After nearly 3 decades working in schools, with over half of that time as Technology Director or Principal, I’m starting out the new school year with a full-time teaching load and no administrative role. The reactions I’ve had from people are illuminating and have given me much fodder for reflection. “Why do you want to […]
It’s not news that technology is making a big impact on education. Schools are spending lots of money on computers, robots, tablets, 3D printers, etc. Curriculum is being rewritten to embed technology skills within every subject at all grade levels. Students are being required to learn computer programming and being encouraged to become makers. But […]
“This was great. We should do more of these!” Over a dozen MS and HS girls came to the ICS Makerspace/Robotics Lab on Saturday for a special girls-only technology session. They designed things, collaborated in teams, taught themselves new skills, faced problems and figured out how to overcome them, made things and had a great […]
“A chance to work on an activity required one to use their hands to build physical objects as opposed to writing or typing.” There certainly was a buzz of excitement and energy around the SEC on Monday and Tuesday as the entire Grade 10 class worked in small groups on a variety of projects embodying […]
Wow!! It was universal: children and adults alike were impressed with the Open House we held on Saturday for our new Makerspace/Robotics Lab. The whole morning there was a buzz of laughter and enthusiastic calls of “look at this!” People were moving around the room, checking out what other people were doing and showing off […]
In our new Makerspace/Robotics Lab, we’ve got a new Makerbot Replicator for 3D printing (and a Digitizer for scanning objects)! We’ve set it up and run a few test prints. I sent out a tweet last weekend of our first real print: 3D printer in action at #ICSAddis #makerspace… How will it turn out? pic.twitter.com/nSBEGeQeuu […]
The internet and world-wide-web have revolutionised so many aspects of society, it’s no wonder that they have changed how people learn. (It’s only surprising that it hasn’t changed more already.) Online learning has provided so many opportunities for people all over the world, that it has become extremely easy and often free to learn just […]
The ICS Robotics team is off and running for SY1617! We’ve received a shipment of new kits and extra parts, and our high school and middle school after-school activities are off and running. The official ASA season doesn’t start until next week, but we had a “soft opening” of the new Makerspace/Robotics Lab in S021 […]
We got a bunch of new equipment to set up the new Makerspace/Robotics Lab, including a vinyl cutter. This is a fairly simple piece of equipment: you design something, then send it to the cutter which cuts your design in paper or vinyl. With this, you can make stencils, wall decals, laptop stickers, etc. So […]
Apple touts its products as being for the everyday user and being designed to be simple to use. The many fans of Apple computers, tablets and phones, argue that its products “just work” as opposed to other software, systems and equipment. That’s not at all true. I use Apple’s OSX on a Macbook Pro. I […]