Bermuda Parent Bermuda Parent Spring 2015 | Page 37

learn geography, time zones – it’s good to speak to students in Sweden because they can help us to learn. We help stu- dents to learn that the classroom is not confined to what’s inside the four walls.” A robotics session sees the campers use a tool called ‘Little Bits’ to create practical inventions. “The first chal- lenge requires the campers to create a blue light by using a power bit and an output bit,” Doyling says. “The students realise that each challenge can be completed in a vari- ety of different ways and that they are consistently being introduced to new ‘bits’ as the challenges become more complex.” Many of the sessions are recorded so that the students can review them later. “We also go on field trips – for example, to the Mari- time Museum, or to a film, or to Fort Hamilton where we did a ‘rocket challenge’, using litre bottles to design rock- ets,” Doyling says. “It’s a blended learning environment – the fusion of technology-related programmes along with traditional teaching. Where kids find education meaningful is when it serves a purpose rather than hearing a teacher say ‘turn to page 101, and let me bore you to death’. Instead, teaching this way connects learning to what students can use it for. “This style of teaching allows students to develop life-long skills that they will always use. I am talking about collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and communica- tion with others. They are learning by doing, and also by enquiry, by making mistakes – ‘okay, this way won’t work, so let me try this other way’. Schools all over the world are transitioning from traditional, fact-based learning to a situ- ation where students prove what they know by developing a project or experiment. “The critical thing is to encourage students to think in a way that the future will demand them to think. It’s no longer simply what you know, it’s what you can do with what you know, how you can take what you know and put it to practical use for your community.” While the camps have tradition- ally attracted male campers, Doyling encourages girls to sign up, too. “Girls are definitely capable and welcome at all the camps,” he says. “The girls at BHS are indicative of that – they are brilliant, engaged, interested, and doing some phenomenal stuff.” Doyling’s style of teaching is also proving beneficial to him, too. “I am reaching my potential as an educator, which is what students need,” he says. “The shifting nature of the world demands each of us to change. We can’t teach students the way we did it yesterday.” For more information on the camps, contact the Interactive Learning Centre at 533-4452 or [email protected]. www.bermudaparent.bm 35