Students from Dr. Swallow’s EDU 302: Technology in K-8 Education class facilitated four stations (Osmos, Wonder Robot, Scratch Jr, Ozobots) at the first ever Math and Computer Science night at Kingfield Elementary School in November. In addition to Dr. Swallow and EDU 302 students, Dr. Good and Eliza Hopkins came with 3d printers and laptops for doing tinkercad design work, and Dr. Lee came to join the conversation.

EDU 302 students felt the students, teachers and parents were extremely receptive of the new technology tools and the UMF pre-service teachers.  The pre-service teachers also felt they were able to engage deeply with a new technology tool that they might not have otherwise.

A pre-service teacher shared her thoughts about the experience, “I fully believe that this experience enhanced my learning. I was able to use a hands-on approach to learn about something incredible and then determine a way to teach it to others in a fun, interactive way. I also feel that being a part of an event that included not only teachers and students, but parents as well was very beneficial. I feel that experiences like these are important and beneficial for every pre-service teacher.”

The evening was designed to engage elementary students and families in computer science activities and hosted during the Hour of Code week. The evening was very successful and the teachers loved seeing new ideas for integration into their classrooms!