Webinar: Early Childhood Technology: Supporting Child Development with Creative Coding
This webinar has already taken place. Access the slide presentation from the webinar to learn more about early learning technologies, research, educator’s in-class experience and KIBO and Scratch Jr activities that can be used for coding activities!
You are invited to attend a webinar providing hands-on activities that you can use for the upcoming Hour of Code and CS Week events. Attend this webinar Early Childhood Technology: Supporting Child Development with Creative Coding where you will hear from panelists working with young learners from PreK- 2nd grade. Each of the panelists will share their in-class experience as well as the research behind early learning technologies. They will also share KIBO and Scratch Jr activities that can be used for Hour of Code/CS Week!
When: Wednesday, December 4th from 1:30 – 2:30pm (EST)
Why: Hour of Code and CS Week activities can be used for young learners too! Adding technology for even the youngest grades can be easy and fun. Come to this webinar to learn more about computational thinking for young learners and how it can easily be applied into your classroom.
When we keep the developmental needs of young children front and center, we can bring creative coding and robotics into the early learning classroom in a natural and integrated way. With the right training and curriculum, even teachers who aren’t experts in technology (and maybe don’t love technology!) can design coding programs to support their early learning objectives. In this webinar you will hear from a variety of educators experiences in bringing computer science into early childhood education settings, with suggestions for activities you can implement right away — whether for an Hour of Code or as the first step of your journey with creative coding technologies such as Scratch Jr and KIBO.
All the webinar’s educator presenters have attended Tufts University’s Early Childhood Technology (ECT) Graduate Certificate Program where they learned how to incorporate early learning coding technologies across the curriculum, using pedagogical frameworks developed by Dr. Marina Bers and the DevTech Research Group at Tufts University. In addition, you will learn about current research coming from DevTech.
Panelists include:
Katie Caster
Katie has been a teacher in urban spaces for over thirteen years within various teaching and leadership roles. Currently she is a Teacher at the Perry K-8 school within Boston Public Schools, where she co-created a STE(A)M program, which places an emphasis on exposing girls to careers in STEM while exploring positive cultural identity.
Jason Innes
Jason Innes is the Manager of Curriculum Development and Training for KinderLab Robotics, where he develops STEAM curriculum and leads professional development workshops. He loves helping teachers integrate coding, robotics and playful STEAM activities into their classes. Jason presents at national conferences on the importance of early learning coding technologies.
Angie Kalthoff
Angie Kalthoff is the program manager for Tufts’ Early Childhood Technology (ECT) graduate certificate program. Previously, she was a Technology Integrationist in the St. Cloud Area School District 742 in Minnesota where she used taught educators about the best approaches for integrating early childhood technology in the classroom.
Heather Lee
Heather Lee is the director at the Boise State University Children’s Center, a nationally accredited center for early care and learning, serving the children and families of Boise State students, faculty, and staff. She also serves as the early STEM education coordinator for Idaho STEM Action Center, an Office of the Governor.
Researchers Include:
Madhu Govind
Madhu Govind is a doctoral student in Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University. Her research interests include collaborative family programming and teacher perceptions of coding and coding education in early childhood. She is currently working with Norfolk Public Schools, developing and implementing literacy-focused robotics curricula for early elementary.
Emily Relkin
Emily is a Ph.D student in Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University, where she also works as a Graduate Research Assistant in the DevTech Research lab and as a teaching assistant in the Early Childhood Technology certificate program. Emily is currently working with military children within Norfolk Public Schools to measure computational thinking abilities in young children using the KIBO robot.
Amanda Sullivan
Dr. Amanda Sullivan, Ph.D. is a child development specialist who researches the impact of new technologies and media on children. Amanda’s research is specifically concerned with using new technologies to engage girls in STEM in order to increase the representation of girls and women in these fields.
In this webinar you’ll learn:
– How the participants brought what they learned in the ECT graduate program to real world implementation in the classroom.
– Learn about the research from Dr. Marina Bers and the DevTech research group at Tufts University in early childhood technology.
– Activities that each panelist has created, which can be shared and used for Hour of Code/CS Week
We hope you will be able to join us on Wednesday, December 4th at 1:30pm to learn from educators working with young learners how to easily use technology in the classroom.
Learn more about the importance of introducing coding and robotics to young learners
KIBO, the learning robot designed specifically for kids, offers an inviting, engaging platform for young children to start their journey into creating with code in a fun and creative way. KIBO’s block-based coding language gives children control over the robot’s movements, sounds, and sensors, allowing them to express their imaginations with code. The KIBO curriculum for educators also teaches children to tell stories, create characters, and explore the world around them through code. KIBO is the number one choice in screen-free coding for kids – trusted by more parents and schools to introduce today’s youth to the wonders of technology and robotics.
Learn the 6 Key Benefits of Using Robotics with Your Youngest Students!
Introduce coding and robotics into your early childhood classrooms – in a fun and playful way!
