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Technology helps bring students’ ideas to life
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OUR world is saturated with technology and the Internet. Children growing up today have never known a world without it. Over the last 30 years, technology has completely changed the way we live, and it continues to reshape the world at an ever-increasing rate. Education, too, has seen the impact of the technological revolution. While there are positives and negatives with any change, in this article I would like to discuss some ways technology has benefited education.
We have moved into an age of innovation. Technology gives us access to knowledge and tools that allow us to transform the world around us. Students are no longer passive recipients of information, but now, more than ever, are active agents in the learning process. Gamification creates an environment in which trial and error allows students to hypothesize, test and evaluate decisions. The beauty of games is that when you make a mistake, you get to start over. Each failure is an opportunity to learn. The pace at which technology allows us to reset and restart means that learning is accelerated. The only limit is a student’s motivation to improve.
Beyond educational games designed to teach core skills, the world of coding, robotics and 3D printing allows students to model, prototype and test designs in a way only professional designers had access to in the past, and at a pace never before seen in human history. Last year Shanghai Singapore International School had a need to create iPad supports for stop motion animation movies created by Grade 1 students. Our senior school design team was briefed on this and given a budget. They worked to come up with design solutions and built prototypes from cardboard using our school laser cutter. These were evaluated, improved and the final design approved. They ordered materials and worked with our STEAM coach to laser cut and assemble a class set for real life use in the classroom. This process took about two months. The ability to generate ideas, create designs and work within a set of parameters to create a functioning final product makes learning real and exciting. Students today get real-world experience in school.
Another group of students was briefed to conceptualize and create a future-minded model of our school campus. With guidance from the STEAM coaches and ICT teachers, they came up with a variety of ideas. These were tested, critiqued and reworked. The final concept required them to learn 3D modelling, virtual reality authoring and animation development using the Unreal VREngine. The final result is an immersive VR walkthrough of our school campus.
Technology allows for invaluable, real-life experiences for students when used as tools for creation. Creating opportunities for students to actively innovate and practice design thinking inspires them to grow and learn.
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