Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group Newsletter 8 Visibility of eTwinning Projects Newsletter 8 | Page 32

Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2018 Newsletter
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A happy STEM experience with Bee-Bot
by Maria Tsapara, Eftychia Nikolaou
and Eleni Kospolemi
Robotics is a fun and exciting activity that gives
students the opportunity to get involved with STEM
approach.
STEM is a way of thinking about how educators at
all levels—including parents—should be helping
students integrate knowledge across disciplines,
encouraging them to think in a more connected and
holistic way (Bales, Volmert & Kendall-Taylor,
2015). Our knowledge of how people learn has
grown substantially over the last few decades. We
now understand that success in learning requires
the learner to be at the center of the experience,
making connections across disciplines and also
across contextual settings (Alade, Lauricella,
Beaudoin-Ryan, & Wartella 2016). Children need to
be presented opportunities to learn the same
material in different settings and through different
lenses. Many parents and teachers wonder, at what
age is it appropriate to start teaching STEM? And
how can we implement these concepts into early
childhood education? The answer is: It is never too
early to start STEM education (Sneideman, 2013).
Diana Gheorghe is a primary school teacher at
“Emil Palade” School in Ploiești, Romania.
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Our project "A happy stem experience with Bee-
bot" exploited Bee-Bot, as an innovative learning
tool that helped children to familiarize in a playful
way with Science and Technology and at the same
time develop basic skills and competences such as
algorithmic thinking, problem solving, critical
thinking and creative thinking. The aim of our
project is children, to be introduced to the concept
of programming in a playful way. The methodology
was based on collaborative learning. The approach
of the subject was experiential, with the main aim
of cultivating skills of the 21st century, such as
critical thinking, communication, collaboration and
creativity. Moreover, discussion, visual observation,
software utilization, enriched teaching, teamwork,
brainstorming and collection of material from the
internet exploited in the learning process.
Students had been entangled bee bot in everyday
activities. They developed ICT skills, measured the
concepts Right, Left, Back, Directed, learned to
collaborate, solve problems, developed critical
thinking, observer skills, learned to make
assumptions and predictions, to read simple
symbols, drawings and maps, develop language and
communication, mathematics, and utilize
technology. At the same time the action was
implemented based on the game-based learning
framework. This approach aims to create learning
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