Introducing technology: Woodson utilizing coding to get students’ interest in engineering

Published 2:01 am Monday, May 2, 2016

Elaina Karrow looks to Sphero after giving it a simple program to move during a meeting of the Woodson Coding Club Tuesday. BELOW: Chaz Bonorden uses a simple program to tell Sphero what to do. Photos by Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Elaina Karrow looks to Sphero after giving it a simple program to move during a meeting of the Woodson Coding Club Tuesday. BELOW: Chaz Bonorden uses a simple program to tell Sphero what to do. Photos by Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

A small sphere named Sphero took off across the gym floor of Woodson Kindergarten Center Tuesday morning with Jada Swift in hot pursuit. Once the elusive little ball was corralled, Swift wasted little time in admonishing the runaway.

“You’re naughty,” she said before heading back to the task at hand: Getting the little robot, Sphero, to do what it was told to do.

Jada is one of a number of students participating in the Woodson Coding Club, now in its first year. The club, started by Principal Jessica Cabeen, is a way for the school to introduce more technology on a simple and fun level.

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“We want them to learn a basic understanding of coding technology,” Cabeen said after the last of her first group ran out the door. “Give them an interest in computer science and opening their eyes to different things they could be doing in the world.”

The club meets once a week, split into two groups.

At first glance the club looks like kids playing with toys from Toys R Us, but getting in amongst the kids and it’s easy to see that it’s much more than that, especially considering that this involves kindergarten students. Yes, it’s easy to see the kids having fun, playing with Sphero and another robot, Bee-Bot, there is a learning aspect that grips the kids.

Partners Elli Klaehn and Liam Linnett work out a plan for their Sphero during a meeting of the Woodson Coding Club Tuesday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Partners Elli Klaehn and Liam Linnett work out a plan for their Sphero during a meeting of the Woodson Coding Club Tuesday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

“This gives them the ability to work with each other and problem solve,” Cabeen said. “Everybody has a job.”

On Tuesday, the students were given the task to program their little robots to move in particular paths and patterns. But the real challenge was ensuring the robots stayed on a square piece of paper roughly two by three feet.

Frustrating as it could have been, not one of the students were angry or confused. They simply set upon finding the solution.

“It’s so motivating to see the internal drive to figure it out,” Cabeen said.

A need to understand

The desire to form the club came from Cabeen’s own lack of understanding in watching her son 11-year-old son Kenny as part of the VEX I.J. Holton Robotics Team.

“It was kind of a personal thing,” Cabeen said. “My son Kenny was on the robotics team and I had no idea what he was doing.”

This pushed Cabeen to not only try and learn what Kenny was doing, but it also started her down a path to see if there was any connection to be made with the students of Woodson.

She turned to Tom Fritz who is involved with the Ellis Middle School robotics teams and Kayleen Jensen with I.J. Holton to help her develop something for her students. The coding program was taken to each class where teachers helped determine which students may show the most interest in pursuing their own interest in engineering.

It was telling for staff that this was very much a different world. It also served as a perfect tipping point to involve parents even more in what their children were doing.

Parents can follow along through a blog, https://packersintraining.wordpress.com and then going to Woodson Coding Club. But it doesn’t end there. Parents even get homework where they had to fill out a writing segment that would ultimately act as programming for the robots their kids were using.

For both the parents and kids, the goal is simple.

Hailey Evenson shows off her Sphero after waking it up with a tap during a meeting of the Woodson Coding Club Tuesday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Hailey Evenson shows off her Sphero after waking it up with a tap during a meeting of the Woodson Coding Club Tuesday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

“We’re trying to generalize as much as possible,” Cabeen said.

 ‘What we knew’

Elaina Karrow sat next to her and partner Henry Skalicky’s white paper rectangle, her eyes flicking from iPad to Sphero, until eventually it wobbled and moved. It didn’t quite behave the way she wanted, but the move drew a smile and not a frown and she simply picked it up and put it back on the paper to try again.

It was that drive the students are showing that is making it fun for Cabeen and students alike but it’s also hinting at a gap between the students and adults like Cabeen.

“What we knew as students is very different compared to what our students know,” Cabeen said. “It’s really neat to use some of this and take it back to the classroom.”

This level of technology use at Woodson isn’t just new to parents and students, but relatively new in general. Schools like I.J. Holton have been integrating technology in a steadfast movement over the last few years, but for kids this young, it’s sometimes struggle to find anything.

“There’s not a lot out there for K/pre-K coding,” Cabeen said.

Chaz Bonorden uses a simple program to tell Sphero what to do during a meeting of the Woodson Coding Club Tuesday at Woodson Kindergarten Center. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Chaz Bonorden uses a simple program to tell Sphero what to do during a meeting of the Woodson Coding Club Tuesday at Woodson Kindergarten Center. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Involvement

Cabeen does more than involving the students in the technology. She also strives to include the students on a personal level, making sure they are taking something with them each time the club ends.

“We have a reflection time at the end,” Cabeen said. “I want them thinking about problem solving.”

The reflection includes both written and verbal components. On this day Cabeen asked what was most difficult. Several of the students said it was difficult to keep the robots on the paper.

“Was it important you kept trying?” Cabeen asked one student.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah,” Cabeen echoed with a smile.

All this comes from an added push that nobody take on a problem alone.

“Learn to work with one another,” Cabeen said.

There is also a special effort made to involve girls, recognizing a big difference between male and female in the world of science and engineering.

“In the field, as it sits now, there is a major discrepancy between males and females,” Cabeen said. “It’s really neat to see these sparks in the girls. We’re almost giving them a leg up, trying to find the passion.”

All of this comes with no small amount of help and support from the community.

“It’s really neat to live and work in a community that’s embracing these unconventional opportunities with students,” she said.