’s teachers will be preparing for next year with a series of professional development sessions and a two-day summer retreat with Apple representatives.
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