Term 4

This term, students used their understanding of digital devices and technology to solve real world problems. Real world problem solving encourages creativity, flexibility and resourcefulness.

A group of Stage 3 students, focussed on the needs of their class specifically. Their first task was to meet with their group and discuss problems and needs that they could use technology to solve. This first meeting was extremely valuable and encouraged the students to be problem solvers in charge of their own learning. Once they had agreed on a problem to solve, they moved onto drawing sketches of what they could create to make processes easier for both students and staff.

Here are some of their initial designs and ideas.

Students then began considering what resources they would need to create their projects and began researching how they could use devices such as the Makey Makey in their designs. The next step was constructing their projects and creating the code needed to accompany their designs.

Stage 3 students did a remarkable job creating their creative projects. Once students were finished constructing their projects, they made short videos outlining how their project worked and met a need.

Have a look at some of their finished videos.

Students in Stage 3 Rosellas worked directly with students in Early Stage 1 to create games and projects that could help teach them a skill or concept. The students were so excited to work with a Kindergarten buddy for this project.

The first step was meeting their buddy. Stage 3 students excitedly collected their Kindergarten buddy from their classroom and sat outside for a quick chat. The students had a list of questions to ask their buddy so that they could get to know them better and understand their interests and likes so that this could be reflected in their projects.

Once students had developed a better insight into their buddy's interest, their next step was determining how to incorporate these interests into a project whilst also teaching their buddy a skill or concept. Stage 3 students did a great job working with their peers to design a project that could serve a need.

A group of Stage 3 students were also introduced to the Arduino. Arduino is an open-source electronics platform.

If you would like to learn more about Arduino, please have a look at the following video.

After exploring the many ways that the Arduino can be used, students attempted to insert an LED, a switch, a resistor and jump wires into a breadboard connected to an Arduino so that they could make the LED light up when the switch was pressed. This was a great first challenge and proved to be quite difficult. While students were waiting for their turn to use the Arduino, they used an Arduino simulator on Tinkercad to explore how to make circuits and code with a virtual Arduino. Have a look at their first exploration with the Arduino

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