29/7/16: Open House at the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET)
So Today I've had a rather interesting day because I have been to the Open House Day at The Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET). Here I was able to broaden my knowledge of what provisions are out there to stimulate group projects and have a bigger impact on educating children in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).
I discovered that the IET work in partnership with a number of organisations including Lego® to deliver a global science and technology competition for teams of 9-16 year olds to encourage them to develop skills which will support their future and possibly their careers. The competition itself goes under the name First Lego League and uses Lego Mindstorm robotics to find a solution to a real world problem. What's more, not only was I able to see it in action but I was also able to speak to a parent of a participant who explained that her son's team had won regional competitions, competed and won nationally and then had opportunities to go to European and International competitions in the United States. Furthermore I learnt that after winning numerous competitions the team are now in talks with a company to develop their idea for the real world. If that's not impact and context, I don't know what is.
I was also able to see a number of Micro:bit activities in context with a number of resources and support materials. I personally prefer Microsoft Block Editor or Code Kingdoms Java for script- maybe because it's more pictorial, as opposed to Microsoft's Touch Develop which is more word based. I personally don't know much about Python, purely because I don't (or haven't yet been required to) use it, I am open to it though, but can't advise. However I do like how there are options, it's a bit like being able to choosing the pen you like the most.
I was able to ask questions to the experts and if this wasn't necessary I was left to mooch the tech independently, peppermint tea in hand, perfect!
Yes tea, coffee and cakes were provided (much to my taste bud's dismay due to my gluten free diet but I was content with tea!)
There were other organisations there too, such as Scratch (as you'd expect!) Virtuali-tee (promoting wearable and programmable tech) and a raft of activities from the Engineering and Tech careers such as television green room filming, editing and learning about generating electricity.
An all round great event and highly successful in inspiring not only the adults of tomorrow but the adults of today also.
So Today I've had a rather interesting day because I have been to the Open House Day at The Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET). Here I was able to broaden my knowledge of what provisions are out there to stimulate group projects and have a bigger impact on educating children in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).
I discovered that the IET work in partnership with a number of organisations including Lego® to deliver a global science and technology competition for teams of 9-16 year olds to encourage them to develop skills which will support their future and possibly their careers. The competition itself goes under the name First Lego League and uses Lego Mindstorm robotics to find a solution to a real world problem. What's more, not only was I able to see it in action but I was also able to speak to a parent of a participant who explained that her son's team had won regional competitions, competed and won nationally and then had opportunities to go to European and International competitions in the United States. Furthermore I learnt that after winning numerous competitions the team are now in talks with a company to develop their idea for the real world. If that's not impact and context, I don't know what is.
I was also able to see a number of Micro:bit activities in context with a number of resources and support materials. I personally prefer Microsoft Block Editor or Code Kingdoms Java for script- maybe because it's more pictorial, as opposed to Microsoft's Touch Develop which is more word based. I personally don't know much about Python, purely because I don't (or haven't yet been required to) use it, I am open to it though, but can't advise. However I do like how there are options, it's a bit like being able to choosing the pen you like the most.
I was able to ask questions to the experts and if this wasn't necessary I was left to mooch the tech independently, peppermint tea in hand, perfect!
Yes tea, coffee and cakes were provided (much to my taste bud's dismay due to my gluten free diet but I was content with tea!)
There were other organisations there too, such as Scratch (as you'd expect!) Virtuali-tee (promoting wearable and programmable tech) and a raft of activities from the Engineering and Tech careers such as television green room filming, editing and learning about generating electricity.
An all round great event and highly successful in inspiring not only the adults of tomorrow but the adults of today also.