Today we attended the Design Lab that is located under Kootenay Orchards Elementary and learned about technology resources in the classroom.

What did we do?

Ryan Mackenzie showed us many different tech tools that can be utilized in the classroom. Some of the technology we learned about today was:

  • AI (Moxie the robot)
  • Lego
  • Virtual Reality
  • Green screen
  • Ozobots
  • Pixacade
  • Coding
  • Chat GPT

I found Moxie the Robot and Ozobots to be very interesting. Moxie the robot is created from AI technologies and helps children grow confidence, spark curiosity, and helps children talk through their feelings. While I was having a conversation with Moxie it was clear that she was intelligent. Moxie can be programmed the work on creatin things with a person. For example you can program Moxie to help work on positive self talk and affirmations.

Ozobots are small robots that can be utilized for coding with or without screens. Ozobots help children come up with learning solutions and spark creativity. While using the ozobots I really liked that the activity was hands on and that you could program the bot to do certain things by using a different colored pens and putting the colors in certain orders would make the bot do different actions.

Why is that important ?

As we progress as a society to become more technology based it is important our youth are conformable using it and know how to use technology tools in safe manners. Educating students on when to use chat GPT and how to use it appropriate ways should be something that is taught to all learners. Chat GPT in my opinion is a fantastic tool to learn new ideas or to help come up with ideas to inspire us. However, we should not be abusing chat GPT in ways where we aren’t completing any work and not having to do any critical thinking. Technology is a great tool that can assist in many different learning opportunities. Overall, incorporating technology into all subject areas in education is something we as educators should strive for along with teaching our students how to use technology in safe and appropriate manners.

How will I implement this in my classroom ?

Green screens – I would use green screens in my classroom for story telling purposes, drama activities’, or for math and science activities’. For science you could show a plant cell and talk about the different parts of the cell and what they do.

Moxie – I would love to own my own Moxie for my classroom. I would utilize Moxie for children to talk to when they are upset and to help guide them in calming exercises.

Ozobots – I would get my students to create their own tracks that there ozobots have to use. In the track you could get the students to program different parts of the track so the bots do certain movements. This would get the students to use their creative skills, critical thinking, and problem solving.