[kids-lib] What cool tech do you use in your programs?

[Gretchen Kolderup]

Thanks a bunch to everyone who responded! It's helpful to hear about
everyone's subjective experiences -- and now I have a great list of fun
things to play around with before we make a financial commitment!

Gretchen


On Fri, Mar 23, 2018 at 2:02 PM, Gretchen Kolderup <
gretchenkolderup at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey everyone,
>
> I'm looking for some recommendations! What's your favorite educational
> technology you've been using for school-age programs?
>
> Background: We've had positive community response to coding workshops
> (using various Hour of Code apps on our iPads), stop-motion animation
> workshops (again using an iPad app plus a giant pile of toys and craft
> supplies), and our Dot and Dash robotics <https://www.makewonder.com/>
> workshops. We've also used our Ozobots <https://ozobot.com/> here and
> there for both programs and outreach.
>
> I'd like to expand what we can offer next fall, and I'm wondering what you
> all have used and liked. LittleBits? Sphereo? Osmo? Here are my primary
> constraints:
>
>    - Needs to be something that can be used over and over (i.e., nothing
>    that gets put together once and then stays that way)
>    - Should be a good experience for kids ages 7-12 or so (I'm looking
>    for something with a low floor and a high ceiling)
>    - Can't require us to have a fleet of Chromebooks or computers or
>    anything that we can use during the program (although we do have iPads)
>    - Fits nicely into our current format of four sessions, each 90
>    minutes long, with about 12-15 kids working in pairs (this also puts price
>    constraints on what I'm looking for since I'm planning to buy ~6 of them)
>    - Bonus points if it might one day lend itself to being circulated as
>    a kit -- while we're not there yet, I think that might be another direction
>    in which our offerings evolve
>    - Double bonus points if you're also in the Portland metro area and
>    would be willing to let me borrow whatever you're suggesting from you and
>    noodle around with it for a week or two! (And obviously this is reciprocal:
>    if anyone's curious about Dot and Dash or the Ozobots, I'd be happy to show
>    them to you!)
>
> Thanks a lot, everyone!
>
> Gretchen Kolderup
> Youth Librarian
> St. Helens Public Library
>
>
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