Co-Authored Research of the History of Chocolate using the 365 Platform in Year 6

The students in Mrs Wallace's and Mr Hort's class learned to use Word via their 365 accounts to create a researched report on the history of chocolate. In groups of 3 one student created the Word document and then shared it to the other team members, who were able to access it via their Outlook accounts as a link. The students used the 'Collaborative Report' template in Word to divide their research areas into 3 main parts and create the report with consistent formatting using research resources such as Google Advanced Search. They also learned to be able to use the filtered image search in Word to insert images relevant to their research that were Creative Commons filtered. One of the most powerful experiences for the classes was the collaboration conducted via the comments tool which enabled the groups to provide documented feedback to each other on their tasks in bringing it together, all the while with their teacher included as a collaborator on the document to assist with the creation of it. Well done Year 6's on your first co-authoring task online!

Fast Facts and Coding with BeeBots in Year 3

The students in Mrs Pott's and Mrs Wood's class continued their learning of coding BeeBots by using their knowledge of coding them to create an eBook for learning fast facts. The students were provided a number line, a BeeBot and an iPad and learned how to create page links on Book Creator app prior to developing their eBook. In groups the students planned out how many pages they would need to include 3 fast fact demonstrations linked to a video or 'solution' on an alternative page. It was pleasing to see the groups plan their eBooks with some great branching and to see some great video solutions created collaboratively. The various fast fact strategies were interesting too. Well done Year 3's!

Design and Coding Challenge with Sphero's in Year 3

The students in Mrs Murazko's class learned to code the Sphero robots as part of a Design challenge recently. They were challenged to help deliver something 'light yet useful' to their teacher with a given amount of materials (egg cartons, card and 1.5m of tape) through an obstacle course. Student's were provided the opportunity to form their own groups for the task. They learned to pair the Sphero to their iPad via Bluetooth and code it like an engine. It was pleasing to see many groups collaborating well to design and construct a vehicle that would operate well with the Spherical shaped engine. Well done Year 3's on progressing through a challenging challenge!

Developing Algorithms with BeeBots in Year 3

The students in Mrs Pott's and Mrs Wood's class learned to build a sequence of steps, or an algorithm, with BeeBots recently. Their challenge was to help BeeBot write numbers the correct way i.e. starting at the top of the number. In groups, the students planned their steps on their whiteboards first before activating their code (algorithm steps all together) to test it. Many groups were successful at using all the commands of BeeBot to help BeeBot learn all the numbers from 0-9. Well done Year 3's on developing your computational thinking!