Thi's EDUC362 Blog

Makerspaces are spaces developed for students to explore questions, learn from each other and create projects together in a safe and creative environment (Smay & Walker, 2015). It closely resonates with the theory of constructionism which promotes hands-on learning through building things (Fleming, 2015). With constructionism supporting makerspaces, Martinez & Stager (2014) highlights that this…

Barzilai & Blau, (2014) stated that well-designed games are an effective way to engage students in authentic and situated meaning making. In Australia, it has been found that 97% of homes with children have computer games (Brand, Todhunter & Jervis, 2017). This suggests that game-based technology is rapidly emerging and can be used to support…

While Augmented Reality systems enhances the physical real-world by overlaying virtual objects in real time, Virtual Reality (VR) technology, or Virtual Environment as known by Milgram, completely immerse users in a synthetic world (Carmigniani et al., 2011). It deals with an immersive 3D environment that is created with realistic images and other sensations via a…

Augmented reality (AR) refers to a technology that allow users to see the physical real world that is enhanced with virtual computer generated information (Carmigniani, 2011). An AR system has the subsequent characteristics: it combines real and virtual objects, it is interactive in real time and it is registered in 3D. AR also fits on…

Robotics is a branch of engineering that has become an integral part of modern society. Their applications can be found from home care, to exploring places humans cannot access, and assistance in medicine and surgeries. Robotics are fostering productivity, improving health, contributing to scientific understanding and accomplishing activities humans cannot do (Yang, G & Mcnutt,…

Computational thinking (CT) is a process that empowers individuals to solve problems and design systems by using abstraction and decomposition (Wing, 2016). NESA (2017) explains that CT involves organising data by breaking it down into smaller parts (decomposition), illustrating data through abstraction and the automation of solution through algorithm design. This allows the problem to…

Design thinking is a critical and creative process that allows for opportunities to ‘experiment, create and prototype models, gather feedback, and redesign’ (Razzouk & Shute, 2012). Learning by design focuses on the building up of new ideas and organising these ideas to create a product to improve a condition and as well as learning through…

What is Bee-Bot? Bee-Bot is a versatile programmable resource that can be used to engage children in a range of cross curricular learning activities (Fennel & Evan, 2011). This bee shaped robot is child-friendly making it easy to control with ‘four movement commands and three control commands’ moving Bee-Bot forward, backward, left and right (Williams,…