Robotics and Digital Storytelling

The goals of this Saturday technology program are to provide challenging activities for your child and provide opportunities for our education majors to practice teaching with technology. The program will be held on November 12 and November 19 (child must attend both days) from 8:30am 11:30am. Some children are more interested in storytelling; some are more interested in playing with construction toys. Robotics provides opportunities for both types of children to build on their interests and to develop curiosity in areas that they have not shown interest before. Click here to register your child online. (http://cilat.org/tech_program.html) Development of Knowledge and Skills in Mathematics, Science, Technology, and Engineering On the first Saturday, in teams consisting of two children and two education majors, children will build and program some of the following 3D models using LEGO pieces: dancing birds, drumming monkeys, hungry alligator, roaring lion, flying bird, playing soccer, and adventure stories. These activities will introduce physics concepts such energy, gears, and pulleys, and help children start to understand and appreciate engineering and programming concepts such as command sequence, sensors, and loop (we call that repeat in the program). The activities were designed to provide opportunities for children to practice skills such as making systematic observations and measurements, following 2D drawings to build 3D models using LEGO pieces, establishing links between cause and effect, developing vocabulary and communication skills to explain how the model works, making fair tests by changing one factor and observing or measuring the effect, reflecting on how to find answers, and imagining new possibilities. Development of Writing and Reading Skills On the second Saturday, children will created a movie related to the 3D models that they have built. They will use Kidspiration software to brainstorm characters and a story plot for the movie. Their teachers will guide them to create a storyboard in a Microsoft Word document to describe what images, video clips, narration, and music will be needed and how they will be synchronized. They will create the characters, props, and scenes from a variety of materials such as construction paper, markers, crayons, and clay. They will also build and program one or more 3D models as props for their movie. Some children may choose to perform in their movies. They may take digital pictures and shoot live video footages to illustrate the story actions. Once all the visuals are created, children will import them into iMovie software, add narration, sound, and music, synchronize all the audio and visual components, add transitions and effects as needed to finalize their movie. The movie making process will allow children to bring their stories to life with the 3D robotic models. It will help them appreciate the value of a well-written script to create something meaningful. It will also make the engineering process of creating and programming the 3D models personally meaningful. Rather than building and programming something for its own sake, they will create a model that they could use to tell a story and develop a movie. Scavenger Hunt During the breaks on both Saturdays, your childs teachers will guide your child to use a map and a compass to do a scavenger hunt in the UL quadrangle. They will be given clues about the directions and distance of the treasures. They will then use a compass to identify the directions and count the number of paces needed to find the treasures.

Contact This technology program was developed by faculty and staff at the Center for Innovative Learning and Assessment Technologies (CILAT), College of Education, UL Lafayette. info@cilat.org, http://cilat.org