From my years of teaching elementary
school, a few ideas come to mind on what are essential skills for young people
to learn. They are presented here, in no particular order:
the ability to substantiate and
articulate your thinking and viewpoint
the ability to negotiate and
work within a group
the ability to take information
from one place and use it in another
the ability and fortitude to
try something and rework it to make it better
the ability to try something
new
the capacity and interest to
learn about the world
the interest in connecting
in-school learning to the ‘real world’
the opportunity to be both
teacher and learner
Finding few engaging manipulatives attached
to curriculum to achieve these goals, I have co-developed several products for
hands-on collaborative learning in a variety of settings: the classroom, in
after-school activities, in homeschooling, and in summer camps. These products
offer open-ended opportunities for students to experiment with curriculum
supported ideas and creative-free-thinking. They offer the possibility for
students to teach and learn from each other, taking time to listen and
contribute while using visually stimulating hands-on materials.
The first, the intooba construction kit for K-6, (www.intooba.com) is designed for hands-on collaborative learning in STEM/STEAM engineering and math. Rods and connectors are used to solve over 25 engineering challenges, each with several levels of complexity. A math manual is provided to support common core concepts such as shapes, measurement, and estimation.
Our challenging engineering projects encourage collaborative learning in designing, constructing, and budgeting.
diskii math (http://www.diskii.com) is a hands-on math manipulative for grades 1-5. Our instructor manual offers ideas on learning such topics as algebra, logic, fractions, and decimals, and is based on common core standards. Students may learn both as teacher and student when working collaboratively with diskii tokens. Each token is associated with a unique name, color, and face offering three variables for problem creators. Users can vary the complexity of the product by assigning an age-appropriate value to each token when creating challenges. We have developed both physical and downloadable token sets.
All of our materials require minimal
instruction to set-up and use. No professional development is required for
these easy-to-understand products which are supported by instructor and student
manuals where appropriate.
Spiraling through the many years of a K-12 education are various levels of math, language, writing, social studies, the sciences, and the traditional topics we expect in such an environment. The education community is pushing towards STEM/STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math – with the inclusion of Art) with the realization that the space in which students will eventually be employed has changed dramatically. Not only has the environment changed with advances in technology, globalization, access to information, social and political change, and environmental challenges, but the pace of change is increasing. We are now trying to integrate the disciplines with a view to increased creativity through cross-discipline pollination. Is this enough? Are we fulfilling our essential and critical responsibility in providing opportunities to enable our children to operate successfully in this environment?
Essential features in education looking forward should include:
• learning to correctly and accurately find, describe, and solve complex challenges
• attaining the skills required to work successfully in groups
• the ability to welcome and work through adjustments, modifications, and failures
• demonstrating to students the practical applications of their classroom learning
To these ends, we at Blue Egg Advisory Group LLC have invented and developed a unique manipulative to foster these concepts in young learners (K-6) as they prepare for secondary school and beyond. Our INTOOBA Construction Kit manipulative offers many opportunities for hands-on experimentation through leveled curriculum manuals in math and engineering.