Invent to Learn

This book is what I've been looking for, for a long time. Go buy it now!

I just got to the part about 3D printers, physical computing, and programming. I've been actively teaching coding via iPads since December. We use Kodable in K-2 and Lightbot and Hopscotch in 3-4.  I tweeted last week that the energy in my room has been absolutely electric while working with these tools. It's been so easy to see the benefit of teaching coding to young children.

Prior to reading the above, 3D printing didn't seem like something that would have a place in K-4. However, to be honest, I wasn't really clear on the practical applications of 3D printing either. Invent to Learn opened my eyes. A local high school recently acquired a 3D printer with the help of my friend Tony Youngblood. He also hipped me to iOS based CAD programs soon to be released by Makerbot. After a little more research, I've decided my classroom needs one. The 3D printer is the kiln of the 21st Century art room.

But physical computing is the technology that has me the most excited. Littlebits caught my eye a while back, but somehow I completely forgot about it. I've been describing them as electric Legos to my co-workers. These should be in every 3-4th grade science kit. I'm really interested in the Korg set for my own personal amusement. 

Although it is capable of so much more, I've also been familiar Arduino as tool for interactive art projects. I'm not sure how accessible it would be for my students, but it's definitely worth more research.

But Raspberry Pi. Oh my. So yummy. A $25 no-frills credit card sized computer that runs various useful computing tools. It also runs Scratch. Incredible. I have this idea about having my fourth graders building multiple Raspberry Pi stations for creating a Scratch lab in my classroom. I'm not sure how do-able this project is, so I'm gonna pilot the idea on my own in my garage this summer. After tweeting my ideas, I was also introduced to Kano. Wow.

3 more days of TCAP. Yeehaw.