TdS Hosts First Annual Tech Day

Guest Blog Post by Dahlia Rinck, TdS Teacher

TdS students try out coding during Hour of Code Week

TDS held its first annual Tech Day to celebrate Hour of Code Week (December 5th-11th). The goal is to get our students interested in careers in STEM. The day offered several activities for each grade-level; coding, hands-on maker space, math challenges and STEM careers. Activity #2 broke the Internet (just kidding) and had every TDS Sundevil coding for one hour! Students learned about the impact young people can have on the world. The brilliant kids that created their own apps built a fusion reactor and created a space (Rookie) for young girls to feel empowered. 

TdS Students Attend an Assembly on Coding

Shout out to Mr. Nguyen and his robotics students for being Genius Bar Sundevils, Mr. Brumbaugh for setting up the entire student and teacher accounts for Hour of Code, and Mr. Narlock for his fantastic ideas!

We even had a celebrity appearance by Kent C., an Apple account executive, that walked our kids through "Everyone Can Code" curriculum. This is an amazing program that allows our students to be exposed to not just basic coding, but also the ability to use Swift to create their own apps. At the end of the day, students completed a survey to assist us in improving and modifying next year, based on their feedback. Overwhelmingly, our students felt the day was interesting and many responded that they are more interested in a career in STEM. A significant amount of students wanted to code longer than the dedicated hour and also said they would use code.org or Swift at home on their own!Our Lakeside students are creative and innovative kids that already solve real world problems because they have the tech tools in their hands! 

TDS Rocks!

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LMS Student Techsperts Are Getting the Job Done!

LMS Student Techsperts Are Getting the Job Done!

Though there tends to be an assumption that today's students are "digital natives", students actually come to class with varying levels of foundational technology skills. While some are creating YouTube Channels or building robots, others may struggle with the basics, such as effectively searching for information online. Student inequities in comfort and knowledge levels can create barriers to adoption and use.

To help support those skills, last week over 30 LMS classroom and office aide students were trained as iPad Techsperts. Teachers John Dungan and Brian Mendoza, alongside IT Technology Analyst Shauna Winchester and Educational Technology Director Dr. Laura Spencer taught the students troubleshooting strategies for the iPads so that students can get quick help from their peers instead of having to wait for IT, or interrupt a teacher lesson to ask for assistance. Students learned how to fix wifi connectivity problems; loss of audio; glitchy apps, and much more.

No Techsperts? No Problem!

Even without Techsperts on a school site, teachers can encourage students to offer their skills and expertise. Before assigning work on a new app or tech tool, allowing students 15-20 minutes to explore without any directions at all about the app/tech tool. It gives teachers an opportunity to see what students are drawn to and what some of the struggles might be. By providing time for students to work with each other to become familiar with the functionality, students won't be bogged down by the logistics of things like figuring out what each button does. Usually, students will eagerly share what they have found with each other, potentially freeing teachers up to focus on content rather than technology support. As an extension activity, teachers can ask an "expert" to create a Tips Sheet or How-To video to share with the class.