Inspire STEM: Demystify & Debug Robotics

Online Workshop — National Science Week: Demystify & Debug Robotics

National Science Week (12-20 August) is fast approaching with the theme of this year “Innovation: Powering Future Industries”. As an early childhood educator, you may be wondering how best to implement this theme into an early childhood setting — in which case, let Little Scientists support you! 

An engaging and age-appropriate idea is to explore computer science and robots with the children in your service. No, that wasn’t a typo: robots! What exactly is a robot? Can we teach a robot to make toast? What will happen if we get a bug in our code? 

In this online workshop, you will uncover basic concepts of computational thinking and unlock the world of computers for children, which means this workshop is strongly recommended for any service considering purchasing Bee-Bots (or something similar) as an educational tool. By attending this online workshop, you will: 

• Develop games and provocations to improve sequencing and sorting.  
• Understand the fundamentals of computational thinking. 
• Recognise computational learning opportunities in everyday life.  
• Gain age-appropriate computer science ideas for implementation in your service. 
• Know how to support children to unlock computer science and “speak to a computer”. 
• Undertake the preliminary work needed to introduce Bee-Bots into your service, like learning the skills and processes to program a Bee-Bot. 

We have a great partnership with the Australian supplier of Bee-Bots that has given us a meaty 20% discount off their entire Bee-Bots range to share with educators who attend our Computer Workshops. That means if you or your service purchase a Bee-Bots swarm (aka six pack), you would have a saving of over $200. A great way to save money and skill up! 

In an increasingly digital society, Computer Science is an essential workshop to help early childhood educators reframe digital technology as an exciting tool for learning, rather than as passive entertainment. You will immerse yourself in the world of computer science and playfully explore how to engage children in algorithms, sequencing, and sorting and gain expertise in the pedagogical topic of early computational thinking.   

All workshops (yes even online ones!) are as hands on and play based as possible and support educators to create rich STEM learning experiences and use computer science as a topic through which to teach the outcomes of the Early Years Learning Framework. You’ll learn the concepts, methods, and skills behind inquiry-based STEM education within the robotics context and come away with simple techniques to cultivate children’s excitement for STEM exploration. Everyone is welcome!

DETAILS

When: Monday 7th August 2023 — 4-6pm (AEST) 3.30-5.30pm (ACST) 2-4pm (AWST)

Where: Online via Zoom (The Zoom link will be in the confirmation email and tickets)

Questions? Email us at hello@littlescientists.org.au.