Over the weekend I had the pleasure of co-presenting in the Student Innovation Playground space at the NICE Mini-Conference at Niles North High School. NICE (Northern Illinois Computing Educators) organizes and hosts this event each winter. I’ve attended several times before, but this was my first time as a presenter.
Most presentations are held in a classroom with a traditional, formal presentation model. The Student Innovation Playground, on the other hand, is set up as more of a “Technology Faire” at which educators observe students’ creations and demonstrations of instructional technology.
Pam Johnson and I invited four students from the Channels of Challenge math program to participate and demonstrate many of the robots, apps, tools, and inventions they’ve used and created in math class this year. (These students are also enrolled in Carpenter’s Maker Club.)
Pam Johnson and I invited four students from the Channels of Challenge math program to participate and demonstrate many of the robots, apps, tools, and inventions they’ve used and created in math class this year. (These students are also enrolled in Carpenter’s Maker Club.)
It was exhilarating to watch Carpenter students teaching adult attendees about Sphero robots, MaKeyMaKeys, Osmo, and other educational technology tools. The students proudly represented Carpenter School and District 64 at this regional event.