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Showing posts with the label Dash and Dot

SLIS 761 Makerspaces

A few years back the school district I taught for decided the school needed a Makerspace.  They bought a big cart, some Littlebits , and some  Code and Go Robot Mouse  sets.  The library was the natural home for this cart.   Unfortunately I was in only my first or second year of being a school librarian and hadn't started my MLIS yet.  I had only really heard of Makerspaces in passing and didn't have a lot of extra time to figure it out.  I wish I had access to Teach Outside the Box back then. So You Want to Start a Makerspace Educator Brooke Brown recently published a gloriously extensive intro to Makerspaces.  Having begun hosting a Makerspace five years ago, she recently decided to share all that she has learned along the way.  The post begins with a definition of a Makerspace and why they are important.  The rest of the blog is broken down into her 5 S's of a Successful Makerspace: Space, Stuff, Schedule, Structure, ...

SLIS 761: Dashing through the Curriculum

https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=slj-reviews-kid-friendly-robots-dash-and-dot-test-drive There are countless ways to teach coding to children. Not just websites and apps, but hardware too.  Dash and Dot are two programmable robots created by Wonder Workshop to get elementary-aged children started with coding.  Using the scaffolded apps, users can create increasingly complex code to program the robots to make sounds, flash colored lights, move attachable arms, and navigate paths.  Of the two robots, only Dash is mobile.  The robots have been around for several years and have amassed a satisfying library of lessons available on blogs, the web,  Pinterest,  and Youtube.  In a brilliant marketing strategy, Wonder Workshop has curated much of this content on their own website and social media.  Wonder Workshop also hosts a  virtual competition  every year, which encourages long-term, iterative, and team-based problem solving.  ...