Robotics is emerging as an effective strategy for bridging the gap between technology and engineering design in early childhood classrooms (Bers, Seddighin, and Sullivan 2013). Using a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) grant received from the authors' school, they purchased a KIBO-18 set from KinderLab Robotics…

This column discusses resources and science topics related to students in grades preK to 2. This month's issue discusses how digital media and robotics fit into the early childhood curriculum, and how time on devices supports learning goals and developmentally appropriate practice.

The United States is home to a culturally and linguistically diverse population of young children. In 2017, 10% of U.S. learners came from homes where languages other than English are spoken. Students who are learning English in addition to their native language(s) have the opportunity to become bilingual or multilingual in school. Thus, rather…

Teachers have the daunting task of preparing students for a future that they cannot predict. In an age of information where students have the world quite literally at their fingertips, and with the ever-growing momentum of integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), it is not enough that students experience STEM subjects…

In this article, the author explores the value of using simple robotics such as BeeBots and ProBots to enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics in the primary classroom. Before making the decision to use such technologies, it is important that they be evaluated in terms of their affordances and constraints. In other words, teachers need to…

This article describes how Lego robotics, interactive multimedia, and a simple manipulative--string--can be offered to students through coordinated activities to help them build a conceptual foundation for measuring rate. (Contains 5 figures and 3 tables.)

Robot toys can be used to promote STEM subjects, particularly coding and mathematics. The lesson described in this article illustrates how a robot toy was used with a number line to explore equality and missing addends in Year 1. The lesson progression models how activities can be sequenced to build on developing understandings while supporting…

Potential benefits of providing elementary school students experiences with coding robots are well-documented. These include building skill sets related to logical thinking, problem solving, persistence, collaboration, and communication (Harrell 2015). The authors embrace the value of coding in helping elementary school students develop these…

In the wake of all that educators are navigating these days, they've proven to be not only resilient, but also innovative. They continue intentionally finding new and exciting ways to create powerful learning opportunities for all students. Reinvent the Classroom, an initiative by Digital Promise, HP, Microsoft, and Intel, supports, celebrates,…

In an ever-increasing technological society, teachers have now, more than ever, a vast offering of educational technologies made available for classroom use. However, the time necessary for vetting and developing rigorous lessons with the usage of such technologies can be overwhelming for a classroom teacher. Still, teachers need the opportunity…

Because students have often been conditioned as passive learners and receivers of knowledge, it can be difficult for them to persevere in solving authentic problems. Nevertheless, teachers must persist in preparing students as problem solvers and critical thinkers. In an urban inner-city neighborhood school in the southeast, students embarked on a…

This paper presents a design for a cutting-edge English program in which elementary school learners of English as a foreign language in Taiwan had lively interactions with a teaching assistant robot. Three dimensions involved in the design included (1) a pleasant and interactive classroom environment as the learning context, (2) a teaching…